Chidera Anamege, now known by his stage name Chiddy Bang, is an American rapper from
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
. Prior to its breakup, Chiddy Bang was an American hip hop duo consisting of Anamege, under the stage name Chiddy, and
Noah Beresin, under the stage name Xaphoon Jones. The duo was introduced by former band member Zachary Sewall in late 2008 while the two were studying at
Drexel University
Drexel University is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony Joseph Drexel, Anthony J. Drexel, a financier ...
, in Beresin's hometown of
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
. Anamege's sound is based on the fusion of hip hop and alternative using samples from artists such as
Ellie Goulding,
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...
,
Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens ( ; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released ten solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nomina ...
,
Passion Pit,
MGMT,
Matt and Kim and
Yelle. In 2013, Beresin left the group to focus on producing, and Anamege became a solo artist, with Beresin playing the role as frequent collaborator.
History
2009: Formation and breakthrough
In late February 2009, the popular music blog Pretty Much Amazing showcased five songs by the duo that were on their Myspace account. Shortly after, the group gained some following in the underground among music blogs and local colleges playing a notably packed show at
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...
and Middlebury College in April 2009.
Pretty Much Amazing continued to occasionally release new songs from the duo and in November 2009 debuted the group's first free mixtape entitled ''The Swelly Express''.
On April 28, 2011 during the first-ever MTV O Music Awards, Anamege broke the Guinness World Record for Longest Freestyle Rap and Longest Marathon Rapping Record by freestyling for 9 hours, 18 minutes, and 22 seconds, stealing the throne from rapper M-Eighty, who originally broke the record in 2009 by rapping for 9 hours, 15 minutes and 15 seconds.
Anamege had also beat Canadian rapper D.O. for Longest Marathon Rapping session, the previous record being for 8 hours and 45 minutes.
The duo have had appearances in several video games, such as in the sports game ''
NBA 2K12'' with their song "Here We Go" from their EP ''
The Preview'', featuring rapper
Q-Tip of hip hop group
A Tribe Called Quest, as well as in ''
Madden NFL 12'' with their song
"Mind Your Manners" featuring Swedish electropop duo
Icona Pop. Their single "
Opposite of Adults" was included in the racing game ''
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit,'' in addition to being chosen as the goal song for
Team North America in the
2016 World Cup of Hockey as well. The singles "Happening" and "Shine" were included on the soundtracks to the movies
''Sex Tape'' and
''Sisters'' respectively.
2009–2010: ''The Swelly Express'' and ''Air Swell''
''
The Swelly Express'' was the debut mixtape from the duo. The mixtape quickly gained a music following from its online hit "
Opposite of Adults" (which includes a sample from
MGMT's song "
Kids"). ''The Swelly Express'' tells the story of the duo's rise in the music business and their experiences with record labels, it was first released and promoted through the music blog Pretty Much Amazing. The mixtape was praised by fans for the production style, including samples from
Passion Pit ("Truth"),
Tinie Tempah and
Pogo ("Expialidocious"). It also contains a guest appearance from
Black Thought of
The Roots. The songs "Opposite of Adults", "Truth", "Fresh Like Us", "All Things Go" (including a sample from Sufjan Steven's "Chicago"), and "Dream Chasin'" have been re-released for download via the
iTunes Store since the release of the mixtape.
On April 8, 2010, the duo followed up ''The Swelly Express'' with the mini-mixtape ''Air Swell''. As the duo had a strong following in the UK, many popular UK artists were featured on the mixtape, including
La Roux,
Kate Nash,
Ellie Goulding,
Tinie Tempah and
Gorillaz
Gorillaz are an English virtual band created by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett in London, England in 1998. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (gui ...
.
The UK-based EMI subsidiary
Parlophone had heard about the group through their online following.
According to president Miles Leonard, they had been listening to the song "Opposite of Adults" in the office all summer when A&R manager Ollie Slaney said: "As we keep on listening to this maybe we should do something with it."
The duo signed to Parlophone/EMI with plans to release a full-length album in 2011.
That same year the band headlined their first tour, ''The Swelly Life Tour'' featuring
Donnis and
XV. The duo also opened up for Tinie Tempah on his UK ''Disc-Overy'' tour. Chiddy Bang have toured extensively throughout colleges nationwide and hit numerous festivals such as
Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Bamboozle, Bonnaroo, Wireless Festival, Glastonbury and Electric Forest Festival.
2011–2012: ''Peanut Butter and Swelly'' and ''Breakfast''
''
Peanut Butter and Swelly'' is the third mixtape by the duo. It was released on May 27, 2011 as a prequel to their upcoming debut album ''
Breakfast''. It consists of 15 tracks featuring fellow rappers including
Trae tha Truth
Trae tha Truth (or simply Trae) is an American rapper. He embarked on a recording career in 1998, and established local prominence in the Southern hip hop, Texas hip hop scene with his solo debut, ''Losing Composure'' (2003). His second and thi ...
,
Casey Veggies and
Mac Miller as well as singer eLDee the Don and electronic music duo
The Knocks. The mixtape contains many references to Anamege's Guinness World Record for Longest Freestyle Rap.
The duo initially planned a late summer release for their debut studio album ''
Breakfast'' in 2011. This was later changed to November 2011 and again to the following year in February 2012 when they opted to release a single from the album,
"Ray Charles", instead. The album was released ahead of schedule on February 22, 2012, at midnight via iTunes and is available in the Google Play Music Store, iTunes, and Walmart. The first single
"Mind Your Manners" premiered on June 29, 2011, and includes samples from Swedish pop band
Icona Pop. The single is also on the soundtrack for the
EA Sports
EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...
video game ''
Madden NFL 12''. On February 8, Chiddy Bang released a snippet of the song "Breakfast" as a teaser for the album. An "Exclusive
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...
Freestyle" was released on February 17 with cover art similar to that of the album ''Breakfast''. A series of "Mind Your Manners" remixes, including one with
Travie McCoy, were released later in 2012 in the form of two EPs (one featuring a previously unreleased song titled "Twisted").
2013–2020: ''Baggage Claim'', Noah Beresin's departure, and Adventure Records
On June 18, 2014, it was announced that Beresin would be stepping back as an artist and focus on his producing. Anamege announced that he would be releasing a mixtape in late September called ''Baggage Claim'', and released the first single, "Breathe", on August 19, 2013. Anamege released a second single on September 12, 2013, titled "HeartBeat" (featuring Two Guyz). On October 9 Anamege announced via Twitter that Baggage Claim would be released October 11, "Dropping baggage claim on Friday!". It was subsequently pushed back to October 16, 2013, and the release date is now September 2014, he announced this via SKEE radio on the show Another Dirty Night Radio, and also via Twitter saying a mixtape would drop late summer. Anamege ended up delaying the track again, and on February 22, 2015, he confirmed on Instagram that the "album" ''Baggage Claim'' will come in the spring of 2015. Also on the same day, Anamege posted on Facebook to say that he was "90 percent done with my album!". He also said that he "even managed to put together a few surprises". However, to this day, ''Baggage Claim'' remains unreleased.
In 2015, Anamege either created his own record label, or was signed to one, by the name of 'ADVENTURE RECORDS' in Pennsylvania which was filed at the chamber of commerce as a Domestic Limited-Liability Company on July 21, 2015. This label has been credited as both the copyright and phonographic rights holder for all of Chiddy Bang's releases since then.
However, Chiddy Bang did not release any music in the years 2013-2016 until returning with a trio of singles in 2017: "Been a While", "Same Old Thing" (produced by Russ), and "Came a Long Way" (featuring BeWill). Another trio of singles was released in 2018: "Does it Hurt?", "TLC", and "Ride", but the artist again ceased to release music in either 2019 or 2020.
2021-present: Singles, ''Lunch'', ''Keep the Change'', and ''Saved by the Swell''
Two singles titled "Guava" and "Down" came out in 2021, followed by a total of 13 single releases in 2022 leading up to Chiddy Bang's long-awaited sophomore album ''Lunch'' in January 2023, followed two and a half months later by ''Keep the Change'' on April 7, 2023 and ''Saved by the Swell'' in November 2023. Numerous singles were released throughout 2023 along with the trio of albums. Chiddy Bang then started 2024 by adding two more singles to his discography, "Need You" in January and "Back and Forth" in March.
World Freestyle Record
On April 29, 2011, after rapping for 9 hours, 18 minutes, and 22 seconds at
MTV's inaugural
O Music Awards in Las Vegas, Chidera "Chiddy" Anamege earned himself a place in the
Guinness Book of World Records for Longest Freestyle and Longest Continuous Rap, a title previously held by Canadian rapper
D. O., in August 2003 at 8 hours and 45 minutes and 23 seconds. He told XXLmag.com that it was "definitely a surreal experience." He also mentioned that to earn the record he had to keep rapping even during the two bathroom breaks he took.
However, this record has subsequently been broken numerous times, including by
George Watsky and the current record holder, Japan's PONEY, at 48 hours, 1 minute, and 10 seconds.
Discography
Studio albums
* 2010:
''The Preview''
* 2012:
''Breakfast''
* 2023: ''Lunch''
* 2023: ''Keep the Change''
* 2023: ''Saved by the Swell''
References
Further reading
*
{{Authority control
1987 births
Alternative hip-hop groups
Hip-hop groups from Philadelphia
I.R.S. Records artists
Musical groups established in 2009
Parlophone artists
Virgin Records artists
Rappers from Philadelphia
Pop-rap groups
American contemporary R&B musical groups
American pop music duos
Living people