Crosby

We recently sat down with Crosby, who hails from the Lower East Side, NY. Crosby aka The Youngest Mayor in the Lower East Side aka Clock Work Cros aka Crosmopolitan aka Composition Cros is an aspiring rapper, web designer, video director and photographer to name a few. Crosby is an all around artist who is passionate about his craft; or rather crafts.

Photography: Demian J. Faulkner

Lipmo: Well before we begin, let me just tell you what we’re about. Lipmo stands for “Luck Is Preparation Meets Opportunity”. That’s a phrase that we stand by; there’s too many people who rely on “Luck” and actually give credit to “Luck” instead of hard work. The saying “Luck Is Preparation Meets Opportunity” suggests that there is no such thing as luck. So we find people who are out there grinding like us, waiting for that opportunity and are thoroughly prepared for it. We basically collaborate with and support those individuals.

Crosby: Right, Right

Lipmo: Based on Lipmo’s message, how do you feel you connect with it as far as your work goes?

Crosby: Well first off everything that I do– since the beginning has been self motivating. I haven’t looked for anyone to do anything for me, and in some regard I summed that up to be luck that I’ve been able to carry into opportunities that come my way. I’ve challenged myself by experimenting with new mediums, and I just take everything that comes my way and try to build off of it to create a snowball effect.

L: You’re obviously a man of many talents. What would your response be to someone who was asking, “What do you do?”

C: Well first off I would tell them that Crosby is an artist, Crosby is not a brand. People are very particular in saying they’re a brand, but I believe that if you’re brand, then you can get bought. I’m an artist. You can buy the art but you can never buy the artist. I break myself down into four categories:

1. A recording artist; which is my music.

2. A fine artist; which would be my clocks.

3. A director; which would be everything I do behind the camera with film and video.

4. Fashion; back when I was doing my clothes which is tied into graphic design.

L: Would you say that there is one area that defines what you are more than the rest, or are they all equal?

C: This is all for music, everything I do is for my music. I tell people “I can do their music video, I can do your website”, but all that at any given time can stop, because I’m a recording artist first and if my music picks up then everything else gets put on pause because I’m doing it all for the music.

Photography: Demian J. Faulkner

L: What separates you from other artists?

C: Who I am and where I’m from already sets me apart. I’m a white kid from the Lower who raps. When I get into the booth my charisma and character takes over and it’s something that I don’t see a lot of my peers doing. I actually see there are some mainstream artists who have been experimenting like I do when I do my tracks and they’ve been slowly opening that door for a more different sound.

L: Is that something that comes natural for you? Or do you have to take a step back and reroute your approach to ensure your sound is different?

C: Yeah, yeah….when I hear a beat I start to write a 16 to it. Then, I go in the booth and start freestyling and try to come up with something melodic to what I’m hearing and then I come back to what I’m writing. Sometimes if I already have that melodic hook or bridge I’ll write to that so it all comes together.

L: What were some of your influences growing up?

C: Well I’ve always been a writer and I used to write poetry. I used to get in the ciphers but no one wanted to hear my poems they wanted to hear rap lyrics. So, I changed it up and we all had a crew and we would all rhyme. I was rapping about regular bullshit like guns and all that. I started doing my poetry again though and started doing benefits for public schools. One time I got to recite my poems for Russell Simmons and he was really feeling them. I told him I rhymed and when I started spittin’ he looked at me and said “Why do you rap like that? You should rap like your poetry”. From that point on I started formulating my new style and started spittin’ truth.

L: Ok now you’re also into graphics. How did that come about?

C: Well again I was always writing and drawing. I have a mind’s eye so whatever I see in my head I can make come alive on paper. When I got my computer and I started playing with Photoshop along with the internet I was able to start scooping things from everywhere without having to draw them. Both of my parents are artists so I always had that and with my computer I was always able to have access to what I wanted on the net. When I finally got a MySpace, (which I was originally against) my boys taught me how to make animations in my photos and I just took it and ran with it. I even wound up making Swiss Beatz one. It also connected with the graphics. Me and my boy would be in the crib printing all day.

L: Regarding your fine arts, tell us about your clocks.

C: Yea you have the face of the clock and in the middle of the face is an eye. So when you look into the clock, the eye or, “Eye of Time” looks back at you. It’s supposed represent someone that you look up to.

L: Where did you get the concept for that?

C: That’s just the artist in me influenced by the Surrealist movement.

L: Would you say that the Surrealist movement impacts all of your art forms?

C: Definitely! It absolutely impacts my music.

L: Now you also direct. I heard a story about you actually going to where the Mona Lisa is displayed in France and recording yourself which is very illegal. Tell me about that.

C: <Laughs> Yeah, I had financial aid left over from school so I was able to study abroad. I went out to France and I had my MacBook with me. This is right before I started really making my own videos. So I was just positioning the computer in different locations rapping songs I had wrote out there. I had the USB mic, and I’m just there rapping with Napoleon’s bedroom and these huge frescos behind me. These frescos were so big it looked like I was literally walking in them. It was crazy.

L: So are you doing any shows where people can come and see you showcase what you’re about?

C: Yea I put together what is called the “Hip-Hop Howl”. It’s a collective of me and other artists from New York that are really doing it and we pretty much put on a mix tape showcase. It’s literally back to back to back artists performing, whether they’re doing tracks or just freestyles. It’s consecutive performances… it’s crazy! We first did it at the Howl Festival, which is the Lower East Side festival. It started out on Bowery and we were just rocking until they cut us off. The next one was at Element on Houston and Essex and after that is when we really started to get a little buzz. When we went out to Texas it was crazy because we just had a ridiculous amount of artists. We hollered at everyone and they were all down to rock the show. The next show we did right here in Tompkins Square Park we actually dropped a mix tape that coincided with the artists that were performing and we made that available for free download so the people could hear all the music that we performed. On top of that we got around 600,000 hits!! All plays!!

L: You put this all together yourself?

C: Me and Mizz Metro

For more info on Crosby please visit:

For music

www.Crosmopolitan.com & myspace.com/crosmopolitan
For art
www.ClockWorkCros.com
For video
www.Photo-POW.com

also
www.HipHopHOWL.com