KB – 10k

Kevin Elijah Burgess (aka KB) is an American rapper/ hip hop artist and leader of His Glory Alone (HGA).  His group caught the attention of Lecrae,  Ben Washer, and DJ Official and invited him to Lecrae’s Acquire the Fire tour.  He appeared on Lecrae’s Rehab before releasing his first mixtape, Who is KB? before going solo.

KB released four albums and one EP:

• Weight & Glory (2012)
• 100 (EP, 2004)
• Tomorrow We Live (2015)
• Today We Rebel (2017)
• His Glory Alone (2020)

Also, check out my reviews of Not Today Satan and Crowns & Thorns (Oceans).

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Kb-10k-lyrics.

Side Note: Special thanks to the annotators of the above link!  This helped tremendously to prepare for this review, especially with pop culture references that I’m not familiar with.

Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site!  Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.

1. What message does the song communicate?

This song is an interpolation of the Chorus of Matt Redman’s song 10,000 reasons (Bless the Lord), which adds the following information about God and himself:

God is:

• unchanging
• good
• glorifies through KB’s music and lifestyle
• ruler of creation

KB:

• glorifies God through his music and lifestyle
• warns others not to emulate satanic behavior
• experiences internal peace from God
• leads others into worship through his medium of choice: rap music
• cares more about God’s approval than others around him
• believes that Jesus will return

Score: 10/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

All of it is Biblical.

[Intro]

Lines 1-6: Essentially repeats the Chorus from Matt Redman’s song 10,000 reasons (Bless the Lord).  Below is my commentary from that review, including a recent edit on the last line:

Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul
Worship His holy name

Redman quotes directly from Psalm 103:1.  My usual version, NASB, says “bless His holy name” while other versions use “praise”.  The word “worship” is an equivalent term that does not change the meaning of the original source material.

Sing like never before, O my soul

An equivalent line based on Psalm 40:3 and Psalm 96:1-2, Redman, with all that is within him, sings differently than he was before, a “new song” on his lips.

I’ll worship Your holy name

A slight differentiation of line 1 that personalized worship of God, Redman shifts his audience from the people around him to God, migrating from description of praise to action of worship.  Psalm 30:4 and Psalm 97:12 both describe praising the name of God.

Line 7: KB is about to tell us new ideas that complement Redman’s original Chorus.

[Chorus]

Line 1: God does not change (Numbers 23:19, Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8, and James 1:17).

Line 2: Consistent with Redman’s use, the number “ten thousand” is hyperbole for “many”.

Line 3: The first part tells us that God is good (1 Chronicles 16:34, Psalm 23:6, Psalm 27:13, Psalm 31:19-20, Psalm 34:8, Psalm 86:5, Psalm 100:5, Psalm 106:1, Psalm 119:68, Psalm 135:3, Psalm 136:1, Psalm 145:9, Lamentations 3:25, Nahum 1:7, Matthew 19:17, Mark 10:18, and Luke 18:19).  The second is that KB is alive spiritually (Romans 6:1-11, Romans 7:4-6, Galatians 2:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:11, and 1 Peter 2:24).

Line 4: Essentially repeats line 2, with KB’s intention to believe these reasons.

Side Note: In Chorus’ last iteration, KB raps “10k” instead of “ten thou”.

Lines 5-8: Repeats lines 1-4.

[Verse 1]

Line 1: In the same way that a police officer enforces the law, so to KB enforces God’s glory, presumedly through his obedience.  HGA stands for “His Glory Alone”, meaning that KB will do all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:17-23, and 1 Peter 4:11).

Line 2-7: KB uses wordplay to reference a lawyer who passes a bar exam as compared to his “passing” God’s inspection as a faithful servant through his music recorded in a booth (Matthew 25:21-23).

Line 8: Another wordplay, referencing Michael B, who starred in the Rocky movie spinoff Creed.  KB is as devoted (if not more so) to Jesus as Michael B portrayed in this movie.

Line 9: God is “bossin'” meaning He is sovereign over creation (Genesis 1:1, Deuteronomy 4:39, Deuteronomy 10:14, Joshua 2:11, Nehemiah 9:6, Psalm 29:10, Psalm 45:6, Psalm 50:7-15, Psalm 93:1-2, Psalm 115:3, Psalm 135:6, Isaiah 43:13, Isaiah 45:9-10, Isaiah 46:10, Lamentations 5:19, Daniel 4:35, Romans 9:19-21, Ephesians 1:11, Hebrews 1:8, James 4:15, Revelation 4:11, and Revelation 20:11).  KB also instructs us not to be like the antagonist of Stephen King’s 1986 horror film It, featuring a clown who eats children.  This reminds me of Matthew 18:6 and Mark 9:42, where Jesus warns his audience to avoid causing children to stumble.

Line 10: Rather than a typical place of worship such as a church or youth retreat, KB will lead people into worship through rap music.  Referencing tropical climates, KB is in the “palm” of God’s hands (Isaiah 49:16).

Lines 11-13: According to KB. those who attend one of KB’s concerts will walk away different people, refreshed and renewed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:17-24).  KB also claims that there are witnesses who testify to this fact.  Though I could not find corroborating evidence online, I’ll give KB the benefit of the doubt.

Line 14: Referenced Jesus’ final words, “It is finished”, in John 19:30.  This fulfills the prophecy in Genesis 3:15 that a descendant of Eve would bruise Satan’s head, yet the devil will strike His heel.

[Verse 2]

Line 1: Combines calls to Casper the friendly ghost with KB’s comment that he has nothing to prove to the rest of us.  This implies that he values God’s opinion more than anything else, which is, that KB is worth the cost to save (Romans 5:6-8).

Lines 2-4: KB will not back down (Matthew 24:13, Romans 2:7, 1 John 2:19, and Jude 1:20-25).

Lines 5 and 6: KB’s abridged testimony.  He’s been rapping since he was 16 and gave his life to Christ at some point.  God is his source of peace (John 14:27, John 16:29-33, Romans 5:1, Ephesians 2:14-15, and Colossians 3:15).  He is also the father figure that KB never had growing up.

Line 7: See Verse 1, line 9.

Lines 8 and 9: KB’s “crazier” belief is that Jesus will return again (Matthew 24:43, Acts 1:9-11, 1 Corinthians 11:26, 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4, 2 Peter 3:10, Revelation 16:15, and Revelation 19:11-16).

Lines 10 and 11: KB doesn’t care if the world laughs at his beliefs.  He will continue to rap such beliefs in his music.

[Outro]

Lines 1-5: KB cannot help but lead others into worship within the mosh pit.  See Verse 1, line 10.

Line 6: KB’s motto again, combined with his signature phrase.  “K” is the first letter of his name, while “to the second letter” references the second letter of the alphabet: “B”.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

This song intermixes Christian terms, everyday terms, and pop culture.  I imagine that unbelievers will have a mixed response, understanding various levels of KB’s pop culture references.  Even if we erased them all, they will probably conclude that KB worships an unchanging and good God, whose authority exceeds all others and is KB’s source of internal peace.  KB’s concerts are from a mosh pit where Christians worship God.  KB has “ten thousand reasons” to believe God, taken as an exaggeration.  Though KB grew up without a father, he still praises, worships, and glorifies God through his music.

Score: 8/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God by proclaiming His constant nature, goodness, and rulership.  KB also glorifies God by leading others to worship Him with lyrics that reflect Scripture.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

KB’s 10k is a good song.  KB jumps off the Chorus of Matt Redman’s 10,000 reasons (Bless the Lord) with ideas of his own, announcing God’s sovereignty, goodness, and unchanging nature.  Though KB was raised without a father figure, God is his daddy whom he unabashedly shouts from the rooftops, much less the mosh pit.  KB’s concerts are filled with Christians worshipping God through KB’s God-honoring lyrics.  This glorifies God.  While some of KB’s lyrics are tough to comprehend for unbelievers who aren’t privy to his pop culture references, there’s plenty to offer to everyone willing to listen.

I cannot recommend this song for corporate worship due to its musical style, except perhaps within a mosh pit.

Final Score: 9.5/10

Artist Info

Track: 10k (listen to the song)

Artist: KB

Album: His Glory Alone

Genre: Hip Hop/Rap

Release Year: 2020

Duration: 3:16

Agree?  Disagree?  Don’t be shy or have a cow!  Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.

Updates:

05/22/2023 – Steven Closson and God’s Child each addressed unclarity I had concerning the end of Chorus, line 3, and Verse 2, lines 2-4.  This raised the song’s overall rating from 9/10 to 9.5/10.