The Evolution of a Name: From Gus to Kingpaysos

Jul 25, 2024

What’s the story behind your nickname?

When people hear my name now, they recognize “Kingpaysos.” But that wasn’t always my name. My first official nickname was “Gus.” Yeah, I know, WTH right? This name was given to me back in high school during a lunchtime roast battle with a girl named Toya.

Toya was tall as hell and dated a guy on the basketball team for Boys and Girls High School. They were part of the cool crowd, being athletes and all, while I was a floater, mingling with all the different groups—the cool kids, the athletic teams, the rappers and poets, the nerds. I was like water, fitting in everywhere.

The principal, Mr. Mickens, had enforced a Dress for Success rule, meaning every Monday and Tuesday, we had to wear a shirt and tie. On one of those days, I was wearing an olive green shirt and khakis, my hair cut in a fade, and I had glasses on. One of the most popular cartoons at the time was “Recess,” and my outfit resembled the character Gus from the show. Toya pointed it out, sending the table into an uproar, and from then on, everyone called me Gus.

The name followed me everywhere, even to my block where Toya also lived. I ended up getting into a lot of fights because people associated me with the scared character from “Recess,” and I had to prove them wrong. I eventually demanded to be called Gusto, which stuck locally due to my involvement with my street gang.

When I started rapping, I went by “Young Gusto,” but after watching the movie “CB4,” I didn’t like the association. One day at the barbershop, my barber Puzzle told me, “No grown man is going to pay to see ‘Young Gusto.’ Your name has to mean something.” He explained that his name, Puzzle, represented a man made of many different unique parts. That resonated with me.

Puzzle started calling me Sosa because my first name is Sammy, and I played baseball, like Sammy Sosa. I liked the ring of it, though I wasn’t keen on the Spanish sound. But that day, I wrote a rhyme that would change my life forever:

“It’s finally here
The moment I wanted for so long
Is finally in my hands my plan is to hold strong
So long to all the nonsense
That prolonged
My journey this my chance to enhance and grow on
When I was born my instant mission was to survive
Every tribulation and situation placed amongst I
All the discrimination and condemnation that was applied
By the haters and naysayers I seen with young eyes
I stayed alive
Representing my definition of champ
I’m a god against all odds
Never submitting to tramps
I had the package ready
I was missing the stamp
The package to be delivered
Competition is scarce
I ran my race
Mixtapes demanded my space
Erased the opposition
Looked reached man in they face
Went bar for bar with anyone who mentioned my name
Played the game
And convinced the world I was destined for fame
It’s Sos-P
It truly means
Save Our Streets Please
And change helpless individuals in need only
(SOS PACHINO)
Used to be Young Gus
Till Puzzle called me
The second coming of Christ baptizing the earths streets
The earth squeezed inside of these 9.5’s
I witness for the blind
I walked amongst the divine
My state of mind
Is ahead of my time one of kind
I’m destined to rule the world
Who better than I
Brooklyn son
A soldier who survived these streets
By applying my mind to rhyme timing on beats
I indeed deserved to be respected highly
It’s Sos-P
Yall can’t deny me
The prince is here”

From that point on, I went by the name Sos Pachino, an acronym for Save Our Streets Please and Change Helpless Individuals Needing Ones. Sos-P was the sportier, flashier version of me. I started getting money, buying nice clothes, and talking fly. Eventually, everyone just started calling me Sos, and it stuck—from Brooklyn to Korea to the Czech Republic.

When I dropped my last project, originally titled “Summer of Sam” but later changed to “Dollars & Dreams,” I decided to go with the name KingPaysos. It reflects who I am and my position in life. I’m a king in my own right, I love to get paid, and I’m still the same ol’ Sos—just on another level.

Your name precedes you in most cases, and it can open doors depending on the work you put behind it. I pride myself on being a resourceful king who takes care of his people because he is of his people.

Here’s a glimpse at me performing