Features : In Speak Up, Karma B’s Rap Still Tells Her Bad, Bold, Honest Stories

Six months ago, Karma B released Bad Bold Honest, an EP in which she raps about growing up in the slums of Las Vegas. Her life was about as hard as life can get in America.

That album was several things all at once. It was the launch of a career in rap. It was rap that stated in the title the way she survived—by being bad, bold and honest. Its songs were slices of a life poverty, being raised by a single mom who had 11 other children besides you.

It was her marker, she says, who she is, how she is, where she has been. But that was only the beginning of the story,

Earlier this month, she released  Speak Up, her second EP, and her story continues. The title of this one says what she is doing now: speaking up. The recently released featured single off it is “Get Rich,” a manifesto and a tribute to her mother.

“It’s a manifestation,” she said. “I believe anything you say, it happens. If you tell yourself you’re sick, you’re gonna feel damn sick. So with ‘Get Rich,’ it’s a manifestation of coming out of poverty. I feel like that's the only option. Get rich, run up a check.”

Her rap, like her life, is hard as concrete streets, and some is hard to listen to, but it’s compelling because it’s true, and the truth is in her voice as well as the lyrics. The beats, which include some beautiful music, match the rap, which also has praise for God and Jesus and includes a prayer.

“Get Rich” honors her mother as a woman who fought hard, to the best of her ability, to raise her family.

“My mom raised 12 kids coming out of poverty. We never had nothing,” said Karma. “So, ‘Get Rich’ is like my voice to her saying, ‘I’m gonna get rich. I’m gonna get it. I’m gonna get there.’”

The EP is a true story of her life, she said.

“I feel like it’s a book. I got to tell my story of things that I’ve been holding in for so long, right? So when I named it Speak Up, it’s like, okay, I’m bold enough. I’m brave enough. I could say it. I could talk about it, and I can keep a smile on my face.”

Talking about her music, she returns often to “bad, bold, honest.” On the EP with that name, she raps:

Bad bold honest is her marker / Karma says she feel like everyone

should be able to say and do / what they want with good intentions

This is how she survived / then made it out the streets / and through the struggle 

Speak Up is a continuation of the story she began in Bad Bold Honest. After Speak Up, she said, there will be a Speak Up 2.

Her plans also include performances in the Dallas area, where she has lived for the last five years, “the best five years.”

The stories in Speak Up 2, which she plans to drop around Mother’s Day, will also have a lot of pain, hurt and frustration, in addition to some redirection and redemption through God, “because He’s the one who brought me through this.”

“He’s the one that kept me standing, kept me fighting when I was betrayed, when I was hurt, when I was torn, when my heart was broken, and I felt like I had nobody. I still had God and I still have Him now.”

After Speak Up 2, she said, “I’m going to move on to more of encouragement, motivation. I was even trying to figure out how I can incorporate a song with God. I love God, and I want to go on another level, to high, positive spirits.”

Follow Karma B on her rap journey and stay connected on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.

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“Get Rich”
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