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Classic: Big Next Rated Hip Hop Artist From Muskegon MI

 

Classic is a Hip Hop artist and Songwriter, born in Muskegon MI. Grew up in a military family spending his childhood numerous states in the United States while also growing up in Berlin Germany. Classic got his name from his love of classical music from the renaissance period, he has an old school style flow with the ability to switch up his style while still maintaining the substance that more traditional hip-hop listeners enjoy over newer sounding hip-hop. He first started to rap after his mother got him into music at an early age. He always have an ear for good sound.

“My mother was into fashion, music and overall life. As time evolved we evolved with it. I just took what styles I liked and thought represented parts of my personality best. Rather than being riding the beat like a southern artist, to switching up to a west coast style, but centering my style in what influenced me most and that’s the early 90’s east coast style. I have all those elements in my style today where I’m capable to jump on multiple sounds and styles being that I let the beat tell the story that way I’m able to leave my signature on the track.”

The recent rise of groups like Griselda’s artist, Westside GunnBenny the Butcher, and Conway standout as his favorite artist up to date. Also including the likes of Royce Da 5’9“, Da BabyMigosEminemJ Cole and Kendrick Lamar. Aside from his rhyming skills and undeniable talent, Classic has underwent an evolution taking what he’s experienced in his earlier start in hip-hop and combining it with where we all are currently in time. Going under the radar for most of the earlier part of his career, he has reemerged a force.

 

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However his career in music would get a later start being that he was a pretty decent high school basketball player and would focus a lot of his time on sports. Attending Kansas Wesleyan University by the end of 2004 he wanted to focus on music full time. Everything started for me when our family relocated to Phoenix AZ in 2008 where he pushed mixtapes out of his car and ran the local scene doing shows. He ran into Juice a “Black Wall Street.” Artist for The Game’s group. Who enjoyed one of his mixtapes and started to do music with him.

“I started making moves rather quickly opening up for DJ Quik and Kurupt out in Scottsdale AZ at a Sean Healy event, shows my grind and networking skills, I wasn’t from the Phoenix area but I met all the right people and in a short time I grew faster than previous years before that.” With mixtapes “Phoenix New Sun 3.” being sold from the trunk of his car back then making very little use of the internet this tape saw only 276 plays on datpiff. In February 2008 Phoenix New Sun 4 hosted by Juice of Black Wall Street in 2009 received over 200 downloads and 442 plays. “The Michigan Wolverine.”

In 2011 featured Willie The Kid who at the time was on D.J. Drama’s label received 527 only releasing via Bandcamp. “We got a track called, “Spartans & Wolverines.” which was special to me being that Willie is still currently the biggest artist in Western Michigan.” In November 2012 “No Cover.” arguably one of my top projects was released by DJ Gallo of Coast to Coast Mixtapes. The tape received 50,000 plays and sponsored on datpiff. That’s where the new chapter started.

“I rebranded myself during this moment in time because I was changing as a man.” In 2013 I got married in Washington D.C. where my wife and I lived at the time. I stayed consistent during the time creating a brand for my music called, ‘Cat3goryOtha,” which represents my life being that I’m not of the norm, I can’t be put in a category because my entire life has been adapt and change. I started my mixtape series “Back To The Past.” with a feature from G-13 who featured on the track “Nas is Coming.” off the It Was Written album. I began to settle into my new role as a man focusing more time on working a regular job and dealing with that grind, music wasn’t producing money so i focused on what did.”

2016 Classic would start to pick back up releasing another mixtape, “Back To The Past 2″ via bandcamp while going on the 8th Annual Get Money Stop Hating Tour in cities such as Louisville KY, Indianapolis IN, Detroit MI, Dayton OH, and Austin TX SXSW to name a few moving more physical copies than ever before. In 2017 he won an event with Coast 2 Coast Live and attended their annual convention in Miami Florida Sept. 17 2017, where he released, “The Chillzone.” while also recording; “The Black Side,” his first entry into the streaming world and struggled with a mere 446 streams. “I had to learn the game, there were fewer opportunities for artist to get their music out and I’ve always been consistent so I knew after this project I would be able to really pick up and head in the right direction.”

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Read: Classic: Album Review, Features and Songs

The Black Side touches on police brutality and puts more of a spot light on the political side of the U.S. Which has only magnified during the current state of the United States. “Late 2018 I toured, the “Well Worded Tour.” with Landon Wordswell & Gray Jackson. We drove to Knoxville Tenneessee, Charleston South Carolina, Columbia South Carolina, Bloomington Illinois, & Urbana Champagne. from Oct. 3rd to 7th headlining the tour. A vision Landon Wordswell executed assembling the best rising hip hop talent in the country.”

 

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Doechii’s Rise in Hip-Hop: ‘Alligator Bites Never Heal’ Mixtape Review​

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Doechii’s new release, “Alligator Bites Never Heal,” is at once a clarion shot of intent and a potent introduction to a complex artist with no shortage of charisma. At a glance, it is evident that Doechii is not simply chasing trends. She’s making her own lane, grounded by sharp lyricism, visual storytelling, and fearless experimentation.

What sets “Alligator Bites Never Heal” apart is its emotional compass and unapologetic uniqueness. Doechii bounces across genres and styles, moving from hard-hitting bars to vulnerable, melodic cadences in such seamless transitions that they feel organic, not forced. The title alone is suggestive and hints at emotional scars, unprocessed trauma, and the dangerous beauty of her art. Her path for listeners isn’t just sonically diverse and populated by personal revelations and cultural commentary.

Her flow is accurate but jagged, sure but investigative. There’s a hungry energy in her delivery. Every verse sounds like it’s being spat from the gut and poured over years of experience and artistic ambition. Whether she’s rapping on top of a trap-heavy slant or sliding into a jazzy neo-soul pocket, clarity in her vision is uncommon for an artist this early into her rise.

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One of the mixtape’s most impressive feats is the way it strikes a balance between being accessible and taking experimental risks. “Venom in Silk” and “Kiss My Chrome” are perfect examples. The former highlights Doechii’s vocal agility as she moves from bitter punch lines to delicate harmonies, while the latter leans into something like an almost cyberpunk soundscape with metallic synths, layered vocals, and a vibe that feels both futuristic and rooted in hip-hop tradition.

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“Alligator Bites Never Heal” shows a hyperaware artist of her identity and power. Doechii is frank about womanhood, Blackness, fame, vulnerability, and the push and pull between survival and success. There are instances when her verses read like diary entries, painfully honest and emotionally charged, only to slip into a display that reestablishes her home in hip-hop’s new vanguard. She’s self-reflective but never self-pitying, self-assured but never bombastic, and wildly original but never off-putting.

Production-wise, the mixtape is sonically saturated but unslick. There’s an intentional rawness that enhances the project’s authenticity. You can hear the creaks in the floorboards of her world, those small imperfections that make the whole thing feel real and lived in. The beats are textured and layered and wonderfully chaotic at moments, mirroring the emotional turbulence below Doechii’s lyrics. But amid the noise, there is control.

Another element that impacts this project is visual storytelling. The mixtape is an audio experience at the core, but clearly, Doechii creates with an eye toward audiovisual media. Her references run cinematic like a cross between Quentin Tarantino and Missy Elliott while also fixating on the weird, the surreal, and the symbolic. From the metaphor of alligator bites to the repeated imagery of broken mirrors, stained teeth, and red velvet, the world created by her words is a fever dream of trauma and triumph.

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Yet the mixtape is not without its blemishes. In some instances, the transitions between styles feel jarring or undercooked. A handful of hooks don’t hit as hard as they want to, while on certain tracks, the production somewhat overtakes her vocals. But instead of detracting from the project, those blemishes feel like demonstrations that this is still an early stage in Doechii’s evolution. The potential is huge, and the rough edges seem more like the chisel marks of someone still honing her blade.

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“Alligator Bites Never Heal” feels like the start of something bigger than one mixtape. It’s a warning shot, a declaration, and an artistic offering all at once. Doechii is barreling through it with bared teeth and loaded verses. She’s building a massive, strange, unmissable house if this project is the foundation.

In a generation that craves authenticity, innovation, and emotional resonance, Doechii is a generational talent in progress. She’s not here to follow anyone’s outline. She’s making her own in blood, ink, and fire. And with “Alligator Bites Never Heal,” the teeth marks she leaves on the game aren’t go away any time soon.

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Ester Dean Claims Her Role in Keri Hilson’s Notorious Beyoncé Diss Track

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Ester Dean has publicly accepted ownership of the Beyoncé diss at the center of the remix of Keri Hilson’s 2009 Janet Jackson-redux smash, “Turnin Me On.” Dean dropped the low-key bombshell on Wednesday in a bold but brief comment on her Instagram account, answering a fan who offered speculation about her involvement in writing the song. “Co-wrote but yes,” Dean replied with a new twist on a story that’s been a subject of contention for more than a decade. Dean’s confession comes on the heels of Keri Hilson’s revealing new interview on The Breakfast Club, in which the singer discussed the behind the scenes pressure that led to her infamous lyrical jab.

Hilson did not name names but clarified that the diss was not fully her idea. Instead, she said she was offered the lyrics by Polow da Don and “another writer in our camp” a detail that now seems to point squarely at Ester Dean. “I’m not saying that,” Hilson said she thought upon hearing those words for the first time. Her competitive spirit was not one of vengeance, and it frankly put her in a bind when she was told that her debut album would likely never be released if she didn’t record the remix. “I was super young. I didn’t have a choice,” Hilson said. “I’ve been eating for years.” Dean’s confirmation adds prestige to the ongoing discussion around artist autonomy versus industry pressure, particularly for young female artists finding their way through major label deals.

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It also reignites the conversation around ghostwriting, credit, and how some of the industry’s biggest lyrical moments come from voices behind the curtain. While Hilson bears the brunt of that decision a decade-plus later, Dean’s comment indicates a collective culpability with the infamous track that fueled rumors, fan wars, and ongoing debate in the pop-R&B realm. In an industry where silence is often the order of the day, Dean’s line may be short, but its impact is long overdue. Sometimes, it’s just one comment that fills in the final piece of the story, and this particular one has taken more than 15 years to come out.

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