Many compare Chris Rivers to his late father Big Pun. Yet the rapper, who released his Wonderland Of Misery mixtape in June, says that he isn’t trying to duplicate Pun’s flow and that he grew up listening to Eminem.
“People think I took his flow and studied it and stuff like that,” Chris Rivers said during an exclusive interview with HipHopDX. “I really haven’t. I actually grew up really listening to Eminem. I didn’t really start listening to my father heavy until like maybe two years ago. A lot of the compound syllables and his cadence, he made it seem so nonchalant. He gave the people him and he put the personality and comedy into it. He was so real about himself. You not only fall in love with his music, but you fall in love with him as a person. That’s a big thing because once you can personally feel attached to the person you’re listening to, you’re going to ride for them more. That’s definitely something that I love from him. His work ethic, I hear about him just constantly writing in the studio. That’s definitely something you got to do to be successful in this shit.”
Chris Rivers believes he is carving his own lane and wants people to love his music because of the music and not because of who he is related to.
“I could see myself developing my own fans and people who love Chris Rivers, but you still got the bigger fan base, which is my fathers,” says Chris Rivers, who used to be known as Baby Pun. “Some of them love me for me as well, but some of them will call me wack or don’t like me because I’m not like him or they think I’m trying to be like him, which I’m not. It’s like a mixture. It’s like contradictions too because they would get mad at me if I was trying to be like him, but get mad at me because I’m not as good as him. So it’s like I’m not like him, so you say I’m wack but if you didn’t compare me to him then I wouldn’t be. I had a lot of pressure before to live up to expectations and trying to be my own person. At the end of the day, what this showed me is there are going to be people who hate you. You’re not going to please everyone. It’s impossible, but you are going to get the people who love you. For them, I’ll constantly be myself. It’s kind of like, ‘Fuck what everyone says. Be yourself. Do what you got to and you’ll get the people to rock with you.’”
Chris Rivers Wants A Platinum Plaque And A Boxing Championship
The Bronx, New York-based rapper is aiming to create a successful Hip Hop career and excel in another one of his passions, boxing.
“How cool would it be to go platinum and be the heavyweight champion of the world?” Rivers says to HipHopDX. “That’s a big goal. A lot of people say you can’t do both at the same time, but I’m thinking I could. I hate when people say I can’t do something. So it’s like, ‘Why not?’ even if it takes extra work. It’s possible. I’m actually doing the Golden Gloves in 2014 so people can check that out. I’ve been training for a while now, working on the craft, losing weight, getting nice and you will see me in the Golden Gloves next year.”
Chris Rivers has several goals he wants to achieve in the next five years.
“Definitely want to be a XXL Freshman for 2014,” he says. “I want to perform at Summer Jam, which would be dope. I’m definitely coming out with another mixtape. I can’t wait ‘till I perform and the crowd is there to see me. To have a whole crowd rocking to your lyrics that would be dope. I want to develop my own identity fully. That’s big for me. It might be awhile, but if it could happen soon that would be great. I definitely want people to love me for Chris Rivers and not because I’m somebodies son.”
RELATED: Chris Rivers “Wonderland Of Misery” Tracklist, Download & Mixtape Stream
