In May, Josh K is releasing the third act of his Lover’s Lane EP with features from Jeremih, Tory Lanez, and long-time collaborator and label mate Fabolous. 

A young Josh K began to garner a fan base in Chicagoland around 2014 with the release of his mixtape, Your Girls Favorite, which included features from King Louie and Young Chop, along with production from Murda Beatz. Shortly thereafter, in 2015, he developed a working relationship with Brooklyn rapper Fabolous via social media, which blossomed into a spot on the rapper’s label, The Family, beginning in 2020.

Josh K’s first project under the label was Lover’s Lane Act: I, a three-track EP released in October 2020 that included the lead single “So Tuff,” featuring Fabolous. He followed that up with Lover’s Lane Act: II, led by the single “Drake’n & Driving,” two months later in December. 

The TRiiBE caught up with Josh K in April at the private preview event for Lover’s Lane Act: 3 and discussed the story behind the project’s name, his working relationship with Fab, and bringing Chicago’s R&B scene to the forefront of the genre.

Let's start with the overall Lover’s Lane concept. Did you go into the first one knowing there would be a part three? What was the intention behind breaking it into three parts?

Josh K: It was Fab’s idea to break it into three acts. It’s technically one project and each act is just adding more tracks on top of it. The name Lover’s Lane actually came from my manager. He suggested the name and I was, like, “You know that’s a store out here in Illinois, right?” but he didn’t know anything about it cause he’s from New York. But we ended up reaching out to the actual company about the name and they were, like, “We’d love to be a part of this.” So I got a little collab dropping when the project comes out. We’re gonna have merch in the [Lover’s Lane] stores, some lingerie, all that.

Josh K’s first project under the label was Lover's Lane Act: I, a three-track EP released in October 2020 that included the lead single "So Tuff," featuring Fabolous. He followed that up with Lover’s Lane Act: II. Photo by Darius Griffin // The TRiiBE
You and Fab stay putting out music together. Tell me about your working relationship and how you first linked up.

Josh K: It’s really like a little bro, big bro relationship. He be pushing my pen game, I push his pen game on some sparring type shit. I been rocking with him since like 2015. We end up linking through social media, off me sending him links to my music. We just stayed in touch and built a relationship over the years. It’s kind of crazy. I’m like a R&B version of him.

What have you been able to learn and gain from working with Fab so frequently?

Josh K: The biggest thing I’ve learned is how to maintain that work ethic and to have patience. Fab is 20 years plus in the game, so he’s showing me not only how to get in the game, but to stay there and have longevity.

Fabolous came out to Chicago to support Josh K at his listening party for Lover's Lane Act: III this month. Photo by Darius Griffin // The TRiiBE
Josh K rocking "The Family" chain he received at his listening party. Photo by Darius Griffin // The TRiiBE
Chicago is back to gathering international attention for its rap exports like Lil Durk, G Herbo, and Polo. Do you feel like there's potential for the R&B industry to make a similar crossover?

Josh K: Yeah, I think it’s mostly about building that community and bringing light to it. That’s what I’m trying to do. [The] last big R&B star we had was Jeremih, and Chicago is known for R&B historically. But that’s missing right now. I’m trying to bring that back with this new project.

is a staff writer with The TRiiBE. Email him with news tips.