Today we’d like to introduce you to Chase Vibe.
Hi Chase, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My name is Chase Vibe and I come from the Northside of Minneapolis. I am a Hip Hop artist, co-founder (along with Ariel Cherry and Larissa Rines) and organizer of Northside Community Collective (NSCC), youth homelessness outreach worker, and educator. Growing up over north as a poor white kid I was immersed in the beauty of Black culture, specifically Hip Hop which was my window into the world. As a kid, I remember Ludacris’ Roll Out playing over the speakers on the school bus and all of us asking for it to be turned up. A few years later I bought Ludacris’ Release Therapy album which included the song Tell It Like It Is. Tell It Like It Is was essentially a warning to aspiring musicians about how difficult it is to navigate the industry but when I heard it I saw a blueprint to success and decided I wanted to be a rapper. For the majority of my youth, I was terrible at it and went by the imaginative but clunky moniker Young Beast Easy. After I started attending college I walked away from music for three years, figuring I’d appreciate ‘normalcy’ more. I didn’t. I found myself called back to music with a greater understanding of the world around me. I had a greater ear for production and flow, in addition to lived experiences and a more developed politic that informed my material. In 2019 I released my album Love, again., following it up with an EP titled Black Heart Rockstar where I debuted my now signature pink hair color. On June 17th of this year, I released my latest project Kaleidoscope. At the center of a lot of my music is the neighborhood in which I grew up in. The love and community I’ve experienced here as well as the negative results of capital-driven politics, prisons, and policing that have ravaged our home, specifically in the experiences of my Black neighbors, friends, and family. My love for this neighborhood has led me to teach in Freedom Schools and afterschool enrichment programs for elementary-aged youth and when the pandemic happened I pivoted to doing outreach work for youth 12-24 dealing with homelessness. This allowed me to continue to serve and connect with my community when so much of the outside world was closed off. I’ve performed my music nationally, locally, and most importantly all across the Northside, whether it’s at The Dream Shop, Freedom Square, FLOW Northside Arts Crawl, Open Streets and more. As I continued to develop my politic through an abolitionist lens I realized that there was still more that I could do to serve so I humbly partnered with writer Larissa Rines and photographer and graphic designer Ariel Cherry to found Northside Community Collective, a grassroots, community-led organization centered on political education, mutual aid, and community connection. We are currently hosting our Study Sessions at the North Regional Library every Saturday from 1-3pm.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not! I grew up in poverty so it has always been an uphill battle navigating the world in that respect but in addition to the financial challenges I’ve always faced, I also struggle with my mental health. I have depression and anxiety, bad enough that I’ve dropped out of college in the past and have been hospitalized. Thankfully these days I’m in consistent therapy and take medication to keep myself centered in addition to the friendships and community that uplift me and hold me accountable to myself but there was a period during the pandemic where I attempted suicide and needed months unplugged from the world to mentally recover. The pandemic has been its own set of challenges. I’m grateful to have avoided COVID up to this point and I am vaccinated and boosted but during that first year, I dealt with a lot of anxiety that would keep me up because I was still so active and embedded in the community, especially during the uprisings. I think it can be easy to want to isolate and stop working towards your goals and dreams when so much feels out of our hands in the world we live in. You can only do much. But you can also do SO much and connecting with people who share your vision and care about you can really help you succeed after your failures.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a Hip Hop artist. I write, record, and perform all of my music. Typically I perform in Minnesota but I have done shows all across the US and I always strive to leave it all on stage with my energy and artistry. I typically use my platform to speak to what’s going on in the world, both in my music and in between songs. In the studio, I work with the likes of Tek and Ozzy The Painter to hone my sound, with the latter being my go-to producer since 2019. Ozzy produced half of the songs on Love, again, (Buzzin, Speech Therapy, New Watch, Finding Forever, and One More Song), the entirety of Black Heart Rockstar, and half of the songs on Kaleidoscope (Kaleidoscope, Hotline Vibe, Scattershot, Paradise). They’ve been my musical rock throughout my career and I’m so grateful for that relationship. Elsewhere I’ve collaborated with rappers like Knucky, Destiny Roberts, Nur-D, Zeus James, and Love, Ulysses; singers like Lyndora Turner and Nyasia; producers like K.Raydio, Brown Jewel, Maya Mida, Ackronem, Rich Garvey, Angelo Bombay; and musicians like Karl Remus and Alex Browne.
As an artist, I specialize in rapping from an emotionally nuanced perspective that allows for me to reflect and conceptualize life and love in real-time with my audience. Sometimes that sounds like danceable heartbreak records, sometimes it’s gritty anti-capitalist anthems, sometimes it’s soft, earnest love songs. All of it falls under my purview and has never alienated my audience because we share a bond and understanding that we’re connected through these records, regardless of the soundscape. Aesthetically I’m known for album art designed and photographed by Ariel Cherry, music videos shot by Rich Garvey, and my signature pink hair (done by the go-to hairstylist for artists in the Twin Cities, Gina Watkins). My visual language is just as important to me as my audio so I try to collaborate intentionally to achieve my vision.
I’m most proud of how organic the journey has been and continues to be. All of my engagement, views, likes, and whatever comes from people that I can identify with and see as real human beings. No juiced up numbers, streaming bots, paid for followers or whatever else is being used to game the system these days. I’m grateful to build genuine connections. It’s so much more rewarding.
The fact that I care about every aspect of my art and being a genuine person on and off stage is what sets me apart from others. Anyone can make a song. Is it the song you wanted to make or what you think people want from you? I get to make what I want and that’s what my audience wants from me. It’s a beautiful arrangement.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
That I’m a huge video game nerd. I play on PlayStation and have since the PS3. I have 73 platinum trophies. It’s lowkey embarrassing.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @ChaseVibe
- Facebook: @ChaseVibe
- Twitter: @ChaseVibe
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMtmX96zXDU_6PQ5rAsX2sw
Image Credits
Ariel Cherry
Shylee Drakeford
Imani Mansfield
Gina Watkins
