Charles Jawanzaa Worth
(born October 20, 1986), known by his
stage names King Chip and Chip tha Ripper, is an American rapper from
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. He is notable for amassing several self-released
mixtapes, as well as for his work with longtime associate and fellow Cleveland rapper
Kid Cudi.
Musical career
2006–2011
Worth began releasing music on hip-hop blogs and mixtapes in 2006. Much of Worth's recent work has been performed with rapper
Kid Cudi, also from Ohio. Worth's musical style has been described as a slow,
chopped and screwed
Chopped and screwed (also called screwed and chopped or slowed and throwed) is a music genre and technique of remixing music that involves slowing down the tempo and deejaying. It developed in the Houston hip hop scene in the early 1990s by D ...
,
southern hip hop
Southern hip hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Memp ...
. One of his biggest songs that shook the city of Cleveland, is "Catch The Beat", featured on his Money Mixtape. This track is one of the many, that introduced him to the industry
In 2007, the song "Club Rockin", from his ''Money'' mixtape, featured
Akon
Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (; born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon, is a Senegalese-American singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of " Locked Up" (featuring Styles P ...
singing chorus. Worth remained an independent musician, and did not sign with a production company. In 2008, Worth frequently visited
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, where he eventually performed with
Kidz in the Hall
Kidz in the Hall is an American hip hop duo from Chicago, Illinois.
History
Group members Jabari Evans (Naledge) and Michael Aguilar ( Double-0) met in 2000 during a talent show at the University of Pennsylvania. They began recording songs, ...
on their album ''
The In Crowd'', on which Worth performed the song "Mr. Alldatshit". In late 2009, Chip released a mixtape entitled ''The Cleveland Show'', named after the animated sitcom
of the same name. The single, "Fat Raps", features
Big Sean
Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988), known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. Anderson began his music career in 2007 and gained popularity in 2010 with his third mixtape '' Finally Famous Vol. 3: Big''. He then s ...
and
Currensy
Shante Scott Franklin (born April 4, 1981), better known by his stage name Currensy (often stylized as Curren$y), is an American rapper. In 2011, he founded the label Jet Life Recordings.
Music career
2002–2008: No Limit and Young Mone ...
, and is produced by
Chuck Inglish
Evan Ingersoll (born October 7, 1984), better known by his stage name Chuck Inglish, is an American rapper, producer and songwriter most known for being part of the hip hop duo The Cool Kids with Sir Michael Rocks. His debut album ''Convertibles ...
.
On September 5, 2010, Chip Tha Ripper announced plans to form the musical duo "The Almighty GloryUS" with Kid Cudi, with whom he shared a mutual appreciation.
Worth was featured on producer
Hi-Tek
Tony Cottrell, better known as Hi-Tek (born May 5, 1976), is an American rapper and record producer from Cincinnati, Ohio. He is best known for his work with Talib Kweli. His father is singer Willie Cottrell of the Willie Cottrell Band, whom H ...
's album ''
Hi-Teknology 3'' in 2007, and on Kid Cudi's first mixtape ''
A Kid Named Cudi
''A Kid Named Cudi'' is the debut mixtape by American rapper Kid Cudi, released on July 17, 2008, by New York City streetwear brand 10.Deep, in conjunction with independent record label Fool's Gold Records. Considered his breakout project, the ...
'' in 2008. In 2009, Worth was featured on Kid Cudi's first album ''
Man on the Moon: The End of Day'', which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Worth performed with Kidz in the Hall again in 2010, on their ''
Land of Make Believe'' album. Also in 2010, Worth performed the song "The End" on Kid Cudi's second album ''
Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager''. On February 18, 2011, Worth,
Freddie Gibbs
Fredrick Jamel Tipton (born June 14, 1982), better known by his stage name Freddie Gibbs, is an American rapper from Gary, Indiana. After initially being signed to Interscope Records in 2006, Gibbs recorded his debut studio album under the label ...
, and
The Cool Kids
The Cool Kids are an American hip hop duo composed of rappers Sir Michael Rocks and Chuck Inglish. The Cool Kids' music had been released primarily to the independent Chocolate Industries via their own label C.A.K.E. Recordings. Reed and Inger ...
formed the hip hop
supergroup "P.O.C.", an acronym for "pulled over by the cops".
2012–present
On August 9, 2012, Worth changed his stage name from "Chip tha Ripper" to "King Chip". He also said that he had signed a contract with
Creative Artists Agency
Creative Artists Agency LLC (CAA) is an American talent and sports agency based in Los Angeles, California. It is regarded as an influential company in the talent agency business and manages numerous clients. In March 2016, CAA had 1,800 emplo ...
.
Regarding his changed stage name, King Chip
tweeted
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
:
I am King Chip. Actually born in the ghetto slums of East Cleveland, Ohio
East Cleveland is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and is the first suburb encountered when travelling east from Cleveland. The population was 13,792 at the 2020 census. East Cleveland is bounded by the city of Cleveland to its nor ...
. Rest in peace my mentor and former king, Hawk. His death made me....My birth name is Charles Jawanzaa Worth. Jawanzaa is Swahili and it means 'great leader and great warrior.' Look it up. I am King Chip.
King Chip performed on Kid Cudi's single "
Just What I Am
"Just What I Am" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Kid Cudi, released on October 2, 2012 as the lead single from his third studio album ''Indicud'' (2013). The song, produced by Cudi himself, features a guest verse from his freque ...
", taken from Cudi's third studio album ''
Indicud
''Indicud'' (stylized in all lowercase) is the third studio album by American rapper Kid Cudi. It was released on April 16, 2013, by GOOD Music, Wicked Awesome Records, and Republic Records. It was the first album of Cudi's solo career to not be ...
'' (2013). On September 4, 2013, King Chip released the mixtape ''44108''.
On December 26, 2013, King Chip released a music video for a song titled "Action Plan", from his ''44108'' mixtape. His next project was to be titled ''Rebel Castles''. On September 16, 2014, a
deluxe edition
The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...
of ''44108'' was released to digital retailers through King Chip's "Rebel Castles"
imprint.
In 2019, King Chip started referring to himself as Chip tha Ripper again on recent singles.
In early 2020, an old 2007 freestyle from Chip's visit to Street Starz TV Radio resurfaced and became a
TikTok
TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.
TikTok is an international version o ...
sensation gaining over 70 million views. In the same year Chip teamed up with New Zealand rapper Lil Mussie to take part in his charity EP helping kids in poverty.
Interior Crocodile Alligator
In 2007, Worth appeared on PrettyBoy Floyd's show, "Street Stars' Radio", and performed a freestyle song to the beat of Ali & Gipp's "Go 'Head". It became known as the "S.L.A.B. Freestyle" (after his own label), but it has, in recent years, come to be known more commonly as the "Interior Crocodile Alligator" song (or rap), after the iconic final two lines:
"Interior crocodile alligator / I drive a Chevrolet movie theater."
This snippet of the freestyle became very popular on the internet, especially for usage in memes.
Discography
* ''Gift Raps'' (2011)
* ''CleveLAfornia'' (2015)
* ''Bonfire with
Lex Luger
Lawrence Wendell Pfohl (born June 2, 1958), better known by the ring name Lex Luger, is an American retired professional wrestler, bodybuilder, and football player. In 2011 he began working with WWE on its wellness policy. He is best known for ...
'' (2022)
Concert tours
Headlining
Supporting
*The Cud Life Tour (2011)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:King Chip
1986 births
Living people
African-American male rappers
Rappers from Cleveland
Underground rappers
African-American songwriters
Songwriters from Ohio
Midwest hip hop musicians
21st-century American rappers
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century African-American musicians
20th-century African-American people
Indie rappers
American male songwriters