PRISM MEDIA
PRESENTING REALITY IN SLOW MOTION.
ARTISTS TO WATCH
GROWTHFULLY DEVELOPED
“I wish keeping it real was contagious.”
by Mike Mekus
3/17/2022
Chicago rapper Chris Crack has been one of the best and most consistent rappers alive since May of 2018, when he released LET’S JUST BE FRIENDS. Since then, he’s released a total of 16 (!!) albums, most of them spanning anywhere from 25-35 minutes and all of them littered with musical gems. His newest album, GROWTHFULLY DEVELOPED, released February 22nd, 2022, is another remarkably breezy and effective entry into an already ludicrously great discography.
Outside of a few of the rappers from the Detroit rap scene, there may not be another artist on planet earth who so easily melds together breakneck flows with absurdly hilarious lyrics the way Chris Crack can. It helps that the timbre of his voice is what it is, as it only serves to make his lyrics even funnier. Crack has a snappy, high-pitched voice, helping all of his jokes hit harder. There aren’t enough unique voices in rap right now (so many songs sound like carbon copies of other songs), so it helps that Crack has an incredible and memorable rap voice. It’s punchy and he raps like he’s got a devilish, cheeky grin on his face at all times. It should be no shock that his music is filled with as many clever musings as they are when you consider he’s the guy who comes up with song titles like:
“Face Sitting and Frank Ocean”
“Side Pussy Might Save the Marriage”
“Hoes at Trader Joe’s” (his best song and one of my favorite songs ever, for what it’s worth)
“My Ex Was a Garden Tool”
“All Cops Are Bitches”
“Therapy Don’t Work, Try Drugs”
GROWTHFULLY DEVELOPED displays Crack at his usual level of razor-sharp incisiveness and wit, with lyrics such as, “If money the root of all evil, why they ask for it at church?” and “Only say grace when I’m eating pizza… or pussy.” However, despite the fact that Chris Crack is known as a mostly funny and comedic rapper, there is a lot of depth to him as a songwriter. Because most of his songs are so quick (few of them ever are longer than 120 seconds), they can feel as if they whip by and it becomes possible to miss what a talented and brilliant writer he is, outside of the comedy, but he certainly is.
Like all Chris Crack albums, the production is also sublime. Almost every song is a simple sped-up soul loop, but the production is always so lively and full of vivaciousness, making them a perfect canvas for Crack to wax poetically about how it’s important to “treat your girlfriend better than your side bitches” or how “women want to fuck him because he told them he’s related to Oprah”. GROWTHFULLY DEVELOPED is another stellar album from Chris Crack, one of the funniest, most gifted rappers alive that is worth the listen.