Born Courtney Christian King, C-King began his music career when he was just 17 years old in Southern California. Now far from home, C-King has made it his mission to improve the local hip-hop scene here in Champaign-Urbana. He says, "As local hip-hop we all need to kind of come together to make the hip-hop stronger." C-King is influenced by every type of music, and stresses that as a producer he must listen to everything. Right now, he's into a lot of old music, and listens to everything from Led Zeppelin to Panic! at the Disco. C-King also says that checking out a local Open Mic Night can be even better than listening to a CD. As for his nomination for a 2006 Local Music Award, C-King is very honored. He says, "It's humbling to know I got nominated for something that could potentially lead peope to listen to what I've got to say."

Christine Italia, WPGU