Chris Crack

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It’s a constant topic of Hip-hop conversation: how does an artist breathe in a suffocating marketplace? Sure, musical ability is a must. But, that fact alone doesn’t guarantee you a successful music career—not even close. Fans’ listening capacity is declining by the bar and their time can only be appropriated so thinly. Brand differentiation is vital to prove one’s worth in a world engorged with hungry rappers constantly pumping out tracks to their SoundClouds. Even the wackest emcees have a special “it” factor that will resonate with fans and force recollection. Future is a trapper; Game holds it down; Chris Crack is one crazy motherfucker.

The Chicago product is anything but your conventional rapper. Since six-years old, the singer/rapper (don’t get it twisted—he’s a singer first), has been marinating his style and developing his very specific flavor. His menacing, high-pitch flow facilities his completely insane lyrical content, which details his crazy life and even crazier thoughts. Yes, the man can clearly rap, but his sound is anything but generic or recycled. His soulful musical pallet allows him to embody a Soul Trap vibe, which, coupled with his unconventional voice, creates an unassumingly amazing combination—like caramel and pretzels (crazy right??). Chris’ upbringing of singing and listening to everything but rap contributed to his extremely intriguing sound and awesome personality.

Crack Fact #1: If you ain’t 280, you ain’t a lady. This statement is just a sample of Chris’ words to live by, packaged as “Crack Facts”. These life guidelines are not only essential to personal advancement, they’re essential to what makes Chris, Chris: a goofy, quirky individual, who doesn’t give a fuck what you think. This abundance of personality bleeds through to his music and gives listeners uninhibited insight into the deep, dark waters of Chris’ mind.

Just like Forest Gump’s mother told him, life is like a box of chocolates—you never know what you’re gonna get. Chris Crack’s recording process and music identifies with that simile—you never know what the fuck you’re gonna get. Crack’s jams are extremely “in the moment” and reflect his then current state of mind, which makes for very interesting and honest music. Personally I think the best part of that recording style is you get to hear exactly what he was thinking at that given time—no filter, no bullshit. He could be just fucking around and laying down some jokes or he could be hippy-flipping on a different planet and giving you a lyrical express train to tripping balls city. His projects and songs sometimes lack a theme and are instead a collection of one-liners and creative metaphors. But this absence of consistency ironically forms a cohesion: The journey through Chris Crack’s unfiltered mind. Again, you never know what you’re gonna get.

His song, “White Van Music”, demonstrates his clever ability that will simultaneously offend and intrigue you—“I got more lettuce, And more cheddar, Can’t let them niggas ketchup, Ten steps ahead of, These pussies with a yeast infection, Nigga get your bread up”. Damn, my mother would not approve of these lyrics. But lucky for you, YOU’RE NOT MY MOTHER! You can enjoy as much Chris Crack as you want! *Disclaimer: Chris Crack and ZeusWolf are not responsible for your actions while consuming Chris Crack’s music*. Also lucky for you, Chris has a wildly extensive music catalogue that you can check out here. His resilient work ethic has forced him to ingrain himself in the studio and produce an abyss of projects.

These projects have granted him visibility and coverage from high-profile sites, like Complex and Pitchfork. The latter publication gave him very respectable reviews on one of his solo projects, Public Domain 4, and collab album, Who the Fuck Is Chris Spencer??, The former is a tribute to Harlem’s Max B and the latter is the collaborative project of Chris Spencer, comprised of Chris Crack and Vic Spencer. Chris Spencer resembles a jalapeño popper—Vic functions as the softening cream cheese to Chris’ jalapeño bite. In addition to Chris Spencer, Crack is also the leader of the Chicago collective, New Deal Crew.

Aside from the alternative content that he snarls on the microphone, Chris is keen on creating visual complements to his offbeat music. He teamed up with the Chicago production company, 119, to create the visual treatment for his jam, “Armani Silverware”. The result is a cocktail of equal parts awesome, hilarious, and, of course, crazy. Be sure to check out this dope video along with his others.

It truly takes a special kid to be so bold and confident in a field crowded with talent. The ability to throw on blinders and disregard any negative energy is essential to ascend to the top—and believe me, Chris receives his fair share of negative energy due to his unique music and attitude. We were shocked when Chris told us against the grain view that Chicago lacks brotherhood. One of Crack’s long time producers, Timothy Turtle, encouraged Chris to always adhere to his vision and never compromise his artistic integrity at the request of the public—do the best version of you, and that version will shine.

Chris Crack is far from your average rapper, and quite frankly, I’m grateful for that. Emcees are bumping elbows trying to establish presence in an extremely oversaturated market; topics get so recycled that I’ve become numb to a large portion of rap’s content. We’ve heard the dudes talk about lean; we’ve heard about hardened gangsters. There’s a scarcity of crazy motherfuckers with absolutely zero regard for peoples’ opinions. A$AP Rocky might be that jiggy n***a, but Chris Crack is that crazy motherfucker.

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20/20 (No Glasses)