To say the least, Derek McAllister a.k.a Speaker Knockerz (SK) had a difficult upbringing. SK was born in New York City, living with his parents and brother Christian. Throughout his childhood, his father made beats but struggled to make it in music, eventually receiving a ten-year jail sentence. SK and his family were forced to relocate and found themselves in Columbia, South Carolina.

When SK was 13, he’d study what his classmates listened to at school during the golden years of illegal music streaming. He wanted to make his dad proud and pursue a music career. SK was aware of Soulja Boy’s recent dominance in the music scene and wanted to replicate and capitalize off of it with his own sound. He had respect for Soulja Boy since he stayed independent throughout his incredibly influential and successful run in the mid-aughts. He found out that Soulja Boy produced his beats through FL Studio. At the time, SK didn’t have the money to purchase the program himself, so like many all-time great producers, he downloaded his first copy through a torrent instead.

Throughout the beat creation process, SK’s progress would routinely be swiped off the face of the earth since his version of FL Studio was flawed. This didn’t stop him. Additionally, things at home were getting rough, and SK decided to drop out of high school. He didn’t have many friends and would sit in his room and make music all day. This decision led to even more fights at home with his mom. He wanted to make her happy so he applied to dozens of different jobs to impress her, but he didn’t hear back from any of them for interviews. SK ended up getting kicked out of his house.

Out of options and down on his luck, SK had to go with his Plan A and fully dive into making it in the rap game. Back in the day, Soulja Boy uploaded his music to a website called Soundclick and advertised it on MySpace. We all know the story behind his rise to fame: by renaming his songs to current top tracks. Although listeners would accidentally stumble upon “Crank Dat” or “Soulja Girl,” they fell in love and downloaded them anyway.

Soundclick was still on the rise and SK knew it. He started uploading his beats at a rate of 3-5 a day (which can still be accessed). Eventually, he made his first $50 sale. It was a big deal because, before the internet, you could only really make money selling beats in real life; to him, the 50 bucks were a huge win. Around this time he was also living back at home again. He used the profit to purchase his own Logitech speakers which he used in his room setup for the rest of his career.

SK would also seek critics and advice from his father, calling him over the jail phone and playing his beats through the line. He’d also record himself creating beats next to his old speakers. In 2010, SK’s father was released from prison. His dad helped him with the mixing and mastering, while SK rapped over the extra beats. SK released his first mixtape called Flight Delays under the stage name: Jamol Junior. Though the project only got a couple of hundred plays, SK’s production only grew in popularity, and he started earning a steady income through placements and beat purchases. He had allegedly made over $42,000 during his first six months. He changed his name to Speaker Knockerz, and from then on, things took off. Meek Mill was the first mainstream artist to use an SK beat on “Tony Montana”. It was perfect timing, with Meek exploding into the mainstream shortly thereafter.

Lil Scrappy, French Montana, and 2 Chainz also rapped on SK beats, and he used that traction to promote and market his own songs. “All I Know” and “On My Mind” were his first songs to break 100,000 streams on YouTube. Although he had catchy music, no one knew how influential SK would soon become. At the time, listeners weren’t completely sold on his sound, style and flow since it was so atypical.

In due course, SK bought his dream car, a black Camaro with the money from his music and shows. Chief Keef threw shade at SK with a 2013 tweet calling his ride “plastic” and having “sh*t steering wheels.” It was ironic; as influential as Keef himself was, there was obvious inspiration from SK in his delivery and production choices in late 2012 and early 2013. Other than Chief Keef and Soulja Boy, it wasn’t common for a young artist to shine, especially someone who could produce and rap (besides good ol’ Kanye West, of course).

Before he knew it, Gucci Mane, Young Dolph, and Cashcat were all on SK beats. Record labels wanted SK but couldn’t get him since he wanted to stay independent which is partially the reason so many industry plants sounded like him over the consecutive years. SK founded his own label, Talibanz Entertainment, and referred to it as Taliban Gang or TBG. After dropping his first mixtape under the label, Married To Money, and the three track trilogy Rico Story, SK went from bubbling underground artist to full-on rap sensation.

It’s important to mention that SK had ties to Chicago and lots of influence around the city. Even in the dance scene in Chiraq. “Bop” was popular a popular dance there, and people created dancing videos to SK’s tracks on Vine bopping to his hits. Not to mention SK also performed at a plethora of shows in Chicago and he invited influencers to meet him and lip sync to his tunes. Once he finally returned to South Carolina, he dropped “Lonely”, which became his most popular song and his longest-lasting mark on hip-hop music.

Vine kickstarted a popular meme stemming from a line on “Lonely”, which helped accumulate listens on YouTube. Even Universal Music Group reportedly reached out to SK, which he turned down because he still wanted to keep 100% of the royalties to his music and had way bigger goals. Although he was successful at the time, he didn’t get the love he deserved. Furthermore, SK had a clear-cut business mindset. He was a a master at promoting himself.

SK reached out to influencers back in the day through Vine, in the same way that labels seek out popular TikTok pages. In an interview with “You See It You Hear It” in 2013, he was asked who inspired him and he said himself. He talked about how his own beats influenced him to rap. He knew his beats were top notch and he knew that he could market his rapping through selling his beats. Once someone bought them, his mindset was that they’d see his profound rapping capabilities as an artist and then listen to his music.

On March 2nd, 2014, word got out that SK was missing when his mom tweeted about it. She proceeded to contact authorities who forcefully entered his home and found him lying down next to his black Camaro in his garage a few days later, on the 7th. There were no signs of foul play and the autopsy determined he passed away from a heart attack… at only nineteen years old. In an interview with his brother Christian, he exclaimed SK “didn’t know he’d have a short time here, but lived like he did.”

Even though Speaker Knockerz had passed, it felt like his sound only expanded afterward. He opened the door for numerous artists such as NAV, A Boogie, and most of the “Lil” rappers. Roddy Richh even tweeted “RIP Speaker Knockerz, #FromBrokeToRichh we gone bring this sh*t bacc” on the day of his death, years before he himself blew up. It is clear that he continued to carry on his legacy. Moreover, Lil Uzi Vert also utilized a similar flow on “7am” that SK used on “Dap You Up.”

There are instances of it everywhere. SK never got the attention he deserved, but his name was shouted on a few songs such as “Alone Time” by Uzi, “Knotty Head” by Denzel & Rick Ross, and “Lil Favorite” by Ty Dolla $ign & Madeintyo. Kodak Black remixed “Lonely” with his song “Off A 14”, and Lil Mosey flipped SK’s “Scared Money” in his breakout single “Noticed.” Most recently, there was an obvious connection between King Von’s “Crazy Story” singles and SK’s “Rico Story” trilogy.

Speaker Knockerz will forever be known as a trendsetter and someone who was always one step ahead of the industry. In the coming years, SK pioneered a whole generation of sound from beyond the grave. If he was alive today, if he wasn’t a huge rapper, he’d be a huge producer or maybe even both. Even while not being here physically, his presence is still felt across the industry; and it only grows with each passing day.