‘Hell & Back’ Kid Ink (2012) “Hell & Back” was released on June 12, 2012, as the twelfth track on Kid Ink’s debut studio album Up & Away on Tha Alumni Music Group, his independently run record label. Produced by Ned Cameron, who also handled several other records on the project, the track was never officially serviced to radio as a traditional single yet became the most commercially successful record from the entire album, eventually earning Platinum certification from the RIAA purely through organic streaming traction and word of mouth. The record is built around Kid Ink’s personal narrative of grinding through adversity on his way up from Los Angeles, with bars centered on survival, resilience, and loyalty in the face of pressure, themes that resonated deeply with listeners in the independent West Coast hip hop space at a time when self-made artist stories were driving the strongest audience connections in the music industry. The official music video, directed by Alex Nazari and r...