Kxng Crooked

Kxng Crooked, previously known as Crooked I, first reached the upper tiers of the Billboard charts during the late 2000s through his involvement with Slaughterhouse, yet the uncompromising Long Beach MC and label head maintains a longer trajectory that encompasses a mid-'90s solo contract with a major label, ties to Death Row Records, and placement in XXL magazine's inaugural Freshman Class feature. Exemplifying persistence, Crooked has tracked numerous projects that remained unreleased and navigated promising agreements that ultimately collapsed, all while assembling a catalog comprising two studio albums alongside Slaughterhouse, a considerably broader array of joint efforts, and an extensive collection of solo mixtapes and LPs. His activities following Slaughterhouse span from the charting introductory solo effort Apex Predator (2013) to the Joell Ortiz partnership Rise & Fall of Slaughterhouse (2022).

Born Dominick Antron Wickliffe, Crooked entered the scene during his teenage years by aligning with 19th Street Records, which soon led to a solo arrangement via Virgin Records' rap imprint Noo Trybe. During that period he collaborated with Low Life Gangstas on "Rap Killer," issued the standalone single "DJ's and MC's," and contributed to the Caught Up soundtrack through his appearance on the Luniz cut "Girl." His independence proved brief, as he soon connected with Suge Knight and joined Death Row, where he surfaced on the Too Gangsta for Radio compilation via "Death Rizzo" and "Gangsta Rap" (the latter also including Treach and Scarface) plus the Dysfunktional Family soundtrack, for which he supplied nearly a third of the material. Although at least one Crooked I mixtape emerged while he remained on the roster, two albums—including Say Hi to the Bad Guy, targeted for 2002—never materialized.

By early 2004 Crooked had exited Death Row and struck out independently, establishing his Dynasty Entertainment imprint, though legal barriers once more blocked the delivery of his own project. Mixtapes, DVDs, and guest spots kept accumulating until B.O.S.S. (Beginning of Something Serious)—finally positioned as his debut official album—was slated for 2008, only to be abandoned like the Death Row material despite the visibility gained from his XXL Freshman Class selection. Undeterred by these obstacles, Crooked sustained his output of mixtapes and cultivated an online audience through tracks shared directly on the Internet.

Joe Budden enlisted Crooked in 2009 for the track "Slaughterhouse," which also featured Royce da 5'9" and Joell Ortiz; the four artists subsequently formed the rap supergroup of that name and delivered their self-titled debut LP that summer. After additional Crooked I EPs and mixtapes appeared, Slaughterhouse joined Eminem's Shady Records and released Welcome To: Our House in 2012. The group's second album reached number two on the Billboard 200 while claiming the top spots on the R&B/hip-hop and rap charts. That momentum positioned Crooked for his first proper solo album, Apex Predator, which arrived on his own Treacherous Records in July 2013 and registered on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop, Independent, and Heatseekers charts; the set contained the hedonistic track "No Sleep Gang" along with a Tech N9ne feature. The following year, amid promotion for the Shady Records anthology Shady XV that incorporated several Slaughterhouse cuts, Crooked revealed his full stage name had shifted from Crooked I to Kxng Crooked. He issued the police brutality protest song "I Can't Breathe" before closing the year with the Sex, Money and Hip-Hop LP.

Crooked entered one of his busiest stretches by issuing the full-length collaboration Static Kxng with Statik Selektah, followed by Good vs. Evil and Good vs. Evil II: The Red Empire, which represented only his commercial full-length projects across 2016 and 2017. He declared his exit from the dormant Slaughterhouse in April 2018, after which three more duo albums emerged by 2020: Kxngs Wear Gold (with Frost Gamble), Gravitas (with Bronze Nazareth), and the partial Slaughterhouse reunion H.A.R.D. alongside Joell Ortiz. Crooked and Ortiz maintained their partnership, resurfacing in 2022 with Rise & Fall of Slaughterhouse.