Christylez Bacon (pronounced: Chris-Styles) (born March 5, 1986) is a

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

music artist and multi-instrumentalist from Southeast Washington,

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He was nominated for a Grammy in 2010 for ''Banjos to Beatbox'', a children's album covering many different musical genres.

Biography

Bacon was born and grew up in Washington, DC and attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in the city. He has been featured on ''

Morning Edition ''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 a ...

'', ''

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

'', performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and founded the Washington Sound Museum, a regular concert series at the Atlas Performing Arts center in Washington's H Street NE.Meet Christylez Bacon, the hip-hop artist who stays ahead of the beat
, ''The Washington Post'' ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' notes that he is a beatboxer and progressive hip hop artist. He also played with the

National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930 by cellist Hans Kindler, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The NSO regularly ...

."NSO hits the club, and scores"
''The Washington Post'' Bacon classifies his largely diverse music as progressive hip hop. In a local interview, He states,

"It takes traditional hip-hop elements and fuses live instrumentation and genres from around the world. The inspiration came from knowing our simple connection in music. Every culture or group of people on this planet has music and the arts. I have always believed that ignorance causes hate, disrespect, and lack of communication among us all. The idea of the "remix" in hip-hop music made it evident that we can put any style into the mix, thus uniting lovers of
hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...
, salsa, classical,
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
, and bhangra in one space. The music is the lure and the lyric is the education that will destroy the many barriers that prevent us from recognizing our connections with each other."Three Stars: Christylez - DCist: Washington DC News, Food, Arts & Events

Collaborations

2008-2009

*Triflava, Progressive Hip-Hop Band *Urban Artistry, Hip-Hop Dance Collective * Lily Neill, Celtic Harpist *Rock N' Roll String Quartet, Classical/

Rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

String Quartet *Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, 2x

GRAMMY The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

Winning Bluegrass/

Children's Music Children's music or kids' music is music composed and performed for children. In European-influenced contexts this means music, usually songs, written specifically for a juvenile audience. The composers are usually adults. Children's music has hi ...

DuoChristylez Bacon - Progressive Hip-Hop Artist - Official Website
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Discography

Advanced Artistry (2008-2009)

In an interview, Christylez explains the concept of this debut recording,

I called the album Advanced Artistry because it takes on traditional hip-hop elements and expands everything about it, with the use of piano solos in between the chorus & verses, heavy extended chord progressions, altered song structuring, and all original composition without sampling records. Being a student at Duke Ellington School of the Arts...I always saw these connections between sonata-allegro form and hip-hop song structure, scat & rapping. But hip-hop artists weren't doing that. That takes a true ear, music theory, and natural flava...I created this album out of a dream and a longing to hear the combination of cultures, genres, and social classes. I call it progressive hip-hop. It takes traditional hip-hop elements and fuses live instrumentation and genres from around the world...From there, my executive producer/friend/mentor, Bomani Armah, helped me sort through the collection, discarding the fluff. I worked exclusively with pianist, Mychael "Myke P" Pollard, in flushing out some of the arrangements...it's a musical journal of a kid in high school transitioning towards a short-term of college and a space in the 'real world'

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacon, Christylez Living people 1986 births American hip-hop musicians Musicians from Washington, D.C. Progressive rappers