Chris Patrick: Manifesting Greatness
Chris. Patrick. “The guy with two first names” according to his social bios. You may have become familiar with Chris from the underground hip-hop twitter scene, or from his recent placement in the NBA 2K21 soundtrack. However, Chris’s artistry reaches far past these two platforms.
True Chris Patrick “Stans” are probably most familiar with his Soundcloud tape, “H.O.M.E,” which stands for “How Our Minds Evolved”. Chris has been making music since high school, he says, but never seriously got into it until after his opening performance for Travis Scott in 2016. (Read below for full story).
One thing that was clear from the very beginning of the interview is Chris’s energy, and passion. The second we sat down with him he began asking us questions and opening up a dialogue. Even though this opportunity started out as a basic Q&A interview, it quickly evolved into a casual conversation, digging deep into the structure of modern-day Black art.
Throughout the discussion, Chris frequently talked about speaking things into existence, something he is a firm believer of. “I’ve been doing it since I started,” he said. “So when I say, I’m going to go platinum, I’m going to have a #1, I really mean it.”
Chris emphasized that one of his biggest goals as an artist is to remain authentic, and this goal was made apparent through the nature of his responses. Don’t be surprised when this guy becomes a household name in a couple of years.
Where are you from?
New Jersey, born and raised. I’m from North Jersey. I was born in East Orange, like ten minutes away from Newark. Born in ‘96, I’m 24, I’ve been there all my life.
What influence does Jersey have on your artistry?
Honestly yo, the craziest part of it all comes down to the people. When I started making music, I was big on rap, that’s all I did, I would just rap my ass off. I still rap my ass off, that’s what I like to do. But I started to realize that where I’m from we don’t really “swing” in terms of sound. Like we have representation in Jersey but we don’t have anything currently present right now that’s strongly within the modern era. So for me, I always looked at it like: “What’s the best way for me to represent the people around me?” And it really became just, sliding into different sounds and shit like that. So that’s really where the inspiration came from, just dealing with different people.
You got people like myself who grew up in East Orange, and then people that grew up in other areas where the cultures different, so that mindset just allowed me to slide into different vibes and that’s really the big thing for me.
You said you grew up there all your life, have you ever moved around or traveled in that time?
I started traveling as I got older, but a lot of that traveling stuff didn’t really start until I got to college fr. I was running track when I was in high school, so I started seeing more as far as trips we would take, but I never really traveled until I got to college. It wasn’t until post-college that I had my first out of the country trip, it was actually last summer when I was 23. So, I’m a little late on the traveling game, but I’m definitely starting to see more now.
Where’d you end up going to college?
I went to Rider University. I was there for four years, graduated with a bachelor’s in Healthcare Administration. I worked in a hospital for a little bit of time, thought it was ass, and I had to dip up out of there.
So what specifically got you into making music?
Aw man, this the one right here. I was making music a little while back when I was in high school. It wasn’t anything serious, I really got into freestyling. That was my big thing. I used to just rap with people in the hallways, battlin’ and all that. When I got to college I was doing the same thing. My sophomore year I had to do a project, with my homie on the track team for his cinematography class. We had to film a couple of episodes for the project and I was just like: “Yo this is super fye.” But in the last episode, we had to make a full song. Our class really liked it a lot, and it made me think about it.
The following year, we had a competition at my school called “R-Factor. ” It was based off of “X-Factor”. The R because of Rider obviously. They usually do singers, but I hopped in as a rapper, the first-ever rapper to do it. I ended up winning it. I actually really did it because I wanted the prize money to buy my girlfriend an anniversary gift. But I ended up winning that shit. The winner also got to open up for Travis Scott when he came to our school to perform, it was right after he dropped “Birds in the Trap”. So I got to open up for him, met him, and after that moment It was kind of like: “Yo, I’m bout to just do this shit, fr.”
Wow, that’s dope, I’ve never heard anything like that, that’s crazy.
I know bro, it’s crazy as hell. I’m not even gonna lie.
Nah, but that’s how it happens for artists. It really can be just that one moment.
Yeah, 100%, the craziest part is, I didn’t even go into it thinking like “Oh I wanna be a rapper”. I just knew I could rap, I knew I could make songs, I can do this, that, and the third. I was just tryna win that $500, and mind you, I was in college, I ain’t got no job, I’m running track all damn day. So I was just like: “Alright, lemme just win this, so I can get her something’ nice.” I ended up getting her an Apple Watch, which was cool, but in retrospect, it’s super crazy because I did it for one thing, but something entirely different just blew up from all that and it’s really just… crazy like you were saying.
Damn man, that really is just wild. Not to be corny but, speaking of “wild”, 2020 has been a wild year to say the least. How have those events affected you as an artist or as a person?
Well, obviously COVID being one of the events that really kind of made me think outside of the box, just how to be more creative. How to find ways to make myself be seen without going outside. I mean, we’re kind of outside with the masks and shit. But in the beginning, it was more tight-knit and we were really “locked-up”. I was in the house like literally every day, that was the main thing that really made me think more creatively.
Then before that, the passing of Kobe, was one of the things that really flipped the switch in my head a little bit. Obviously Kobe, as young as he was, was an incredible baller, incredible. A lot of us grew up on Kobe, everyone watched him play. It didn’t matter if you liked his team, didn’t like his team, whatever, you were still watching his games every night when he came on when the Lakers were playing’. So for me, to see somebody like him pass, it really affected me, because I thought, there are people every day that pass, the same age as Kobe, with not as much to their name.
Then you have a guy like Kobe who dedicated every minute of his day to his craft of ball. I’m not sure if bro passed away feeling a level of ease. But he just accomplished so much in his time of living. So it just clicked in my head that, you really don’t know when your time is up. So you just gotta work, work as hard you can fr fr.
So going off of Kobe, let’s talk about the 2K21 soundtrack. How did that opportunity come about? That’s one of my favorite games so that’s really dope to me.
Mannn, the whole story with “Swish” and the 2K soundtrack is nutty bro. I recorded “Swish” back in January. I remember thinking to myself like: “Yo this shit sucks, this is terrible.” I wanted to just shelf it but then I sent it to my manager and he was like: “Bro this is it, we gonna get this shit on 2K.” So, a couple weeks passed, we tryna figure out what to drop, and my manager brought up “Swish” again and was pulling’ for it hard. By that time I thought it was okay, but it wasn’t lit, so we talked it through a little more, and we came to the conclusion that it was the one. I remember his exact text later that day he said: “Bro, this shit is gonna be on 2K.”
We partnered up with United Masters, pitched the song to them and they loved it. They told us they were going to do everything in their power to get it on 2K. Then it popped off on Tik Tok one day when 2K used it on a couple promo videos, Quavo was in it, Ben Simmons was in one, and then obviously Ronnie 2K. At that point, we didn’t even know if it was going to be in the game. Then one day I woke up, and the soundtrack got released and I was just looking at all the names on there. I didn’t expect to be on there because I’m not up yet, but I checked it and I saw “Swish” in there and I lost my mind. I had no idea it was gonna be on there.
Now I have a reason to cop 2K21.
Who’s your squad in the NBA?
Man. I’m a Wizards guy. John Wall, that’s my man. They haven’t been looking too good but hopefully they get something that will spark them up. All these other teams going up like the Suns is getting lit, the Nets just got revitalized. I think it’s about time that somebody gets the Wizards the pieces they need. John Wall, been on an island with Bradley Beal for years now, and they’re not flourishing the way they should. But that’s my team fr. I love the Wizards bro, that’s been my team since like 2010. It hasn’t been looking good though lately.
I respect that because I’m a Hornets fan, it’s been really tough out here. We’ve been down bad lately, but we’ll be back.
Listen, if the Hornets pick up J. Cole, y’all might be up.
They might as well at this point bro, at least give him a 10-day or something, have him come off the bench.
Get him on the bench, you never know. He could come off the bench and be some kind of spark. J. Cole ain’t gonna be no superstar hooper but you never know, he could be the next JJ Barea, just straight buckets.
While we’re talking about Cole, In your song “Dreams” you talked about an experience you had with his fellow Dreamville collaborator JID during his last tour, what was that like?
It’s just another one of those stories where we didn’t expect anything out of it, and then it just happened. So after the Travis Scott thing, I just thought to myself: “Alright, I’m about to go as hard as possible.” I just started speaking mad shit out into existence. The next year JID dropped “The Never Story”, Made in America was coming up and JID popped up there. So I was like: “Yo, I’m about to meet JID at Made in America.” So I popped up there, saw the show, got to meet him on the side of the show, and just started talking to him about what I’m tryna do with the rap shit, and that was kind of it. After that, I knew I wanted to meet up with him again, but I needed to come with more energy. I’m not gonna lie, I was a little nervous, I was new to the whole rap scene. I also didn’t have a lot going on, I had a project out, but nothing on streaming platforms, it was on Soundcloud.
Then for 2 years straight after that, I was just grindin’. But then in May 2019, I met this dude named Third. He ran this page for new artists and everything. It was funny because he kinda “beefed” with JID before on Twitter or whatever. He said that JID sounded like a “more educated Logic” and JID didn’t like that, and he replied back sarcastically and was like “Yo I wanna fight.”
Fast forward back to 2019, JID was coming on tour with Logic in Allentown, so I hit Third and was like bro let’s hit him up and check out the show. So Third Tweeted him again and was like “Remember that shit I said before about Logic bro, and now you’re on tour with him, you still tryna fight?” So then JID actually ended up DMing him and they were chopping it up, it was all jokes though. And after he was just like: “Yo y’all cool people, y’all wanna come out to my show tonight?” I live in Jersey, so it was like an hour and a half drive, I had just got my hair twisted by my mother and then I dipped, I made it there in like an hour, I was speeding’. We went to the show, had some fire seats, then after JID’s set he took us back to the tour bus to talk with him and it was just great energy. We talked about a lot, and then afterward he followed me on socials.
What is your biggest motivation in music, to keep you going?
First and foremost bro, to be completely honest. I’m Black. When it comes to us as people, we don’t have generational wealth to give out and that’s really my whole thing. I want to be as successful as possible, to the point where I literally have the money to give out to my peoples, my family. That’s just one of the goals that push me.
Ultimately, the big thing that keeps me motivated is just the idea that I don’t wanna work in no fuckin’ office or cubicle. That shit is ass, I think Corporate America is fuckin’ garbage. I don’t want to do that for the rest of my life. I want to just put my all into this and get as big as possible so that money isn’t the worry for me anymore. I’m not beastin’ for cash but, I’m just looking’ to earn the money I need to do what I want to do in life.
Describe your music style in 3 words.
World-building, versatile, and vulnerable.
With the “World-building” aspect I really try to bring people into the world that I create with things. The rapping part is always fun, but I’m a big fan of production. Production is key to help people literally sink into the music that you make. For example, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” by Kanye, or “To Pimp a Butterfly” by Kendrick. When you listen to those albums, you literally fall into a sort of trance, it’s like you’re being teleported into those worlds. I want my music to do that to people.
Versatility. I’m a big fan of rapping, but I like to do more. I like to be melodic, I like to sing, I like to be on my “Yeah, Yeah” flow. It also ties into the “world-building” aspect too, because when you get a world, and you add versatility to it, people can’t get enough of it. You can take them through a different cycle every time, and it’s enjoyable for people.
Then to top it off, the vulnerability. I personally understand that the music people connect with it is when it comes to feelings. Vulnerability isn’t always just talking about the sad shit, but it’s talking about shit that people can relate to it. Things like being broke, a lot of niggas can relate to that. But on the flip side of that, there’s also a lot of niggas that ain’t shit to their woman. And a lot of rappers take advantage of that and just drop those easy little “ain’t shit” bars in there, but that’s not me. That’s where I’m going with this, I guess the better word probably would have been authentic. So that way people have a means to connect.
I like to build worlds, I like to be versatile, and I like to be my authentic self.
What’s your favorite project or song out of your catalogue?
It’s gotta be “Dreams”. For me, it was one of the first times I really felt like I was telling my story. I dropped a lot of songs, and they were cool, they were vibes. But the songs where I really get to tell my story, and exercise my lyricism, that’s what I like. “Code of Ethics” is a close second, that’s a bop. Those are the top 2 out of what I’ve dropped now. I’ve got more favorites but their just not out yet.
What are your next steps as an artist?
Right now I’m tryna get this new single ready. It’s called 3 am, I think that’s gonna be super crazy, I’ve been teasing it on Twitter for a while and people have been very receptive. I got a project on the way too, coming after that.
And honestly, I’m really thinking about shaking up the scene a little bit. Maybe just making a move, we’ve been talking about it with the team and everything. Jersey’s a fireplace and everything but we’ve really just been making opportunities out of nothing here. Imagine if we were in a place surrounded by opportunities and being in the midst of that culture and element, rocking out with other players around us.
Are there any outside genres that you see yourself trying in the future?
I like to think of them more as subgenres and specific deviations of sounds. Honestly, a lot of my music falls into the R&B energy, that’s where I reside. You probably won’t see me in Country, probably not EDM. Haha, I mean, who knows, maybe one day I’ll fuck around and do an EDM track.
But to me, it’s really about navigating those subgenres until you find your voice. Hip-hop can mean a lot of things, when you say “Hip-hop” some people think JID, other people think Isaiah Rashad. They rap two completely different ways and attack things very differently as well.
Everyone attacks it differently. It’s all about seeing what works for you.
What is one piece of advice you could offer to Up-and-coming artists?
You can’t be afraid, fear is the number one thing that holds everybody back. People doubt themselves, people also think that there’s one way to do things when you don’t necessarily have to follow one path. Honestly look at your favorite artists and see what they do well, and what they don’t. You can literally be your favorite artist, and then some.
I feel like one day I’ll be my own favorite artist, that’s how I know I’m really being authentic. I know what I’m looking for, I know what I want to hear. You really gotta focus on that, being the best you, that you can be. Obviously you’re going to be “competing” against people, obviously, there’s going to be comparisons. But in reality, none of that shit matters. Everybody used to focus on being the best “rapper” essentially, but that’s shifted now into being the best all-around artist. You have to create a brand and image for yourself so the world can view you for who you are.
There are incredible artists that could be in the basement right now that didn’t make it because they didn’t take the right steps. You gotta move without fear, take risks. Build a team. Build a team, build a team, build a team. I gotta stress how important that is. Have fun, be yourself, drink water, and wear a mask.