Chuckie Campbell
Chuckie Campbell is an American hip hop artist who currently resides in Buffalo, NY. In the past, he’s taken home All WNY Music Awards for Best Hip Hop Performer and Best New Artist as well as Best of Buffalo Awards for Best Hip Hop Act and Best Original Music. Campbell commonly performs with a live band, including a full horn section, to make for a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop filled with fluid instrumentation, lush musical arrangements, and heartfelt poetic nuance. Together, they have touched 46 states and two countries (Canada and Costa Rica), attended A3C as official artists (the largest hip hop music conference in the United States), SXSW (the largest music festival of its kind in the world), NXNE (the Canadian equivalent of SXSW held in Toronto, ON), and shared stages with hip hop legends such as Pharoahe Monch, EPMD, EnVogue, Ghostface Killa, Ras Kass, Pete Rock, Black Milk, Blueprint, Chris Rivers, Crooked I, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Tanya Morgan, and more.
In early 2013, Campbell’s song, “The Streets,” struck a chord with listeners all across the nation, when it amassed the most overall votes in The Grammy’s Amplifier Contest, accumulating 95,058 amps, listens and shares, more than any other artist in any other genre who participated in the contest. The song would be disqualified for “improper interpolations of other musical compositions,” meaning it used a sample, but amass a large and dedicated base of fans who followed his music. The following year, Campbell debuted his album, More Die of Heartbreak, garnering five star reviews and positive press from online and print outlets such as the Huffington Post, The Source, and Young Hollywood, while receiving selective honors along the way: Hiplanta Album of the Week; Young Hollywood Playlist Pick; Indie Music News Artist Feature; and Esente Center Stage Emerging Artist of the Week.
The album itself is often described as a return to form, drawing on a seven year absence from hop hop music, coming after a violent physical assault that left his jaw broken in two places. The project was dedicated to Ralph B. Prater, his close friend and music mentor, also his unlawful attacker, who committed suicide in March of 2011.
When Esente Center Stage selected Campbell as their artist of the week, writer Peter Amara affirmed him as “super-lyrical” with words “that thrust the listener in the middle of the scenario,” praising the rapper for his “intricate wordplay” and “incredibly fast flow.” I am Entertainment Magazine said that Campbell “is very comparable to such lyricists as Nas, Dead Prez, Black Thought of The Roots, and Common (pre-movie star).” Kyle Jarmon, in his 5 star review of Campbell’s debut album said “Offering a dark depth to the hip hop scene, Chuckie Campbell’s More Die of Heartbreak puts the rapper on the map. Each song exhibited is intensely reflective, offering observations intermingled with beats that are laid back and slanted to complement Campbell’s voice…More Die of Heartbreak is worth the experience not only for its lyrical depth but for each one of us who have been through something traumatic and prevailed.”
In 2018, Campbell is set to release his next full length album, Taking Back Tomorrow. The project is a venture with carefully chosen, but high profile features, including Ras Kass (Mello Music Group), Talib Kweli (Javotti Media), Quadir Lateef (Ruff Ryders), Heidi Feek (daughter of country music stars Joey and Rory Feek), Nicole Atkins, Iesha Green, mad Dukez, and many more. The project ultimately aspires to remind us of the strength it takes, not only to hold on, but to let go — to confront the impermanent and transient nature of human experience. In a world where tomorrow is never promised, and yesterday is gone, through our stories and our songs, we reclaim the strength to carry on, taking back tomorrow.
