Young Chris
| Young Chris | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Christopher F. Ries |
| Born | March 9, 1984 |
| Origin | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupations | Rapper, Songwriter |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Labels | Division1/Universal Motown |
| Associated acts | Young Gunz, State Property J. Cole |
| Website | youngchris.com, division1.com, |
Young Chris (born Christopher F. Ries in 1984) is a Grammy nominated[1] American rapper and songwriter. A member of Philadelphia rap duo Young Gunz, formerly signed to Roc-A-Fella records through Beanie Sigel’s State Property collective,[1] early success included the hit single "Can't Stop, Won't Stop".[2] Signed in December 2010 as a solo artist to Universal Motown through producer/songwriter Rico Love’s label imprint Division1, Young Chris is currently working on his album release.[3] Because of identical names (minus a spelling difference), he is often confused with rapper Yung Chris and incorrectly credited as the performer of the song Racks
Contents |
[edit] Music career
[edit] Young Gunz
Young Chris and Neef Buck (born Hanif Muhammad) had been friends since they were young boys on the block(C-Ave).[4] On "Takeover", a track from his 2001 album “The Blueprint”, Jay-Z announced the duo as "Chris & Neef".[5] In 2001, the duo performed on the State Property soundtrack album.[5] Young Chris and Neef starred in the titular movie.[6] Also during this period of their career, Young Chris appeared throughout Dame Dash's Dream Team compilation, and Beanie Sigel's The Reason.[7] The duo performed together on guest appearances for albums like Jay-Z's The Blueprint 2, Freeway's Philadelphia Freeway, State Property's The Chain Gang Vol. 2, and Memphis Bleek's M.A.D.E.; all while recording their album.[8] The Young Gunz scored their first hit with "Can't Stop, Won't Stop", the lead-off single from The Chain Gang Vol. 2 album.[2] Its song and video received major airplay on hip-hop radio, MTV2, and BET and reached #14 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and #6 on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart.[2]
After the success of their single, "Can't Stop, Won't Stop", the label jumped and was ready to release their debut album, Tough Luv.[9] It included the remix to "Can't Stop, Won't Stop", which featured St. Louis rapper Chingy.[9] Singles included "No Better Love" featuring former Roc-A-Fella Records crooner Rell and the Just Blaze-produced "Friday Night".[9] Tough Luv debuted on the Billboard 200 at #3 after selling 128,000 copies in its first week.[2] That week, the album at #2 was labelmate Kanye West's debut album The College Dropout, which was released just two weeks earlier.[10]
After a brief hiatus, the duo returned with Swizz Beatz produced "Set It Off" from their second album, Brothers from Another.[11] It was the second release from the "new" Roc-A-Fella Records, referencing when Jay-Z became president of Def Jam Records, the first being Memphis Bleek's 534.[12][13] The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at #15, and included guest features from Kanye West, Swizz Beatz, Slim of 112 and John Legend.[14][15]
[edit] Solo career
As early as March 2006, Young Chris thought about recording a solo album. He initially titled it Now or Never.[16] He stated to XXL magazine that he wanted to release a solo album by the end of 2008 and had been "95 percent done" by June 2008.[17] In this article, Young Chris also states that he feels himself up there with Lil' Wayne and Juelz Santana.[17] Since this time, Chris has taken to the internet to solidify himself as a top solo artist, with his YoungChris.com Social Network, hitting the remix circuit, and his much anticipated "The Network" Mixtape series, hosted by DJ Don Cannon.[18][19]
In December 2010 Young Chris signed with Division1, a label started by songwriter/producer Rico Love, under the Universal Motown umbrella.[3] Love considers Young Chris his flagship artist, working closely with Young Chris on his debut album and pre-album/mixtape.[20] The mixtape, called "The Re-Introduction", was released on November 20, 2010.[21] The aptly titled mixtape gives the spotlight to a newly signed Young Chris, as a solo artist, and also, re-introduces the combination of DJ Drama and Don Cannon, the former "Affiliates" partners, hosting their first mixtape together, in several years.[22]
On January 28, a song called "Philly Shit (Mega Mix)" featuring Young Chris, Eve, Black Thought, Money Malc, Fat Joe, Fred The Godson, Diggy Simmons, Jermaine Dupri & The Game was leaked.[23] On March 22, 2011, Young Chris’ single “A$$ets” was commercially released.[24]
[edit] Awards and Nominations
"Can't Stop, Won't Stop" was nominated for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards.[1]
[edit] Discography
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Koslow, Jessica (2003-12-09). "HHDX News Bits (Tuesday) | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHop DX. http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.2165/title.hhdx-news-bits-Tuesday. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ a b c d "Young Gunz History". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/young-gunz/195621. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
- ^ a b Burgess, Omar (2010-10-11). "Young Chris Signs To Division One/Universal Motown | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHop DX. http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.12553/title.young-chris-signs-to-division-one-universal-motown. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ Reid, Shaheem (2003-08-12). "Young Gunz Becoming The Big Shots Of State Property". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1476770/20030812/young_gunz.jhtml. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
- ^ a b Birchmeier, Jason (2005). "Young Gunz Biography". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p224505/biography. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0301893/
- ^ Love, Bret (2001-06-26). "The Reason - Beanie Sigel". AllMusic. http://allmusic.com/album/the-reason-r539895. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ "Young Gunz". AllMusic. 2003-10-09. http://allmusic.com/artist/young-gunz-p224505/songs/all-songs. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ a b c Kellman, Andy (2004-02-24). "Tough Luv - Young Gunz". AllMusic. http://allmusic.com/album/tough-luv-r680480. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ Martens, Todd (2004-03-03). "Norah Makes Comfy 'Home' At No. 1". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/search/google/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000451984.
- ^ Kellman, Andy (2005-05-24). "Brothers from Another - Young Gunz". AllMusic. http://allmusic.com/album/brothers-from-another-r743190. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ Conniff, Tamara (2004-12-08). "Jay-Z named Def Jam president, CEO - Entertainment - Music - TODAY.com". Today.msnbc.msn.com. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/6680078/ns/today-entertainment/. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ Kellman, Andy (2005-05-17). "534 - Memphis Bleek". AllMusic. http://allmusic.com/album/534-r741428. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ Audioslave Opens at #1 | Billboard
- ^ "Brothers from Another - Young Gunz". AllMusic. 2005-05-24. http://allmusic.com/album/brothers-from-another-r743190/credits. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ Reid, Shaheem (2006-03-20). "N.O.R.E. Makes Diddy Speak Spanish; Young Gunz Reload". Mixtape Monday (MTV News). http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/mixtape_monday/032006/. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
- ^ a b Thomas, Anthony (2008-06-26). "Young Chris, "I’m up there with Wayne and Juelz"". XXL. http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=22543.
- ^ "Young Chris". AllMusic. http://allmusic.com/artist/young-chris-p578339/songs. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ "Young Chris: The Network 2 (New Album)". Prefixmag.com. http://www.prefixmag.com/reviews/young-chris/the-network-2/38468/. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ Rodriguez, Jayson (2010-11-22). "Young Chris Gets His Re-Introduction Courtesy Of Usher Pal Rico Love - Music, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1652738/young-chris-gets-his-reintroduction-courtesy-usher-pal-rico-love.jhtml. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ "The Reintroduction Pre-Album | Download Now!". Young Chris. http://youngchris.com/. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ Rodriguez, Jayson (2010-11-22). "Young Chris Gets His Re-Introduction Courtesy Of Usher Pal Rico Love". Mixtape Daily (MTV News). http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1652738/20101119/dj_drama.jhtml. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
- ^ "Young Chris f. Eve, Black Thought, Money Malc, Fat Joe, Fred The Godson, Diggy Simmons, Jermaine Dupri & Game "Philly Shit Mega-Mix"". HipHopDX.com. 2011-01-29. http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/singles/id.13665/title.young-chris-f-eve-black-thought-money-malc-fat-joe-fred-the-godson-diggy-simmons-jermaine-dupri-game-philly-shit-mega-mix. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
- ^ "A*$-ETS (feat. Rico Love) - Single by Young Chris - Download A*$-ETS (feat. Rico Love) - Single on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. 2011-03-22. http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/a-ets-feat-rico-love-single/id425509493. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
