What It Means to Be King

On November 6, 2020, King Von was fatally shot outside a hookah lounge in Atlanta, Georgia, exactly one week after the release of his previous album, Welcome to O'Block (2020).^[5] The same day of his death, American rapper Pooh Shiesty released his single, "Back in Blood", which features Von's Only the Family label boss, fellow rapper Lil Durk. Von made his first posthumous cameo appearance in the music video for the song, which was released on January 2, 2021, in which the title of his album was revealed.^[6]

"Grandson for President", was released on April 29, 2020, in the period between the releasing of Levon James mixtape and Welcome to O'Block studio album, but remaining a standalone single; the song was later merged with What It Means to Be King album, effectively representing the lead single of the posthumous project.^[7]

In fact, the second and third singles primarily functioned as promotional means for the album's commercial success. The single "Don't Play That", which King Von had anticipated in October 2020 with an Instagram post,^[8][9] was revealed to be a collaboration with Atlanta-based rapper 21 Savage, produced by Kid Hazel, it was released on February 4, 2022. That same day Von's estate shared the title and release date of the album, exactly one month before its release.^[10] An official music video for the song was released later on February 9.^[11][12] On February 28, 2022, they shared the album cover art and made the album available for pre-order on Apple Music, with the tracklist also revealed on Apple Music the following day.^[13] Finally the third single, "War", produced by Chopsquad DJ, was released on March 2, 2022, two days before the album's release, and it was accompanied by an official visualizer video.^[14][15] Both singles entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart, achieving positions 40 and 71, respectively.^[16]

Following the release of the album, two music videos were released for two tracks from the project. The first music video was for "Too Real" that was released shortly thereafter the album release, on March 7, 2022. The second music video was for "Get It Done" song with OMB Peezy and was released on August 9, 2022, in honor of what would have been King Von's 28th birthday.^{[17][18][19][20][21]}

What It Means to Be King debuted at number 2 on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 59,000 album-equivalent units, 55,000 came from 79 million in streams, and 4,000 from pure album sales.^[22] The album represents the second top 10 on the Billboard 200 for King Von, and marks his highest position on the charts to date. He first reached the top 10 with his 2020 debut studio album, Welcome to O’Block which peaked at number 5.^[22][23] The album also claimed the top spot on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and secured the number 2 position on the Top Independent Albums chart. It also peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart.^[24]

Note:

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer.

Samples

• "Grandson for President" contains a sample of "Knuck If You Buck" as performed by Crime Mob featuring Lil Scrappy, written by Jarques Usher, Chris Henderson, Jonathan Lewis, Venetia Lewis and Brittany Carpentero.