Chris B: “Still Up” – weaving clever, biting wordplay

Christopher Berry, known by his stage name Chris B hails from Lake Elsinore, California. Producing music since 2000 with little musical training, Chris B has created and tuned his style over the years. On his latest single, “Still Up”, the Cali rapper lets us know to just be you and do you; do not care about what the rest of the world has to say. That’s what’s he’s doing. The song has a rebellious vibe as Chris B spits lines like: “I’m just trying to live my life but all this people nagging me. I’m just trying to be the person that I’m fucking bound to be, but I can see these motherfuckers straight-up looking down on me,” or “Now I’ve finally got my shit together. People hate that I’m so fucking clever. I was doing bad, now I’m much better.” Chris B shows off his ability to flow with ease, using metaphors and imagery.

Chris B immediately jumps out of the gate with a swagger and presence that you’d expect from someone that’s been waiting for their time to shine. The pandering towards a mainstream audience is not part of Chris B’s plan here as he delegates most of his time here to just rapping.

He holds no punches as his haters and detractors all are fair game for his rap jabs. “Still Up” falls somewhere between defensive and combative. He wants you to know that you should respect his status regardless of who he wants to be or is. The song appropriately delivers this message. It serves as a half recap on Chris B’s grind, and half warning on his limitless ambition.

A gloriously shimmering set of understated warm keys unveil the track as Chris B unloads a verse that is bold and sets the tone that the he is ready to be heard. Chris B’s technical skills are impressive, weaving clever, biting wordplay into dexterous, tongue-twisty rap that just about anybody who digs the genre would appreciate.

Chris B’s voice has a lightness to it that makes it float like a feather, but also a slight raspiness that gives it texture and separates him from some of his contemporaries with a similar flow. It is not uncommon nowadays for an artist to get overshadowed by a beat, but Chris B finds the perfect balance for both voice and production to shine.

If many people were unfamiliar with who Chris B was as an artist coming into “Still Up”, he does his best to cover her wide skill set in the track’s three-minute runtime. Listeners receive some much needed insight into the artist’s mindset too.

The track makes a genuine case for Chris B ability to get to the top of his heap, a place he probably deserves. There is plenty of creative fuel in his tank, and a hunger in his voice that testifies to where he needs and wants to be.

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