FEATURE:
Spotlight
Cristale
_________
THIS is a phenomenal artist…
PHOTO CREDIT: Shane Anthony Sinclair for Wordplay
who has already been tipped for big things this year by The Guardian. They were full of praise (“Without wanting to stoke the hype fires too carelessly, this Brixton MC has one of the keenest minds and sharpest tongues in rap music today, not just in the UK but across the world. Moment to moment, her flows are astonishing technical accomplishments, with words fiendishly darting into rhythmic space”). Cristale is a spellbinding rapper, poet and voice that is going to be among those at the forefront of new music this year. I am going to get to some interviews with this stunning talent. First, here is some background to the London-based artist:
“Cristale was born in Brixton around the turn of the millennium . She was raised by an incredibly strong family unit to which all members supported her hard work and dedication associated with but not restricted to Academia, Football, Spoken Word and Poetry. While at primary school, she would compete against her peers in bantering rap battles, with lyrics she and her uncle had written together. Invariably she would win. In year seven, aged 1, she won the first slam poetry competition at her school, beating kids from all other year groups. From there she went on to compete against kids from other schools.
Growing up in a Caribbean household, dancehall artists like Buju Banton and Tony Matterhorn were on regular rotation on Cristale’s family stereo. As she grew up she took a liking to grime rappers like Chip, Stormzy and Wretch 32, as well as funky house acts like T2 and Sweet Female Attitude. Beginning her rap career at 19, her first four mainstream releases were freestyles, Cristale remixed Poundz’s ‘Opp Thot’, Pa Salieu’s ‘Frontline’ and Unknown T and Crazy Cousinz’ ‘Throwback’. She can write lyrics to any type of instrumental, with a vocal style defined by sharp attentive lyricism.
Having grown up writing poetry, her natural talent is as a wordsmith- a trait that aligns her with legendary artists like Lauryn Hill, who carries an essence of realism that Cristale is inspired by. She has a similarly striking attitude on the mic as well, adept at riding any beat and effortlessly likeable. Her competitive spirit is perhaps a legacy of a childhood spent playing football, first at school, where she learned, then she was scouted at 14 to play and train with U16s and U18s at Crystal Palace FC . She is a very non- controversial individual- but she is not afraid of any competition she may face in the UK rap scene.
As a product of south London, she kick started her career by recording at Digital holdings studios, which also gave rise to successful British rap artists like Dot Rotten, Harlem Spartans and SL – Cristale is one of UK music’s hottest prospects. She has singles in the pipeline and a treasure chest of unreleased music on her hard drive. Her latest release “BOOTH (Part 2)” a freestyle over Ruff Sqwad’s classic grime instrumental ‘Together’, is a nod to Chip – a formative influence on Cristale who used the same beat on ‘Coward’ – and an unerring statement of intent.
She is ready for anything the music industry has in store for her”.
There is not a lot of interview material from last year. I am going to go back to a 2022 interview. She spoke with gal-dem about her heritage and why storytelling matters when it comes to her music. Even back then, there was this sense that Cristale was very special indeed. Since, she has stepped up and grown stronger with every release. In 2022, Cristale released the long-E.P., What It’s Like to Be Young:
“Growing up, Cristale would constantly hear people talking about the hardships and struggles of where she lived, especially in the news, “I was told [by] a lot of people – whether I knew them or not –that ‘you’re not gonna make it out’,” Cristale tells gal-dem. But she refused to let the sceptics curtail her rise.
This year she released her debut EP What It’s Like To Be Young, a collection of gritty coming-of-age tales that she uses to open the door for empathy. Tucking clever wordplay into the pockets of unflinching drill beats, Cristale gives a voice to the young people she sees in her neighbourhood and whose backstories are sometimes dismissed.
On lead single ‘13 Going On 30’ she explores her childhood and overcoming obstacles: ‘Started secondary school / Mum said, “Learn your book, don’t turn to no bad girl” (Behave, Cris)” and later “Teach’ said I got so much potential / “Cristale, you don’t know how much you have, girl”
Cristale is quick to credit her matrifocal Caribbean household for keeping her grounded and backing her career. “I had a big support system of women; my aunty, grandma, great-grandma, great-aunt and cousins,” she says, careful not to forget a family member.
Her family has strongly influenced her music. Between the buzz of familial chit-chatter and Jamaican records on loop, she has developed a strong enough accent to confuse fans she met in Jamaica while shooting the video for her hit song ‘Bong Bing’ earlier this year. Her first foray into dancehall, ‘Bong Bing’ saw her team up with Jamaican artist Laa Lee, and became a viral hit on TikTok, being used in over 788,000 videos.
The overwhelming response to ‘Bong Bing’ left Cristale reflecting on her heritage and the kind of artist she wants to be, whether that would mean honing in on dancehall or continuing to experiment with fresh Caribbean sounds. Her mum is mixed Jamaican and Montserratian and her dad is Guyanese: “[I’m] only one-quarter Jamaican,” she says. “I feel like I’ve been served an injustice because I feel more Jamaican than I actually am. But it is what it is, I am fully Caribbean,” she adds. Her heritage is the base from which she constructs her identity, with music melding into the mix. When contemplating the type of artist or person she is, she responds with one clear-cut answer: “I like to tell stories”.
She’s thrilled to find herself part of a new generation making dancehall their own, a musical shift that’s been recognised and celebrated by legend Sean Paul – who happens to be a Cristale fan, too. “After ‘Bong Bing’ blew up, [Sean Paul] followed me on Insta. That was a big shock to me,” she exclaims. “I am an example of the new generation of dancehall even though I’ve only got one track out. I’ve got unreleased tunes with Klassik Frescobar, Roze Don and Noah Powa.”
Cristale is just as keen to bring the moves off TikTok and onto the streets, as seen at this year’s Carnival, where she performed with Jamaican and Guyanese flags hanging from her pockets at the Rampage Sound stage. “You haffi bring yuh flag,” she says, adding that it was a “blessing” to come back to the first Carnival in three years as an artist. “Carnival is about letting your hair down and indulging in culture, not exploiting it but being a part of it,” she beams. “It’s the one day, besides Jamaican Independence, where I feel like people can give back to the culture rather than just taking from it”.
I am going to wrap up in a second. I hope we get some new interviews with Cristale, as quite a lot has happened since 2022. She has put out some of her best music and got onto the radar of some big names’ websites. I know that she will continue to grow and perform on some incredible stages. Before rounding up, there is one more interview that I want to get to. GRM Daily spoke with Cristale about releasing an E.P. and balancing that with her being at university and having to cope with anxiety. It is always fascinating reading Cristale’s words:
“So when did your interest in music start taking shape?
“I know it probably sounds ridiculous to say since I was born, but literally, growing up with my mum raising me, the type of music she would play like Teedra Moses, TLC, Ashanti, that genre. I’ve always grown up on soulful music, I was kind of born into it in a sense.”
When do you think that started turning into realising that you had a talent for it?
“When I was younger my uncle and I wrote my first bars together, when I was about three. I spat the same ones throughout the whole of primary school and used them for everything and everyone would be astonished, but I was just saying them for the sake of saying them. I’ve only genuinely realised that I have a talent recently. As in the last few months. From me actually developing a fan base and understanding that people listen to me, relate to me and want to hear what I have to say and want to keep track of my life and what I’m doing. That’s made me realise I must have talent.
“Obviously, I don’t have any clout and this industry is based on clout. Thank God, I also don’t have any negative clout around my name or anything like that. I’m not in the blogs, I’m not in anything. So I know that the following is genuine. If it’s genuine, that must mean that people actually respect my art. They must actually believe that I have a talent. I’m not saying I only realise this because I have fans. Because aside from that, I make music for myself. I don’t make music for anyone else. I think about how I feel, what I’m going to do, what I’ve done, the people around me and the different things that we’ve been through. So I make music for myself.
“Some days I’ll just sit and I’ll go through what I’ve already done. There are loads of songs in the locker that you won’t hear for a while, but they’re there. When I’m sitting down, I kind of have to occupy the space of a consumer and listen to myself like it’s not me. And if I detach myself from myself, and I still like the song that’s how I know like, cool, you’re doing something right.”
Watching your videos, it feels like things come naturally to you. Is it important for you to be seen in the space as a musician, as opposed to a media personality who makes music
“I feel that everything in this life is down to perception which is subjective. Who am I to say how I want people to view me? The most I can do is present myself in a way that is natural. That won’t get received in a negative way, but it’s down to the person. I can’t say I want you to look at me as an artist because you might go from my Instagram and realise that I can play football. You might follow me on Snapchat and see that I’m funny or TikTok and see that I’m creative.
“So for you, I’m just someone that you like to pay attention to. Then you discover oh she makes music. I like to listen to her music, I feel like I know her as a person because I follow her on social media. But then, there’s another set of people that just heard my song on the radio. This is Cristale. I’m going to look through all of her music now. Cool, I am a fan… oh what and she plays football, she’s got a personality too. It’s a catch 22 Yeah, and I’m not in control of that.
“I can’t really say I care if people view me like this or view me like that. As long as I’m not viewed in a negative light then I’m good. You can view me as a media personality, an entertainer, an actress, footballer, musician, poet, orange, apple, whatever you want! Just as long as my general presence isn’t inflicting any negativity on them, I’m calm. You can look at me as whatever you want. Just as long as even though I’ve never met you, the relationship that we have between the phone is good. My music, my personality or my influence makes you feel happy then I’m good.”
That is such a grounded and well-rounded answer and there is such a sense of contentment and freedom in your sound. Where does your inspiration come from and how do you approach your creative process?
“My inspiration comes from life. I do my day by day and when it hits me that this is something, then it becomes something. I could go into the fridge and go to get an orange. Then the orange drops on the floor, but because I’m overwhelmed with uni stuff I’ll start talking about the fact that I was actually holding out very well until I peeled my orange and it just ended up on the floor. And then literally I’ll just write a song about eating food from off the floor and make a metaphor for people that are above you but instead of helping they make you beg.
“It’s literally whatever comes to mind at any given time, and this is all based on experience. Nothing that I come up with or that I say, none of it’s a lie. None of it is fake. Even some of the road stuff that I talk about. Yeah, fair enough, I’ve been through certain things and experienced certain things or seen certain things, but I pray to God every day, and I’m thankful that I haven’t had to experience anything mad like that. That’s why you hear me talking in the songs about the fact that I’m telling a story. And I’m clearly telling them that it is not me that went through it. But right now, I’m the voice for people that can’t speak on what they’ve done. But they’re going through trauma because of it.”
Now I know that visual art and music often go hand in hand. So with covers, photography, videos, the things that accompany a release are you very hands-on in those aspects?
“Very. For the “Militant” artwork, I drew the sketch of what I wanted it to look like, I found the font and everything. Then I just gave it to the graphic designer and he changed the colouring of it officially. But I’m very hands-on with everything. All the concepts for the music video, come from me. It’s why a lot of people say to me now Cristale you’ve got to start having your name as co-director on the music video. It’s like you see the directors have done a very good job, but that doesn’t come from nowhere. I create a very clear blueprint, and then we bring it to life through film.”
You get those credits. It’s worthwhile that people know they are witnessing your creative vision…
“Yeah. Look at someone like Teyana Taylor who does and directs videos for other people. She’s an artist herself, she’s been able to do that through people knowing that she does her own. So no one’s going to know that unless I talk or other people ask. Yeah,I’m gonna start putting it on the video still. Really I should have been doing that since the first one. The old schools “Whites” ,”See Myself” then “Morgan” “Merryland” , “Militant”, they’re all me and the next ones will be me.
“I don’t really go into a situation without knowing what I want. By the time I finished a song in the studio, I can already see what I want the video to look like and I write it down and the video will be like that. I create mood boards, I give a rough treatment. I send it off to the director and then the director sends me their version of the treatment that I’ve done. That basically tells me everything that’s going to happen, how I want it to happen. It’s more detailed and the order is broken down”.
Rightly tipped as a name that we all need to watch this year, Cristale is a sensational rapper, artist and voice that is impossible to ignore. Such a compelling performer and songwriter, we are going to hear her name a lot more this year. Go and follow her across social media and check out her music. Even though this year is going to be one where we see so many artists emerge across multiple genres, you just know that the magnificent Cristale will be…
AMONG the very best.
_____________
Follow Cristale
