Louis King rocks a gold KING ring on his left hand, fitting for how he carries himself and perceives life. Beyond rapping, the Los Angeles native served as tour manager for the highly-favored Earl The Sweatshirt. 

Having toured over 20 countries and sharing the stage with Earl and Anderson .Paak, King sees his purpose as more than just touching people with his music, but giving back to his community in ways reminiscent of the late Nipsey Hussle. His work with aim4hearts.org centers around emotional literacy especially amongst those who are incarcerated.

Most recently, King released his highly-anticipated new album De la West Los, paying homage to his roots in West LA. King Ice caught up with Louie to discuss his treasured gold ring that reads KING in all caps.

Talk about the gold KING ring you have on.

This was given to me by a professional soccer player named Leo (Alessandro Canale). He plays for the USA team, he’s big. He's made shit. We have a group called Generation West, which is a community organization: our Crenshaw, our marathon, our shit. Our community we put people together with, we’d throw events. We’d throw all the Westside events like Brownies and Lemonade. 

He knew us from the streets. I didn't even know he was a professional soccer player, he’s just the homie. He came to an event one day, he had it molded. Gave one to me, gave one to my bro (I still work with). He’s management, his shit said "cuzzo" in gold. It was a gift, that shit felt good. Shit’s heavier than a motherfucker. It comes with a certain power. I won a national championship playing football and lost my ring. Maybe it got stolen, I don't know. 

Rings Available at https://www.kingice.com/collections/rings

In your opinion, what hip-hop label had the most iconic chain? 

That's tough. I want to go into Dipset, but then I also want to go even before that with the Cubans. I'm into the classic shit. But I'm not even on material shit like that to keep it 100. You see me, I don't even wear a chain. It's not even on that. When it comes time to stunt, we can stunt. But at the same time, I know my value. This shit is a gift. I like the flashiness of it, but I also like to stay [grounded].

Dipset Chain

Dipset Anthem Music Video (Jim Jones, Cam'ron, Juelz Santana)