KB

KB is a christian rapper who is part of Reach Records. It’s not a stretch to say the winding road that began in St. Petersburg, FL led Kevin “KB” Burgess straight to God. Raised middle class, divorce left KB and his mother in a poor economic situation, “I went from the suburbs to the hood in one day,” he recalls. Having been raised in Southern Illinois on a military base, drug dealers and criminals were a stark contrast to the safe haven he had become accustomed to. Fear of death and the unknown gripped his teenage years, leading him to depression and thoughts of suicide. On the other hand, KB also excelled in school and was offered the opportunity to be a part of a program where 11th graders could become full-time college students. After foregoing varsity basketball to join the program, KB soon realized that solely excelling in school wouldn’t bring fulfillment. “I was losing the will to live; life was becoming meaningless and I was becoming progressively more empty.” But that would soon change. While in school, a classmate introduced him to Christian rap, and although he already self-identified as a believer, after listening to a song on which an artist delivered the Gospel, KB wholeheartedly trusted and believed in Jesus. In his regeneration, the Gospel exposed the underlying issue of fear and uncertainty that plagued him as a teenager. Emptiness, depression, and meaninglessness were now being exchanged for grace, rest and forgiveness.