Cleveland hip-hop artist Chip Tha Ripper thinks that he’s got expertise which will appeal to Ohio State students: partying.
“No, I never went to college,” Chip said with a laugh as he contradicted the claims on his Myspace page. “I went to college parties, man. That’s what I mean when it says ‘some college.'”
Chip, born Charles Worth, is not as outright humorous in his music, but the theme of being laid-back runs strong. He will bring that attitude to his performance Friday at 9 p.m. at Skully’s on High Street.
While many rappers like Jay-Z and Eminem have reached the top of the charts by being generally confrontational, Chip tends toward lighter fare such, singing about imbibing and his appreciation of his hometown. For example, on the track “Thank God,” Chip encourages Michael Phelps to continue smoking marijuana and later compares himself to a robot.
The title of his most recent compilation brings together his Cleveland pride with his sense of humor. “The Cleveland Show” features album art referencing the Fox TV series of the same title, with a four-fingered Chip sitting in front of the Griffin home from “Family Guy.”
The mix tape, which featured 27 new tracks from Chip, was released for free via download on Dec. 15. Chip said that there were more than 50,000 downloads during its first week online. Considering that popular rapper Busta Rhymes sold a similar total of his 2009 album in one week with a major label, 50,000 is a substantial number for an independent artist.
The album features a multitude of guest artists and producers. Rappers Curren$y and Big Sean join Chip on the lifestyle-flaunting single “Fat Raps,” and noted producer Hi-Tek provides the beat for “Sprinkle Me.” While “Fat Raps” follows many popular rap hip-hop conventions, other tracks show signs of something deeper.
“Dear Hip-Hop” intersperses the talk of typical rap fare with an overall theme of just trying to fit in. Many songs don’t possess catchy dance beats typical of hip-hop either. The beat of “Sprinkle Me” is primarily the tune of a music box with disconcerting snippets of what sounds like dental tools in the background.
Chip described the atypical nature of his music to The Cleveland Plain Dealer when he was included in their “Meet the future of Cleveland music” feature.
“I’m a weird guy man,” he said in 2007. “I look like the average guy, but in my head, there’s some crazy stuff going on up there.”
Chip said that overall, the new mix tape represents the style he aspires to more than his previous releases have.
“This time I felt I had enough followers that I could bring it back to how I love to make music. I had to switch it up [on previous albums] to grab some listeners,” he said. “Now that I got them, I’m gonna feed them the real me.”
Chip’s self-proclaimed weirdness can partially be explained by his friendship with another Cleveland rapper — the like-minded Kid Cudi — who entered the national spotlight last year with his album “Man on the Moon: The End of Day,” which peaked at fourth on the Billboard charts. Chip said he met Cudi while in Chicago, and the two struck a chord.
“Ever since that day, it’s been like ‘wow,'” he said of Cudi, who has been featured in Chip’s previous work. “There’s something about two guys from Cleveland.”
The two are working on a side project, The Almighty GloryUs, which Cudi has compared to Atlanta group Outkast.
Until that album drops, Chip will be touring Ohio and working off “The Cleveland Show.” He said that the last time he played at Skully’s, the atmosphere was terrific.
“We had a party in there. We rocked out,” he said. “We gonna do the same things, or even better.”
Cleveland is obviously number one in Chip’s mind, but he had positive things to say about performing in Columbus.
“I’ve been down there lots man, and it’s been great,” he said. “The 614 are my homies.”
