A Glance in Underground Rap: Yo Chill
Feature Writing | Austin Kong
A soft rumble emits from a two-story house on a deserted stretch of road on North Manheim Boulevard, New Paltz. It’s late at night and the only other thing that could be heard at this hour are chirps and cricket noises. While the neighbors are sleeping, music plays upstairs and the porch is packed with people blowing through an endless stream of Newport cigarettes chatting away and drinking.
“Any type of donations counts, guys. They came all the way down here to perform.” He holds a box of money at the door.
It’s a freak show inside. Shifty people of various colors and trippy styles all crowd into a dark living room space bumping their heads to a hard-faced rapper dripped up in true religion clothes. He wears his bold Yankees cap over a green bandana shielding his face. In a trance, he spits his verses like an auto-tuned computer and the audience receive him like a god bewitched and violently dancing to the beat.
His name is Yo Chill.
Yo Chill is part of a rap collective called ECW that has members all across the five boroughs. Unlike more well-known New York rappers like Cardi B, Jay Critch, and A Boogie, he spits his verses as a free-minded individual who’s unafraid to show his true side and outlandish personality. From boasting about his rebellious attitude on his instagram, he is far from the norm of a New York rapper but still connected to the city as its concrete walls.
He’s a seasoned artist when it comes to producing music videos of repeating meme-like patterns to futuristic beats straight out of a Hollywood sci-fi film. Yo Chill is a well-rounded artist who’s all about promoting his brand and identity. Choosing to work with only a few crew members, he has collaborated with certain producers like DJ Oh Nah and Laron, who has worked alongside top artists like Jay Critch. He also worked numerously with Chip Skylark, one of the founding members of ECW who has been featured on XXL as “New York’s Hottest Up-and-Coming,” producing hot tracks and music videos like “Y2K Dynasty” and “Energy Never Dies.”
Yo Chill’s productions also boast his own talents as an artist making cover art for banners and album covers on his social media. Music videos like WEEDMAN and MASTER portray an artful form of delinquency that is about to f*ck some sh*t up, in the most politest of terms. Comical and hilariously pointless at the same time, MASTER depicts a gang of rebellious youths drinking in a Chase bank alongside a homeless man eating a lobster claw. His beats warps you to a matrix of robots, computers, and of Terminator movies with hot albums such as System Failure 3016.
Other tracks like B Ur Own G.O.D. gives a lucifer-god sensation holding the reins to his own destiny. “I’m mythology cuz I gotta be a god to these mockeries/I’m a frequency and a commodity I gotta be the mega million lottery.”
Mr.Muthafuckin’ eXquire is a teacher when it comes to ECW. Born and raised in Crown Heights, he mentored fellow Brooklyn rappers of the crew, Chip Skylark and Bammo Gzz, and is a pioneer for the new Brooklyn wave of rap. He first became aware of Yo Chill while walking through Washington Square Park with his father.
“Yo Chill is the Beastie Boys mixed with Chief Keef. He’s a student of music, so his sound encompasses a little of everything. Incredible voice, incredible delivery, and his lyrics are funny yet poignant.” eXquire says.
The New York rapper is not afraid to be himself. In an article about Yo Chill, Tab writer Alexandra Warrick sees him as an obvious outlier in the rap industry. Her best words on his music–“resulting in an effortless individuality that might leave advertising executives screaming.”
As a member of ECW, he has collaborated with several projects such as Heatwave which consists mainly of him and Chip Skylark. Other members like Bammo Gzz has been credited for being pivotal in the movement. In an article from Pitchfork, rapper eXquire characterizes the rap group into “a mix of everything that it’s hard to trace it back to anything.”
I met up with Yo Chill in a park in the Lower East Side where we discussed about his music and his band ECW.
What made you start rapping in the first place?
I always liked music playing the bass, guitars, and drums. And I love rock, jazz, funk, and rap too. I first remembered freestyling in the seventh grade. Everybody would try to spit bars even if they weren’t nice but I wasn’t really trying to rap because why does anybody give a f*ck about what I got to say? But as times have changed, I started taking it more seriously.
I see that you've created numerous products from T-shirts and keychains to toy figurines of your own design; big and small. What is one thing you think represents the whole brand?
I think it depends. I feel like as a form of expression, the figurines represent it the most, but as far as something is accessible to other people, the clothing probably represents it more. But I think it’s all cohesive, or at least I try to make it cohesive across all these different things, you know, so, I mean just the logo itself is supposed to represent the brand. Then in its simplest form, the logo would be the best representation of the brand.
How did ECW get formed?
I was going to school in Queens and I couldn’t go there anymore because I was getting into too much trouble. So I transferred down to City As High School in downtown Manhattan. I went there in 2013. I met Chip Skylark, Robbie Loch, and Roarsach in 2014. I knew him from one of his music videos and we would always freestyle in the park. We started meeting up and making tracks and Chip put the whole mindset of ECW because he’s the creator of it. He’s the one who assembled the team and got everybody on board.
What made you start putting your own music out there?
I don’t feel like I’ve ever had a choice. I was always someone who was outside of the box and rebellious and I’ve never learned how to tame it since it always ended up working. Sitting in a classroom doing a worksheet wasn’t for me. I realized that I love art so much I got no choice but to pursue it. It also inspired me to do something new with my music. With other famous rappers like 6ix9ine and Lil Pump, I wanted to go on a different route instead of the 1000 people that did the same thing as them
What can you say about New York rap nowadays?
It could definitely be better. There’s some Brooklyn drill sh*t that’s dope. There’s also a lot of young kids too who are into the punky kind of rap that’s interesting but they don’t get enough shine or love on a biblical level that we have for mainstream artists. In New York, everything’s changing too fast like do people think Cardi B and Aboogie represent modern day New York? A bit, yeah. But it could definitely be better.
How’s the band, ECW, looking as of now?
It’s tough because sh*t changes. We started with eleven people who were all apart of this process. But there’s mad history in there; some people chose to opt out of the group, some died and some are in jail right now. It’s really not an easy road. But I think that the strength is within each individual. We all linked [meet up] because we knew we were the strongest people around each other. So I think it’s like the Avengers sh*t where we all need to link up and save the day.
Where do you see yourself in the future with your music?
I just see it getting bigger. I put a lot of experience into this rap game and I’ve been taking it seriously since 2014. I’ve seen rappers who pop out and then get dropped out. There’s a lot of drama in it and rap is the most petty form of music as far as I know. And there are some people that just aren’t real and they would rather skip steps then take it seriously. So I’ve got to create my own path.
Where do you see the band in terms of its future?
I really don’t know. There’s so much unpredictability that goes on. Like I be with Bammo Gzz all day pumping out tracks for the album and then a few days later, he gets locked up. So you’re not counting on that to happen and for people to quit or die either. So even if it does break up, I’ll still be ECW and I’ll rep it until the day I die. At the end of the day, we’d still give the people music.