By Jasmine Palmer
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
The DMV is slowly but surely making a name for itself on the mainstream scene of hip-hop music and young artists like Washington, DC-native Chaz French, the self- proclaimed “ghetto superstar,” are the talk of the town and beyond.
French held a listening party Dec. 10 in his hometown for his fans and supporters to come out and be the first to listen to and watch live performances of songs from his highly anticipated mixtape “These Things Take Time.” The mixtape dropped at midnight, Dec. 11, on iTunes, following the listening party.
The mixtape highlights the personal struggles that French has endured throughout his life and on his rise to fame.
With songs like “IDK,” “Remember” and “Questions,” he raps about his hard times with lines like “Seems like everything I wanted wasn’t in my mama’s budget,” and “You don’t know how strong you are ‘til you fall.”
French gives a lot of recognition to his mother and a higher power throughout the mixtape for helping him get to this point in his life and career.
“Sometimes you gotta let go and let God,” French said in his song “Let God,” which features Eddie Vanz and Lito Walker.
The voice of his mother appears on several songs, almost resembling the voice of a guardian angel, with uplifting voice messages personalized for her son.
“I know that you are okay,” French’s mother said. “I know that you are working diligently on some music aspirations and desires and goals, plans. So I just wanted to encourage you. Let you know that I got your back in prayer and I foresee great things happening in your life.”
Stylistically, French can be compared to lyrical artist like J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar and Kid Cudi. He incorporates singing and harmonies with his rap that is almost like a form of story-telling.
Overall the mixtape is mellow and a good choice to put on to vibe to when looking to hear some rap with substance.
Within a week the mixtape gained recognition from major hip-hop media platforms like XXL magazine. It has climbed its way to the top 20 on iTunes and seems to be headed in a positive direction.