Growing up in Evansville, Indiana, Lul KJ was raised in a household surrounded by family. As the only boy with four sisters, his mother, and his stepdad, he learned early about responsibility, resilience, and the importance of having a strong foundation.
His childhood was spent outside the house as much as it was inside. The Boys & Girls Club, Cut Rate Market, the YMCA, and the basketball court on the corner were some of the places that shaped his early years. Basketball brought people together, and Lul KJ spent countless hours playing with the same people he grew up around. As the years passed, however, he watched some of those same people take different paths and get caught up in things that changed their lives. Seeing that transition gave him an early understanding of how quickly circumstances can change.
Music didn’t enter the picture until he was 19, during his freshman year of college. Before that, high school had been a difficult chapter. He was constantly told he wouldn’t become anything and often felt like he was falling behind while watching other people have cars and things he didn’t have.
Still, his parents made sure he had what he needed. During his second semester of college, they helped him get his first car, a car he still owns today. It became another reminder that even when he felt behind, he had people in his corner who believed in him.
Lul KJ grew up listening to artists like Eminem, Chris Brown, T.I., and Young Jeezy. He always felt like he had an old soul, but watching Chris Brown perform gave him a different perspective. Seeing what was possible made him think, “If he can do it, I can too.” From there, music became more than something he enjoyed. It became something he wanted to pursue seriously.
For Lul KJ, music also became therapy. Being the only boy with four sisters, he often felt like he had to be strong and couldn’t always express everything he was feeling to his family. Instead of keeping those emotions inside, he found a way to put them into his music.
What makes his journey even more personal is how he created that music. Lul KJ has never recorded in a professional studio. He built his sound with headphones, recording mostly in his car or his college dorm. Without expensive equipment or a traditional studio setup, he learned to work with what he had.
That mindset has carried him a long way.
Lul KJ has since seen his name featured on billboards in his hometown, New York City’s Times Square, Atlanta, and California. What started with recording in a dorm room and a car has grown into moments he once could only imagine.
His latest release, “Now or Never,” carries that same energy. The record is about proving the people who doubted him wrong and refusing to keep holding himself back. The message is simple: they said he couldn’t do it, but he did.
On September 18, Lul KJ will release his album Some Pain Not Understood. The project tells his story through his own perspective—where he came from, what he’s experienced, what continues to drive him, and how those experiences have shaped the way he sees the world today.
Along the way, he credits his family for helping make him the man he is, J5ive from Louisiana for helping him grow as an artist, and Kendawg for keeping him focused and reminding him not to give up on himself.
Lul KJ’s story isn’t about having everything figured out from the beginning. It’s about taking what you have, learning from where you’ve been, and continuing to move forward.
He started with headphones, a car, and a dorm room. Now his music is reaching places he once only dreamed about.
And for Lul KJ, this is only the beginning.
