As Hip Hop has grown into new centuries and touched new generations, we’ve seen the children of iconic rappers like Willow and Jaden Smith, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Diggy Simmons and others, grow into their own stardom.
Being the child of an entertainer isn’t always as glamorous as it appears; the hectic touring schedule and devotion that artists put into their careers often takes away from valuable family life experiences.
Chris Rivers, son of the legendary Big Punisher, who was taken away from him at the age of six, was both impacted by the rapper’s dedication to his craft but also his untimely death in 2000. As Rivers embarks on his own career and embraces his own artistry, he reflects on the path of “rags to riches to rags” his father’s death lead to.
The young New York MC’s value has risen over the past few years, not only because he killed a freestyle on Sway in the Morning, or collaborated with veteran MCs, but because the dude is NICE.
In Rivers, listeners will find raw energy mixed with scientific metaphoric word play, and somewhere in his unique voice you hear the passion and charisma eerily reminiscent of Big Pun.
Rivers speaks about his on and off again relationship with Hip Hop.
“Like a girl you date and keep breaking up with. When I was eight, like right after he passed, I was like, yeah I wanna be a rapper. I remembered my pops doing it, and felt like it was something I was supposed to do. But imagine like being a kid and saying, I wanna be a fireman or an astronaut, but you imagine you have the actual resources to be an astronaut. Then you find out, damn it’s actually a lot.”
Rivers states falling into Hip Hop as a child, then out again, and two of my favorite names in the game: Eminem and Mos Def as two of his biggest influencers.
“Music was always my escape, I wrote a lot of poetry. In poverty, free-styling and stuff like that I was always into it. Then in high school it really struck a nerve for me. I seen older people going to college and getting jobs, working hard just to pay bills, and they were miserable. And I’m just like,
“Yo, when I leave school I want to do the thing I love” not just because it’s a smart choice. I want to be happy. So music was my first choice. Now we’re here.”
Yeah, Chris- started from the bottom…and now we here. Pinch yourself baby, it’s real. 💯
Check it out HERE: and if you don’t know, now ya know. 😎
Enjoy! Happy Friday!
xoxx -Mel 💋
