Chester Watson (born March 16, 1997) is an American rapper and record producer based in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. He is a member of the crew Nü Age Syndicate.

Early life

Watson was born to separated parents in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. He rarely saw his father, who has been a producer for

Three 6 Mafia Three 6 Mafia is an American Hip hop music, hip hop group from Memphis, Tennessee, formed in 1991. Emerging as a horror-themed underground hip hop group, they would eventually go on to enjoy mainstream success. The group's 1995 debut album ''Mys ...

and a keyboard player for

Con Funk Shun Con Funk Shun (formerly known as Project Soul) is an American R&B and funk band whose popularity began in the mid-1970s and ran through the 1980s. They were influenced by funk legend James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone. Signed to Mercury R ...

and

Bar-Kays The Bar-Kays are an American funk band formed in 1964. The band had dozens of charting singles from the 1960s to the 1980s, including "Soul Finger" (US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number 17, R&B number 3) in 1967, "Son of Shaft" (R&B number 10) in ...

. He grew up in

Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a populat ...

and spent several years in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. He transferred from a performing arts school, where he studied ballet, to a regular public school in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

Career

At the age of 15, Watson started releasing his music online. In 2012, he released a mixtape, ''Phantom''. The music video for its title track caught the attention of

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

, who played the song on his

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

show. For weeks, the video received tens of thousands of views each day. Watson released ''Tin Wooki'' in 2014, ''Past Cloaks'' in 2016, and ''Project 0'' in 2018. On October 31, 2020, Watson released his debut studio album, ''A Japanese Horror Film.''

Artistry

Watson's inspirations are made clear through his music, with references in his lyrics to many artists. In a recent livestream on his Twitch channel, Watson was asked who his biggest inspirations were. He replied with the following artists:

Psymun Simon Christensen, better known by his stage name Psymun, is an American record producer based in Minnesota. He was a member of Thestand4rd alongside Allan Kingdom, Bobby Raps, and Corbin. Early life and education Christensen graduated from Sai ...

MF DOOM Daniel Dumile ( ; July 13, 1971October 31, 2020), best known by his stage name MF Doom or simply Doom (both stylized in all caps), was a British-American rapper and record producer. Noted for his intricate wordplay, signature metal mask, and ...

Odd Future Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, better known as Odd Future and often abbreviated as OF, was an American Hip hop music, hip-hop Musical collective, music collective formed in Los Angeles County, California in 2007. The original members were Ty ...

Mos Def Yasiin Bey (; born Dante Terrell Smith, December 11, 1973), previously and more commonly known by his stage name Mos Def (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. His hip hop career began in 1994, alongside his siblings in the s ...

Madlib Otis Jackson Jr. (born October 24, 1973), known professionally as Madlib, is an American DJ, music producer, multi-instrumentalist, and rapper. He is widely known for his collaborations with MF DOOM (as Madvillain), J Dilla (as Jaylib), and Fr ...

Nujabes , better known by his stage name , was a Japanese record producer, audio engineer, DJ, composer and arranger best known for his atmospheric instrumental mixes sampling from hip hop, soul, and jazz, as well as incorporating elements of trip hop, b ...

J Dilla J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon varia ...

André 3000 André Lauren Benjamin (born May 27, 1975), better known as André 3000, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is best known for being a part of southern hip hop duo Outkast alongside fellow rapper Big Boi. B ...

Metro Boomin Leland Tyler Wayne (born September 16, 1993), professionally known as Metro Boomin, is an American record producer, record executive, beatmaker, and DJ. He is known for his dark production style and its influence on modern hip hop and trap. R ...

and Travis Scott. Producing most of his own material, Watson blends genres together, including hip-hop,

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

, and

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

. In 2017, Watson released a video on his YouTube channel titled "A Moment With Chester Watson", in which he stated "I kinda just want my career to just take its course, and lean towards psychedelia, for sure... because... I don't know, like, that's what I'm influenced by the most." His signature monotone style of delivery is one of the components that sets Watson apart from his contemporaries, and ultimately has given him the nickname of the Monotone Samurai. In his EP ''1997'', released on February 27, 2021, Watson made multiple references to the late

's passing. He released a video for the first track on the EP, "Sunbeam", and in its description wrote "RIP MF DOOM".

Discography

Studio albums

* ''A Japanese Horror Film'' (2020)

Mixtapes

* ''Phantom'' (2012) * ''Tin Wooki'' (2014) * ''Past Cloaks'' (2016) * ''Project 0'' (2018) * ''Instrumental Tape'' (2019)

EPs

* ''Space Nobility'' (2013) * ''My Girlfriend Made Me Drop This'' (2014) * ''Summer Mirage'' (2015) * ''Autumn Mirage'' (2015) * ''Spring Mirage'' (2016) * ''3 of 3'' (2016) * ''Nebulous'' (2019) * ''1997'' (2021)

Singles

* "Koi Island" (2015) * "Marble" (2017) * "Smog" (2017) * "Halloween" (2017) * "Chessmaster" (2018) * "Afro!" (2019) * "Time Moves Slower Here" (2019) * "Cloud Mask" (2019)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Chester Living people American hip hop record producers American male rappers 21st-century American rappers 1997 births 21st-century American male musicians