Crimeapple
Crimeapple
Crimeapple is a New Jersey rapper of Colombian descent.who first garnered attention in 2017 with his 4th EP Sweet Dreams that dropped on a couple years ago on Halloween along with his Big Ghost Ltd. produced debut album Aguardiente. He released a fantastic sophomore album Wet Dirt with DJ Skizz in 2019. Crimeapple, named for a juice blend he used to make, is comparable to East Coast acts like El-P and Armand Hammer. Like those outfits, he raps all over the beat and showcases a diversity both in style and vocal delivery. [1]
Early Life
Crimeapple who was born in New Jersey but of Colombia root was introduced to Hip hop early—his two older brothers would play rap records in the house before he even started elementary school. When he was eight years old, he was already writing and recording original songs.
“I was fortunate enough to have a lot of hip-hop in my household when I was young,” he says.
“I think I started rapping just by hearing songs and rapping them to myself at a very young age—and maybe forgetting the words and changing them.”
In high school, Crimeapple earned a reputation for his skills on the mic, which served him well on the local battle rap circuit.
“This was actually old school battling where it’s like, you’re nice, and everyone knows you’re nice.
So, people from the other town hear about this kid from the other high school who is killing everybody, and y’all are gonna meet up [and battle],” he says.
Crimeapple, despite to the physical features, comes from a Colombian family emigrated to New Jersey, in the residential and multi-ethnic area of Hackensack, on the edge of the river Hudson opposite to the five boroughs of the Big Apple. He grows and nurtures the passion of the Hip-Hop culture looking both at the legends Redman, from the nearby New Ark and at the king of the New York underground scene, Roc Marci. However, he doesn’t forget the origin and traditions that still deeply influence his cultural background, also affecting its stylistic feature of making music.
Crimeapple stood out in the New Jersey Hip-Hop scene by participating to various freestyle contests and concerts, sponsored by local artists. At one of these events, he met Statik Selektah, the well-known DJ and producer from Boston, leading also an important radio program in New York. Therefore, he decided, without any hopes, to send his lyrics to Statik, whom appreciating his works, in the beginning of 2017, invited him to participate at his show. At the exhibition, all the MCs had to demonstrate their ability by improvising verses on beats selected by the DJ host. Crimeapple didn’t miss the chance to show off his technical skills and different style, pursuing the instruments with verses for 8 minutes in a row
It wasn’t long after that when Crimeapple met producer Dudley Buck, who has since become his most frequent collaborator. Crimeapple and Dudley has been working on different projects for over 10 years and has collaborated on few songs together. After Crimeapple’s stunning performance on Statik Selektah’s show in 2017, the duo decided they needed to capitalize on the buzz and get some music in the streets.[2][3]
Career
Crimeapple's classic debut Metralleta was born in 2017. The 7-song EP is a showcase for his biting humor and oddball references, which he spits over Buck’s dark, ominous grooves. Metralleta Ep, a three chapters series, “Perfect“ and, finally, “Aguardiente“ a disc made in collaboration with the producer Big Ghost Ltd (known for his collaborations with other famous names of the underground); demonstrate the caliber of bars and more over, compared to others, his distinctive style. In fact, Crimeapple loves to float beats spitting bars like stream of consciousness flow, chained by deep photographs and metaphors, coming from different imaginaries: from street to emotional life, from cooking to sport and cinema. All mixed with the American slang and the Spanish one, in its Colombian version.
Within a month and a half of Metralleta’s release, Crimeapple and Buck dropped three more EPs: Perfect, Perfect 2, and Sweet Dreams. In the summer of 2018, he released Aguardiente, a full-length collaboration with enigmatic producer Big Ghost Ltd. The album, which takes its name from a strong Colombian liquor, is the perfect pairing; Ghost’s woozy beats are an ideal match for the New Jersey lyricist’s slow flow. The album was not only a favorite with fans but it was on DJ Muggs’ Top 5 Albums of 2018 list, which turned out to be foreshadowing for what was to come.
At the top of 2019, CRIME teamed up with Brooklyn/ Los Angeles producer DJ Skizz (who has worked with Your Ol’ Droog, Sean Price, and Conway) for their collab album Wet Dirt. Opening with a song that re-contextualizes the first stanza of “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music, the album expands on Crimeapple’s work up to that point. “Divine” is marked by deeply personal confessions: “Regretting what a couple dates made/ Staring at a life sentence ‘cause her period came late/ And how would I confess like, your daddy was a bastard/ Who didn’t wear protection and now you’re part of that pattern/ Momma never got a ring and could barely afford a Saturn/ I never got the chance, so all I can do is imagine.” And on “FFFeel Good,” Crimeapple indulges his vocabulary fetish by flipping words that start almost exclusively with the letter “F”: “Fumes fogging up my frontal lobe/ I feel frozen/ Fickle 5-0 flooded, fled the fuzz, fuck it/ Front forever but the flow is irrefutable/ Inflammable, fresh flowers furnished the funeral.”
Later in 2019, Crimeapple added another high-profile collaborator to his CV: Cypress Hill’s DJ Muggs, his partner on Medallo. To give the project an extra layer of authenticity CRIME, who is Colombian, brought Muggs to Medellín—where his family is originally from—to record. “I had been to Colombia several times in my life,” Crimeapple says.
“But before that trip, I hadn’t been in like 12 years.
It was a big deal.
Getting to do an album with Muggs, let alone just kicking it with him on a regular basis was incredible.
And kinda reacquainting myself with where my family’s from, remembering shit and being able to show him places, try the cuisine, all that good stuff—it was a fire experience.”
In March 2020, Crimeapple continues his run of incredible music with another quality new project; “Jaguar On Palisade” featuring production from DJ Skizz, Evidence, Buck Dudley, Sadhugold, Michaelangelo, August Fanon, DJ Brown13 & The Purist[4]