He sits alone in his room, head bent over a glowing computer screen. He puts the final touches on the background music, takes a deep breath, hits “record” and…
“Is it a sin to spit the bars that I’m writing down?
Is it a sin the way the rap game is acting now?”
The lyrics above are from Born Sinner Remix, a song by aspiring hip-hop artist Chris Hackney.
“An artist is somebody that is sending a message with every song they make,” said Hackney, a senior. “I consider myself a hip-hop artist. I don’t really like being called a rapper. I feel like a rapper is somebody that’s not telling a story, not being real.”
Hackney has released Struggle With No Edits, a mix-tape that tells a personal story from the first song to the last.
“I feel like The Struggle is the realest thing I’ve known: family struggle, personal struggle, trying to make it out and living it day by day,” Hackney said.
He chose the title Struggle With No Edits to show the authentic side of his music. Many hip-hop artists and producers are endowed with high-quality soundboards, auto-tuned microphones and a flock of record producers, but Hackney records with the software on his computer.
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“I felt like for the first mix-tape, [I had] to show the people that the recording software and equipment that I have isn’t the best. Of course it messes up, and the songs on the mix-tape actually have parts in it where it messes up, but I kept them instead of changing them to show that I don’t have the best stuff. I kept it instead of changing it to show that I’m still struggling,” Hackney said.
Hackney’s journey as an aspiring hip-hop artist began in middle school.
“I started rapping in seventh grade. I wrote my first rhyme, it was probably the weakest thing ever,” said Hackney, laughing.
“I used to be the kind of person who used to tell myself, ‘You’re not going to amount to anything’ or ‘I can’t write,’ but then I started writing about my life and it all came together.”
The self-doubt has subsided as Hackney plans to pursue a career in music.
“I’m destined to have a record label or a record deal. I just have to keep applying myself, doing what I have to do to make it up there,” Hackney said. “I feel like hip-hop in North Carolina is not big enough yet. That’s why I’m trying to make it, to put North Carolina on the map.”
The odds of being signed to a record label are slim and the chances of being an in-demand artist are slimmer. Although Hackney has a lot of confidence in his dreams, his goals of becoming a hip-hop artist have not been received without criticism from his family and peers.
“My mom used to tell me, ‘You’re not going to be a rapper,’ my grandma still tells me, ‘You’re not going to be a rapper.’ I try to tell them, ‘I’m not a rapper, you’re right, I’m an artist,’” Hackney said. “Every other day I have people telling me, ‘You can’t rap’ or ‘You need to go find another job’ or something like that, [a job] that normal kids do when they get out of high school… I don’t listen to them. The way I feel about it is, if you say something negative or positive, I feel like they’re at least thinking about me, you at least heard a song from me, so I’m at least doing something right. So, I like criticism. It really does nothing but motivate me.”
After graduating high school, Hackney plans on moving to New York to study music. He is currently researching colleges that have a strong background in music writing and production.
“I want to do everything,” Hackney said. “I want to go to school to learn how to do more. A good artist knows how to do everything: produce, write and play instruments. I’m going to go up north to New York; I just feel like it suits me better.”
Ideally he would like to make it to a point in his hip-hop career where money will not be a concern.
“I don’t want to get too much money, to where I just go stupid. I want to be able to make it to a point where my mom can live with no worries and my grandma can live with no worries,” Hackney said. “I’m here, I’m this person, I’m not better, but I’m still trying to better my life.”
– By Kenya Lee