Chris Morris - Rest In Peace... - remembering the life and music of the Florida MC

kategorie: Hip-Hop/Rap

dodano: 2016-02-17 23:30 przez: Marcin Natali (komentarze: 0)

News of the death of young, talented artists are always a serious blow and force us to reconsider the priorities in life and the daily pursuit of less important things... Last Thursday I personally was affected strongly when I heard about the tragic motorcycle accident of Chris Morris – a 25-year-old rapper and singer from Brooklyn, raised in Florida.

One of the first people to pay respects and send his condolences was 9th Wonder, who supported and followed the career of Chris from the moment the ambitious, 22-year-old MC sent him his tracks and delighted the Grammy winner with soulful choruses, verses filled with striking honesty and without exception motivating message, following the motto "In Dreams We Trust."

A modest, yet confident man, forever chasing his dreams - and above all the most important one – "to become a voice for kids who have struggles similar to the ones I express through my music, from flashbacks to present everyday encounters". A guy always glowing with positive energy, laughing from ear to ear, who immediately aroused sympathy (I'm the coolest dude you will ever meet) and elicited peals of laughter - whether it's comical dancing in the videos, those hilarious statuses on Facebook or unpredictable pics and clips, showcasing the one of a kind sense of humor. In a few years of his career, Chris managed to release three projects – we wrote on Popkiller about "The Mind of a Believer" in 2012 and "Hip Hop Fell In Love With Me" in 2014. Both titles are a good indication of the atmosphere we will find in West Palm Beach pupil's music. From the beginning when Chris started recording music at the urging of friends about 5 years ago, he has been classifying unexpectedly rapid progress, and from the first lines you heard, it was evident that in rap he has found an asylum and purpose of life.

I'm just an artist striving for the greatest in life. my humble background pushes me from all the materialistic things in life which shows through my personality that I'm jus a down to earth chill Dude. I don't wanna be the kid known for popping pills and shit, I wanna be the one kids look up to and provide good music at the same time.

On the three albums that he released, Chris appeared as an artist who loves soul, does not avoid sharing every scrap of his life with the listener, and one who is gifted with a natural, effortless flow and distinctive, quite high vocal. Still growing and getting better at singing, Chris called to mind the essential old school style of rap, and even Slum Village (check "What Is Love"), but at the same time he was constantly trying new things and had fun making music - indeed, do you know any other rapper who would’ve thrown a track named "Some Weird Sh*t I Don't Like" on his album?

It seems that he interwove various styles without the slightest effort - at one point was able to hit the nostalgic, reflective vibes reminiscent of a young J. Cole, then record an electrifying, entertaining song about his love for Nintendo games "Super Nintendo", turn around and write an emotional tribute to his mother, who raised him alone ("Letter To Momma", "Super Mom"), only to surprise you 2 tracks later with "Grammy Speech," where, with a comical fury in his voice, he spat out a stream of invectives towards Kanye West (and his Air Yeezys) for scooping the prize for "Hip Hop Artist of All Time" right from under his nose.

Unfortunately, I've never had a chance to meet Chris in person, but we’ve been in contact for quite a few years, precisely since 2012 - both as friends and on the musical level. The thing that I admired most in him was his consequence, constantly pushing forward, the impressive work ethic - it seemed that all his time free from work he was sitting in the studio and recording new vocals; and the fact that he always tried to give everyone an extra dose of motivation and energy (which he always seemed to have more than enough), to do their thing and excel.

Prior to his untimely passing Chris was working hard on his fourth project "Life Ain’t Holy", which was supposed to feature already recorded guest verses from Talib Kweli and Blu. He has also collaborated, among others, with acclaimed underground producer Khrysis. Rich, promising plans for the future were ended, however, by Wednesday's fatal accident in which Chris, riding on his new, black motorcycle Honda, collided with a car and as a result died an hour later at the hospital... In the last picture, which he uploaded to the Internet, he poses proudly dressed all in black (with a comment "All Black Everything") on his bike at the parking lot, preparing to hit the road. Who could have thought then that a few hours later, the black-and-white picture would take on such a tragic meaning... Still hard to believe in these words, and listening now to your lines Bury me a hero, cause I ain't tryna be a lost soul from "Reincarnation" seems until unreal... Seeing countless emotional posts by friends, acquaintances and fans, posthumously flooding your Facebook timeline, I have no doubt though that for many of them you indeed were, and always will be a hero. Rest In Paradise Chris...

PS. Watching your old videos again, I played your 2013 tribute to J Dilla for like the 10th time within the past few days, and remembered you sending me this fun video and explaining that your house was being renovated and how you were mad because you had no place to record new vocals at haha. I laughed at those crazy dance moves you were showing off, instantly putting a smile on my face every time I played it... I also just realized today that you left this Earth on February 10, the same day that J Dilla, one of your favorite producers, passed 10 years earlier. Man you used to pay tributes to Jay Dee all the time, whether freestyling over his countless instrumentals or mentioning him in your rhymes, and it’s so crazy and unreal to think that from now on, every year’s February 10 will inseparably remind us of both of you - two passionate artists devoted to their craft, watching over us and making that sweet hip-hop music in Heaven... Rest In Beats Chris Morris.