Chris Webby Talks Bars On Me Mixtape

Chris Webby turns just 24 this month, but the Connecticut rapper always looks back to the pristine time period of '90s hip-hop. Late '90s, to be exact. So for his new mixtape, Bars on Me, he reached out to lyrical luminaries such as Method Man and Mobb Deep’s Prodigy, as well as producer Ski Beatz.

“My golden era was a little later, but it isn’t like Meth or Mobb Deep weren’t apart of that era,” Webby recently told XXLmag.com. “I started listening to like Chronic 2001, [early] Eminem, Nate Dogg was singing all the hooks, that was my time of really  starting [into hip-hop music]. Everything since then, I’ve gotten from seeing it first hand and really observing. Everything before that, it’s not like I haven’t gone back and done some research. I’m reading a book about Ol' Dirty Bastard right now.  It’s important to understand the culture you’re a part of. A lot of kids these days are skipping that step. They just want to start making money. It’s about so much more than that.”

Webby’s Bars on Me features all original material.

“I had Ski beats producing, he did three joints on there,” Webby described. “One is with Prodigy [“So Fresh”], which is definitely one of my favorites. It’s a crazy to me to work with some of the people I grew up listening too. Meth is on it. It’s crazy. This is like some dream come true type shit.”

“‘CT 2 Shaolin,’ he continued about the collaboration with Tical. "It's really spitting authentic hip-hop shit. [Ski] made it a rugged old-school sounding type of beat.  Golden era.  My Golden era. I’ve never been concerned at trying to spit the norm.”

Meanwhile,  Webby transitions from legends to up-and-coming rap acrobatics on “Whatever I Like” featuring Jon Connor.

“My favorite record on (the mixtape) is with Jon Connor from Flint Michigan," Webby said. "He is so dope. He’s my favorite dude coming up right now. We’re just talking about almost like some conspiracy shit. Shit, you should open your eyes too in the world. We kind of start digging a little deeper than most.”

Bars On Me is available now for free download. As for his debut LP, Webby says he’s still figuring out when to attack it. —Shaheem Reid (@ShaheemReid)