On a Friday afternoon, I walked into VSOP Studios, where Ke Millie and SBG Kemo, two parts of the group The Heavy Steppers were sitting. In the background, through thick glass an engineer sat working. As I introduced myself and settled down to have a conversation with the duo about their quick trajectory in the hip-hop game, I asked, “What’s going on in there?” Kemo replied, “He’s mixing and mastering my new joint.” Together they managed to land themselves a record deal that took them into the limelight and delivered their debut EP Hood Trophies to critical appeal. These two are now ready to embark on a new journey and launch their solo careers.

The Heavy Steppers have been a big part of the rap scene in the city of Chicago for nearly four years now. Their first self-titled single “Heavy Steppers” caught the attention of the city at large in 2019 and brought attention they’d only imagined before that.

The song began to gain traction over Thriller after Chance The Rapper did the #HeavyStepperChallenge which consisted of a dance. Polo G also gave them a co-sign early on in their career and shouting them out over Instagram. After the single took off, they landed themselves a Genius Verified interview.

Their hit single definitely had legs and eventually landed them a record deal with Chicago-based label At The Studio (ATS) / HITCO. Under the label's wing they began to work on their debut project. They delivered the Hood Trophies EP in December 2020. After delivering this project the duo decided to leave the label because of some disputes that led to a change of scenery.

The duo came up on the West Side of Chicago. These two first linked up through mutual friends in 2016. Growing up in what locally is known as “out west.” Both Kemo and Millie expressed how tough it was coming up out of the West Side. They grew up gangbanging and hustling as they did not have many other opportunities until rap came into the picture. “Us, we hustle, we grew up hustling,” said Kemo.

This duo of natural-born hustlers even took on stage names that speak for themselves. The moniker Ke Millie derives from the phrase Key to Millions (KTM) as he aspires to be a multi-millionaire one day through this trademark KTM. Kemo’s SBG stands for Saved by God because of the trials and tribulations he went through growing up and being allowed to have second chances.

Rising into the limelight allowed for experiences any up-and-coming rapper would die for. Their raw talent took them from the West Side of Chicago and to both coasts and beyond, where they performed at Rolling Loud, All-Star Weekend Chicago, and even Lollapalooza.

Now that they have gained independence from their record deal Millie plans on building up his catalog with singles before releasing a solo project. “I’m really just gonna throw out singles get that buzz going on,” said Millie. Kemo is ready to push out singles and is already putting together his second solo project Tubman set to release this year.

The “Heavy Steppers” single and the Hood Trophies EP were just the beginning of their careers. Later down the line, a deluxe off Hood Trophies might just drop, for those eager to hear more of these two together once more. “I ain't going to say it’s not happening. We independent now, we just really planting seeds,” said Millie. While Kemo claimed, “it's gonna come one day though. I don't think it's never not gonna happen again. That wasn't our last shit, it was our first.”

Although they might no longer be a duo, the support isn't going anywhere. You can absolutely expect them to appear in one another's tracks or projects from time to time. These two big steppers show no signs of slowing down and have already embarked on their independent journeys to take over the rap game once and for all.