In today’s music industry climate, nothing is more valuable than the art of persistence, and a simple refusal to give up. West Baltimore area rapper King Tut (Tutty Guapo), who released his latest single “Live It Up,” yesterday possesses this self-discipline, accompanied by a will to exert the taxing efforts required to turn out a superior product. His single-minded drive to mold himself into a top-notch beat-maker and lyricist has lead him to an intensive, career-long study of the popular hip-hop masters Jay-Z and Kanye West. Early in his career, Tut strove to emulate the quick-witted lyrical flow of Jay-Z, but this lightning-fast approach never quite clicked, and instead produced what he has described as “cornball raps.” Tut still habitually listens to the seminal West albums “College Dropout” and “Late Registration” to inspire and instruct him in the business of “gangsta” production. “Live It Up” reveals his personal sound, simple, clear-cut beats, soul samples, and self-described “mellow” raps invented over career-long revisions. Just one of his “series of awesome statements,” is “I’m not blowing up, so what!” While that isn’t King Tut’s present situation, with his determined mindset we beg to differ in the future.