It was a cold Saturday night in Washington as a crowd of local hip-hop fans packed into the Cracker Building, a small venue near downtown Spokane. Local promoter Young Neves was throwing a show that featured some of the best emerging artists in Eastern Washington and the line up was full of exciting names such as Wanderers, Jiggy Jared, and Roley Ratchet. While everyone that performed is currently making waves in the local hip-hop scene in Washington, no artist is hotter than the charismatic King Dre. Dre recently dropped the knocking single “Off the Boat (Freestyle)” and is still riding momentum from his summertime hit “This Ain’t A Swisher” with 02 Huncho. With two tapes in the near future and a patented sound, KD seems primed to blow and everyone in the Cracker Building that night knew it.

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While all performers that night were greeted by applause, you could tell who everyone really bought a ticket for by the eruption that followed the first three piano notes to Dre’s opening song “Scuba”. As his homies filed on stage to dance and generate energy, Dre spit the menacing hook to one of the more popular songs off his 2019 mixtape Phase 2. As the room swung back and forth with each knock of the bass, Dre paused and admired the crowd he was largely responsible for. “I don’t make music for other people,” Dre told me after the show concluded. “It definitely helps when they like it though,” he said with a smile.

With lots of new music on the way, it’s impossible to not be excited to see what 2020 holds for King Dre. “Man oh man boy, I got like 50 songs in the vault that y’all need to hear!” The first of the three scheduled releases came earlier today, December 30th, in the form of the four song EP ACTIVATED which you can stream on Dre’s Soundcloud here. The Turn Me Up tape can be expected during the first few weeks of the new decade and is filled with strictly bangers to throw on at the next function. After that, Dre plans to release a more lyrical, introspective tape called Deep End which will feature rising rapper CFN Trezzy who also made an appearance at the Cracker Building during Dre’s set.

King Dre is THE artist to watch out for on the east side of Washington. Motivated by his brother who use to rap before being killed in Northern California, Dre is determined to make a name for himself in 2020. After watching KD grow all of 2019, it’s clear he’s a remarkably fast learner. Combine that with all the time he’s recently spent in the studio and performing and you have a recipe for an artist with a high chance of having a very successful 2020.

Check out some photos from the show below (Photos by Spencer Lobdell):