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There must be something in the air out there in California (or maybe it’s in the weed?) but there’s been a lot of quality rap coming out of the state. From Kendrick Lamar to Schoolboy Q, Tyga to the Game, you could argue that in 2012, rappers from the West Coast made the best hip-hop music.

MUSIC: Kid Ink, Meek Mill & Wale “Bad Ass”

One of the Cali rappers who had a sneaky good year in 2012 was the homie Kid Ink (who’ve we been posting about since 2010). In June, he independently released his debut album, Up & Away, then in November he dropped the dope Rocketshipshawty mixtape, which was downloaded more than 300,000 times. 

That’s not too shabby. 

DETAILS: XXL Reveals Their 2012 Freshman Class 

This morning, the rapper announced that he had signed a major label deal with RCA (who are really stepping up their hip-hop game with this signing and 2011’s signing of A$AP Rocky).

He then followed that news by releasing his latest single, “Bad Ass,” which features Wale and Meek Mill.

Kid was ecstatic about the news and he had this to say:

“We achieved so much last year independently but we just felt it was time to team up with a major in 2013 to take it to the next level and RCA is as excited as we are about the vision and possibilities.”

It’s called the grind for a reason. And it certainly has been a grind for the 26-year-old Los Angeles MC.

Kid has been rapping since he was 16, but the success he gained in this came when he started producing. In an interview with HotNewHipHop, Kid said this about his start:

“When I was first introduced to the music business, I learned how to make beats. All my friends rapped, but nobody made beats. So since I didn’t do either at the time, I thought it would make more sense and I would be more valuable to the team as the in house producer. In return, making me the one in charge of the music.”

If you think production is just some kind of side thing for Kid Ink, think again. Kid Ink has done production with the likes of Diddy, Sean Kingston and Yung Berg.

In 2010, he switched his hustle up. He went back to rapping and hooked up with the super dope DJ Ill Will. Going by the name RockStar, the rapper released his first mixtape called World Tour.

It was a good project, but it wasn’t the one that got the Internet buzzing.

That came when the rapper changed his name to Kid Ink, because the kid loves to get tattoos (which we’ll get to later) and released Crash Landing.

The tape, which features Meek Mill, Gudda Gudda and Roscoe Dash, was bit of a regional monster, getting over 50,000 downloads on DatPiff within a year of its release. 

Following his success in 2011, the rapper pushed his grind to 100, releasing notable tapes like

Daydreamer and Wheels Up and shooting a number of clever videos for songs like “Cali Dreamin'” and “I Just Want it All.” 

His huge 2011 lead to the biggest break of his career: he landed a place in XXL’s Freshman Cover, standing next to the likes of Future, French Montana and Danny Brown. 

Kid Ink’s big 2012 moment came when he released his first official album, Up & Away, which debuted at number 20 on the Billboard charts, pushing 20 thousand units. (That’s good for an independent album, folks.)

The success of that album was probably the main reason why Kid Ink was able to sign his major label deal. We really see big things in this kid’s future, people. 

Oh, one more thing: tattoos. It’s what visually stands out when you look at the rapper; he has enough artwork to make Lil Wayne blush. His tattoo number surpasses the 100 mark and it includes pieces of work like a tiger on his throat and a picture of Martin Luther King, Jr. on his chest. 

Now that you know the 411 on Kid Ink, check out some of his greatest hits below, including his new single, “Bad Ass.”