When you think of Seattle’s hip-hop scene, Macklemore and Sir Mix-A-Lot are probably the first two that come to mind. They’re far from the only ones. Many artists are doing their thing indie and killing it in the process such as ILLxChris, who’s gracing us with the premiere of his new video for “EuroStep,” featuring fellow native Mackned, from his latest album, Honor Thy Father.
“EuroStep” takes us through various locations in Seattle, including the world famous venue Neumos. ILLxChris shows us his love for nice clothes, kicks and expensive whips in the process. The song itself is one that could easily take off or go viral. The sound of it, from the production to the infectious hook, is something this generation loves a lot.
Even though Honor Thy Father has been out since March, Chris is planning to re-release it with new records on September 29. The move is smart after a fun summer touring with Pouya. He’s gained new fans and plans to capitalize off that.
I also got a chance to catch up with ILLxChris as he explained the song’s concept, touring with Pouya, how he linked with Metro Boomin’ and what we can expect from him next.
Your new video is for “EuroStep” with Mackned on the hook. The term euro-step comes from basketball, made famous by Ginobili. Break down the concept behind the record.
I reached out to ‘Ned for the hook, because besides me locally in music he’s the only other one I know that has a big obsession to foreign kicks. Balenciagas, Margelias, Raf Simons are all Euro kicks, so when we’re steppin’ it’s in Europeans, hence “Euro-Steppin.” It’s also a triple entendre with driving foreigns – Benz, Beamers. But as far as relating it in the rap game, it’s simple, like Manu there are a lot of defenders in our game as well so we just pretty much step right past them, like Yung Ginobili’s.
This summer you were touring with Pouya and I know he’s got such an energetic fan base. What was that experience like?
I met Pouya on tour with Sir Michael Rocks back in 2014. Mikey had just recently moved to Florida and he had him and Robb Banks on tour with him. I had no clue who these young cats were but they were killing shit everywhere we went. People in Pou’s camp (Mikey the Magician, Andrew) reached out to me to get some love in the Northwest on shows and I forwarded them to promoters I knew, such as Chapters Alumni who are my brothers, to widen their Northwest range and they looked back and helped me by putting me on different tours with them. Since then we’ve raged and fought side by side on different runs with The Buffet Boys and Suicide Boys.
On your latest album, Honor Thy Father, you worked with Metro Boomin’. How’d that collaboration come together?
Hands down Metro is the hottest in the game. I met metro a few times with one of Travi$ Scott’s people by the name of Bizzy from Copy and Paste. I always wanted to hit Metro up but was always shy about it. I came across a producer by the name of Banks, who is in 808 Mafia, and he had a few beats with Metro that he was moving. Beyond that, me and Metro also share a love for Bape so I’m glad we were able to make the music work.
Following this new video, what’s coming up next for you?
We’re gonna work on a video for “Gravel,” which is the song with Metro and Banks that features RudeAssMogli and Nate G. I have the official release ofHonor Thy Father coming on September 29th, and an album release event with Curtis Williams of Two-9 at El Corazon in Seattle that night. A lot of dope shit in the works, hoping to hit some cities with Fat Nick and the Suicide Boys, so stay tuned.
