Classic is a Hip Hop artist and Songwriter, born in Muskegon MI. Grew up in a military family spending his childhood numerous states in the United States while also growing up in Berlin Germany. Classic got his name from his love of classical music from the renaissance period, he has an old school style flow with the ability to switch up his style while still maintaining the substance that more traditional hip-hop listeners enjoy over newer sounding hip-hop. He first started to rap after his mother got him into music at an early age. He always have an ear for good sound.
“My mother was into fashion, music and overall life. As time evolved we evolved with it. I just took what styles I liked and thought represented parts of my personality best. Rather than being riding the beat like a southern artist, to switching up to a west coast style, but centering my style in what influenced me most and that’s the early 90’s east coast style. I have all those elements in my style today where I’m capable to jump on multiple sounds and styles being that I let the beat tell the story that way I’m able to leave my signature on the track.”
The recent rise of groups like Griselda’s artist, Westside Gunn, Benny the Butcher, and Conway standout as his favorite artist up to date. Also including the likes of Royce Da 5’9“, Da Baby, Migos, Eminem, J Cole and Kendrick Lamar. Aside from his rhyming skills and undeniable talent, Classic has underwent an evolution taking what he’s experienced in his earlier start in hip-hop and combining it with where we all are currently in time. Going under the radar for most of the earlier part of his career, he has reemerged a force.
However his career in music would get a later start being that he was a pretty decent high school basketball player and would focus a lot of his time on sports. Attending Kansas Wesleyan University by the end of 2004 he wanted to focus on music full time. Everything started for me when our family relocated to Phoenix AZ in 2008 where he pushed mixtapes out of his car and ran the local scene doing shows. He ran into Juice a “Black Wall Street.” Artist for The Game’s group. Who enjoyed one of his mixtapes and started to do music with him.
“I started making moves rather quickly opening up for DJ Quik and Kurupt out in Scottsdale AZ at a Sean Healy event, shows my grind and networking skills, I wasn’t from the Phoenix area but I met all the right people and in a short time I grew faster than previous years before that.” With mixtapes “Phoenix New Sun 3.” being sold from the trunk of his car back then making very little use of the internet this tape saw only 276 plays on datpiff. In February 2008 Phoenix New Sun 4 hosted by Juice of Black Wall Street in 2009 received over 200 downloads and 442 plays. “The Michigan Wolverine.”
In 2011 featured Willie The Kid who at the time was on D.J. Drama’s label received 527 only releasing via Bandcamp. “We got a track called, “Spartans & Wolverines.” which was special to me being that Willie is still currently the biggest artist in Western Michigan.” In November 2012 “No Cover.” arguably one of my top projects was released by DJ Gallo of Coast to Coast Mixtapes. The tape received 50,000 plays and sponsored on datpiff. That’s where the new chapter started.
“I rebranded myself during this moment in time because I was changing as a man.” In 2013 I got married in Washington D.C. where my wife and I lived at the time. I stayed consistent during the time creating a brand for my music called, ‘Cat3goryOtha,” which represents my life being that I’m not of the norm, I can’t be put in a category because my entire life has been adapt and change. I started my mixtape series “Back To The Past.” with a feature from G-13 who featured on the track “Nas is Coming.” off the It Was Written album. I began to settle into my new role as a man focusing more time on working a regular job and dealing with that grind, music wasn’t producing money so i focused on what did.”
2016 Classic would start to pick back up releasing another mixtape, “Back To The Past 2″ via bandcamp while going on the 8th Annual Get Money Stop Hating Tour in cities such as Louisville KY, Indianapolis IN, Detroit MI, Dayton OH, and Austin TX SXSW to name a few moving more physical copies than ever before. In 2017 he won an event with Coast 2 Coast Live and attended their annual convention in Miami Florida Sept. 17 2017, where he released, “The Chillzone.” while also recording; “The Black Side,” his first entry into the streaming world and struggled with a mere 446 streams. “I had to learn the game, there were fewer opportunities for artist to get their music out and I’ve always been consistent so I knew after this project I would be able to really pick up and head in the right direction.”
Read: Classic: Album Review, Features and Songs
The Black Side touches on police brutality and puts more of a spot light on the political side of the U.S. Which has only magnified during the current state of the United States. “Late 2018 I toured, the “Well Worded Tour.” with Landon Wordswell & Gray Jackson. We drove to Knoxville Tenneessee, Charleston South Carolina, Columbia South Carolina, Bloomington Illinois, & Urbana Champagne. from Oct. 3rd to 7th headlining the tour. A vision Landon Wordswell executed assembling the best rising hip hop talent in the country.”
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