Yung Chris bio

“At the end of it all the ultimate goal is to have people say, Cleveland? Oh that was Chris! He was the best that ever came out of here. I’d be fine with that.”

Yung Chris is more than just a rapper with dreams of putting his Ohio hometown on the map; he’s a mogul in the making with visions of an empire.

The Cleveland raised, college-educated, gainfully employed emcee could easily solely focus on his career but since his primary school days, rap has been an itch he couldn’t quite seem to scratch; a love that he just couldn’t leave alone.

“I started rapping in 5th grade. It started out as joanin’ on each other and making it rhyme but then I got a lil more serious about it in high school. That’s when I first started to record with my man D’Angelo in my room. It transitioned from playing around to something much more serious.”

Heavily influenced by the obvious rap elite like Jay-Z, Nas, Tupac and Biggie, Chris also credits Paul Wall and Chamillionaire for helping him develop a penchant for Texas’ trademark slowed down, chopped up, screw music. One he hopes to further bring out in his rhymes.

“In Cleveland we listen to a lot of screw music, everybody’s been on screw for a long time. When I got to Hampton I knew a lot more screw than people from that area, from people in Texas. I know shit that only people from deep in Houston know because I got archives of the screw. That was very influential in my music and I’m still trying to find how to convey my thoughts on wax based on its influence.”

When he’s not in the booth relishing in rhymes, the rapper calmly plays the Clark Kent to his Superman. He excels at an office job and reflects on his dream of being a Senior Executive at a Fortune 500 company; a dream he says not even rap can defer.

“I don’t ever plan on quitting my job, I’m going to continue with my career path and rap at the same time. I want to be a CMO of a Fortune 500 company. That’s what I really wanna do, I wanna do both. I don’t want people to just say he’s a rapper; I don’t like that because it doesn’t speak to my intelligence at all. What’s the difference between Jay-Z and Soulja Boy? In somebody’s eyes they’re both just, what? Rappers. I want to be more than that. “

With a keen business sense, smooth rhymes and an ear for beats, the young lyricist is no stranger to being noticed. While he calls quotes, texts and tweets about his music “priceless”, one conversation in particular solidified his decision to keep his passion for music on hand. During his freshman year of college a popular DJ put him in contact with one of the biggest and most widely known names in Hip-Hop who then offered his personal stamp of approval.

“My biggest accomplishment was having a conversation with Russell Simmons. My freshman year he told me over the phone, “I like your style, your flow, you got it baby. Get with me when you got something solid.” Just having that stamp from him, that’s bigger than getting a stamp from Jay-Z, there wouldn’t even be a Jay-Z without Russell Simmons. That’s the biggest thing that’s ever happened to me in my life.”

So ultimately what does the celebrity praised, Cleveland raised emcee want most? A win for the city that he loves and proudly carries on his back.

“I just wanna put my city on, we’re losing, we’re always losing. We ain’t never won nothing. Someday I’m gonna bring us home some kind of championship whether it’s a Grammy, a rec center or whatever it may be. One day someone will say he’s the best that ever did it and he’s from this place. I just wanna create an impact during my time here on earth.”

Danielle Canada