Breakfast
Kinji Go

Chiddy Bang, a Philadelphia based rap duo, released their much-delayed debut album titled “Breakfast,” yesterday.   The two have released a plethora of EP’s and mix tapes after gaining momentum two years ago with the British breakout hit "Opposite of Adults".  The two rappers met each other in a music-business class at Drexel University.  Since 2008, they have been making a name for themselves by using samples from well known Broadway musicals as a medium before freestyle rapping on catchy beats.  The team harnesses more than just an ability to use music, creatively, to gain attention. Duo member Chidera "Chiddy" Anemone is responsible for creating the consistently fast lyrics. Anemone set a Guinness world record last year for the ability to free or pretence rap for nine hours straight. Major artists, such as Big Sean, have featured Noah “Xaphoon Jones” Beresin, the beat-maker for the group. 

The most enjoyable part of this meal is Chiddy’s unique ability to formulate synth-driven rap rhymes that remain infectious in your mind.  He is able to be heard over Xaphoons Indietronica laced rap beats, and his originality will help keep your finger from the skip button.  I find that the beats are ear candy, and love the way the group used the guitar in the song “Handclaps & Guitars”.  They also use other unique sounds from gaming consoles to create effects that keep your ear glued to the nuisances. I like to decipher rap rhymes to help really understand what the artist wants you to take away from their music; Chiddy leaves plenty of material to digest.  He has a knack for being able to use time relevant metaphors in his music, and unlike other rappers strays away from talking about how much money he has or cars he processes. Instead, the group opts to use tongue in cheek lyrics to make you really contemplate and think about what they are trying to tell you.

Most of the songs on Chiddy Bang’s debut album “Breakfast” are party songs, meant for performing at the many music events the duo has been touring for the last few years. They have really never focused on anything but dance music until this album. In particular the song “Does She Love Me”, tells a sad love story.  The duo was able to step up the writing level in this song and also showed a lot more technical maturity than in previous mix tapes.   They will make you appreciate how far indie rap has come in the fact that they are now selling Chiddy Bang and other rappers cd’s in the store.

Chiddy Bang’s debut album “Breakfast” will definitely leave you coming back for seconds.  Indie rap has a new shining star that I hope doesn’t fade out. They have done a fantastic job with creating unique ways to mix samples from a variety of old school R&B songs and Broadway musicals and lace them with freestyle rap.