In rap, you must have your city -- your streets -- behind you in order to succeed. And there’s plenty of reasons why the streets of Miami -- as well as savvy rap fans around the world -- are anxiously anticipating the arrival of C-Ride’s debut album, Automatic Vibe.
It’s partly because the Carol City native’s witty worldplay has dazzled listeners on his highly coveted mixtapes, 2 Pistols’ “Lights Low (Pt. 2)” single, DJ Khaled’s We Global album and his single “Pushin” from the Save The Last Dance 2 soundtrack. It’s also because C-Ride’s storytelling ability rivals that of rap legends. And it’s because fans recognize that C-Ride brings a new style of Miami rap to the table: one of supreme lyricism with swagger, charisma and verbal intricacy that hits you as soon as you hear it.
“Once you press play, you’re going to catch that vibe, my vibe,” explains C-Ride, who has several blogs proclaiming that he’s “quite possibly the next potential best thing” out of Miami. “Everybody can rap about the same thing, but when I rap about it, it gives you a vibe -- and it’s so automatic.”
Executive produced by and featuring landmark beatwork from super producers Cool & Dre (Fat Joe, The Game), Automatic Vibe is an all-star effort that serves as a platform for C-Ride to shine, both next to today’s A-List talent and on his own.
For instance, C-Ride teams with The Game on current Internet sensation “Dat What It Is,” instantly showing that rap’s newest star can carry his own weight lyrically next to one of the genre’s most respected spitters. This Cool & Dre-produced cut features a polished menace that allows both rappers to slaughter the high-energy track with bone-crushing rhymes. Continuing the rugged vibe, C-Ride is joined by Gorilla Zoe and Gucci Mane on “What’s Hood.”
Switching lanes from the ghetto streets to the penthouse suites, C-Ride flosses on “Money Round Here,” which also features T-Pain. “I didn’t seek out T-Pain, but when I heard the record and the hook he did on this particular record, I had to have it,” C-Ride reveals. “I love it because it’s a street record. It’s like ‘I’m So Hood,’ part two. It represented me, Florida and Miami so much. I just had to have it.”
Another thing C-Ride has to have is the ladies. On “Walk Different” with Pleasure P, he details the joys of lovemaking, while on the club ready “I Ain’t Fakin’” he lets the object of his desire know that he’s second to none. “I’m telling the girl that I’m realer than the rest,” he says. “Trey Songz did his thing on the hook and the ladies love him. Hopefully I can snatch some of love from the ladies.”
As much as he’s aiming for the ladies, C-Ride also wants to sustain that adulation he already enjoys from his longtime fans of either sex. For those fans in particular, C-Ride will be reworking his street classic “Sittin On My Porch” for Automatic Vibe, where it will be rechristened as “Certified.” He’ll also deliver an epic, safe-sex edition of his “Virgin” song series, which has become an underground sensation. C-Ride promises the next “Virgin” installment will be something remarkable. “I’m making it into one phenomenal song,” he says. “It’s like ‘Stan’ by Eminem.”
Raised in rugged Carol City, C-Ride had much more than writing raps on his mind. Although he was a skilled student, skipped a grade and graduated from high school at age 16, C-Ride was also drawn to the streets. He came from a broken home and was raised by his grandparents, whom he considers his mother and father.
But as high school ended, trouble began finding C-Ride over and over again. He moved to Atlanta to try to reset his life, only to wind up facing potential legal issues in Georgia, too. “I’ve never been the type to keep a job, but I always had bills,” he says. “I always had to find ways to pay bills and that usually leads to trouble when you’re not working.”
Yet right before he left Atlanta, C-Ride made a fateful trip to a recording studio. While there, he thought that the rappers working that night weren’t overly talented and that he could create material that easily exceeded theirs. C-Ride starting asking people he knew what it took to write good raps. He studied the artists and movements he was already a fan of -- T.I., Pastor Troy, Cash Money -- and became determined to establish himself on equal footing. By taking pieces from all of his influences, C-Ride the rapper was born.
Once he settled back into Miami, C-Ride started honing his craft and recording. He got his rap name from a pimp, who originally called him C-Rider because he could ride any type of beat. Not satisfied with the way the moniker sounded, he shortened it to C-Ride.
In 2004, C-Ride spent his own money to press up his first mixtape, Wide Open -- and that’s exactly what he got fans and music industry insiders alike. One copy of his mixtape made its way to producers Cool & Dre, whose commercialized gangster beats helped Fat Joe, The Game, Lil Wayne and others sell millions of albums. Soon thereafter, Cool & Dre called C-Ride directly.
“We’d never heard anybody from Miami rapping like that,” says Cool & Dre’s Dre. “You probably wouldn’t even know that he’s from Miami unless he told you. He’s a lyricist and he takes pride in murdering a beat.”
Adds Bryan Leach, owner of Polo Grounds Music, which signed C-Ride in 2008 and will release Automatic Vibe in October: “I’ve worked with a number of superstar platinum artists over the years, and C-Ride has the lyricism, style, swag and hunger to become one of the game’s best.”
Now officially paired with Cool & Dre, C-Ride has become a legitimate force in the underground, releasing a slew of mixtapes, hitting the road with Rick Ross, Hurricane Chris and others, and earning such seemingly unlikely fans as lyrical heavyweights Slaughterhouse -- all testaments to C-Ride’s momentum, potential and talent.
“I want to show people that we can rap down here in the South,” he says. “A lot of people still have doubts because of all the dancing songs that are coming out. We dance a lot too, but we’ve still got flows and can keep up with the rest of ya’ll from the West, East and Midwest, Japan, whatever. When you hear my album, I want you to want more. When my CD goes off, I want you to be mad that it’s over.”
Cause that vibe -- that Automatic Vibe -- is gone.
These days, it’s hard to come by a rapper whose rhyming ability speaks for itself.
For Miami MC C-Ride, there are no gimmicks or sideshow props in his lyrical hustle; his style, much like his name, stands out on its own. “This old school pimp I grew up with said I always made him want to jump in the car [when I rhymed] ‘cause I ride on the beat,” C-Ride explains, of his moniker. “The difference with me is that you can press play when you listen to a lot of rappers, but you’ll get a different bounce with me.” Growing up in the infamous Carol City neighborhood of Miami, C-Ride (born Christian Coates) came up like many teens raised in a broken home—he never knew which step would lead him in the right direction. With absentee parents, the Southern rapper relied on the support of his grandparents. But holding the reigns on a precocious, yet troublesome 17-year-old was a job in itself, and C-Ride found himself leaving the state of Florida in 2001, to live a life less drama-free in the ATL with his older brother.
Leaving his humble beginnings in Carol City was not just an answer to living a more honest life, it was an answer to C-Ride’s artistic ambitions. After having graduated high school at the tender age of 16 and no sights set on college, rapping became his study. Once in Atlanta, C-Ride put his story telling to the test alongside a friend’s rap group, weaving his rhymes in and out the group’s tracks. But once again, trouble landed right at Ride’s doorstep. “I had to leave everything that I had in Atlanta,” he states. “I had nothing when I came back [to Miami] but a CD that I had made in Atlanta with like six songs on it. So, I came back to Miami with that and nothing else.” C-Ride’s return to his hometown became a blessing in disguise in 2004. The rapper completed the CD he brought back with him and began a street movement with Wide Open—his first mixtape. After pressing up 1,000 copies, he began selling, and giving, his debut mix to anyone who would give his lyrics a listen. From flea markets to clubs, there was no stopping C-Ride’s hustle. “I always got good feedback, never negative,” says the MC. “So that made me want to pass [my mixtapes] out to anybody, I didn’t care if you were a DJ or a schoolteacher or a farmer. It didn’t matter. You needed to have my CD.” His grind was duly noted which earned the rapper a phone call from production duo Cool & Dre. The team had been looking for him for three months before a friend finally put them in touch. Ride’s standout material and unique flow caught Cool & Dre’s ears, as well as interest to sign the unsigned hype, but the duo needed to see what the rapper had to offer on the outside first. “In Miami, people have 8,000 gold teeth and a head full of dreads for no reason. Dre’s words were if I didn’t look like a monster, then he knew it was a done deal.” And so began the life and times of C-Ride under Cool & Dre’s tutelage.
Once the trio became acquainted, the three began looking for the “big dream,” as C-Ride calls it. Turning down deals from powerhouses like Sony and Universal proved to be beneficial for the Miami resident. While awaiting the “big dream,” Ride went into business for himself, as a CEO. Following the mixtape blueprint of friend and resident Miami DJ Ideal, the rapper created Stash House Music Group and released his sophomore mixtape hosted by DJ Ideal, Get Right Or Get Left, through his company’s funding. With orders still pending--7,000 sold to date—and the tape’s single “P-P-Pushin’” having made its way to the Save The Last Dance 2 Soundtrack, the businessman’s hustle is far from being stopped. Now at 23, C-Ride has achieved the “big dream” in more ways than one. Polo Grounds Music signed up the rapper when Ideal’s manager and label executive, Big Teach, couldn’t stop talking about the artist. PMG label head Bryan Leach took notice of C-Ride’s movement and immediately added him to the roster in Spring 2007. His label debut, The A-Rab Store, is underway as well as his first single, the Cool & Dre produced banger "Dat what it is" feat. multi-platinum artist The Game. With executive production credits also going to Cool & Dre, the album is set to be an encompassing listen. “Down here in Miami, whatever you need is in the Arab store-a toothbrush, cereal, a tire. My album is just that. If you need it now, whatever you need, whatever you want, whenever you need it, it’s gonna be right there.”
WAZ GOOD NIGGA JUS SHOWIN SOME LOVE NIGGA I HAVE YOUR FIRST MIXTAPE AND SHIT THAT SHIT RAW AND NOW YOU GOT A SONG WITH TPAIN AND SHIT THATS WASSA MA NIGGA GET RICH..HOPE YOU GET YOURS KEEP DOING YA THANG
Online Now!
you && ya paqe;
Don't be a stranqer; i hate em'!
Make sure to [crash dha piks]
and now yuh have a new sexy friend:p
-MELLiSA[MiMSZ™]