Sparkin Up? Week #1: CROM ROYALE

Welcome to Sparkin Up?. A opportunity once a week to hear something new. You may discover something incredibly fresh & groundbreaking....or hey, maybe you will absolutely despise what you hear! Regardless my goal in writing this feature was not to gurantee that you will like each & every emcee I choose to highlight throughout the year, that of coarse would be extremely unlikely. Instead Sparkhop's Emcee of The Week aims merely to shine some light on the many hard working hip hop artists in my local community of Michigan, nationally, or even internationally. In a vast ocean of creatives vying for the spotlight I only hope to introduce some of the many voices to be heard & give you guys reading a chance to uncover some new music for your listening pleasures.

Enough of what Sparkin Up? is though - who is Sparkin Up? Well for our inaugral week Sparkhop presents:

I myself was introduced to Crom Royale via the video above from the homie Moonchild Music. The simplistic video in which Crom walks through a wooded area as he unleashes & illustrates with expression witty bars like "i'm unsigned, shit i'm just looking to kill time" or "my step kids say i'm kinda like a nazi, if a mother fucking nazi had this many tamagotchis, mini beanie babies that i bet are worth a fortune, power ranger belt buckles that they used for morphing" all with his own delivery that meshes with the visuals clearly.

After watching the video for "Arrested Development" I knew I had to check out the rest of Crom's music. In early May he dropped "Demo" - a six song digital demo tape which plays like a formal introduction of the emcee. Not to be confused though, Crom has been rapping for a while now which became evident after listening back through his various videos at www.cromroyale.com up until "Demo". It was that six track project that has bombarded my playlists for the last couple weeks on heavy rotation.

Songs like:  "Oregon Trail" where Crom states "I died once, & went on a 9 month hiatus..." might trigger a flashback for a few 80's babies of school-time computer gaming. Another stand out track among multiple listens for me was "Dark Minded" which provides a deeper storytelling aspect lyrically. Crom lags not one bit going from start to finish in his descriptive timeline of events before ending with the line "Anywhere there's blood in the water the sharks find it."

I recently had the chance to throw a few Q's Crom's way about tamogotchis, influences, & what's in store for the rising artist. Here's what he had to say!

Sparkhop: After listening to "Arrested Development" one can only assume you grew up in the 90's via the various childhood toy trends you reference. So exactly how many tamogotchis do you own?

Crom Royale: Haha I don't own any Tamogotchis now but I remember I used to have at least two or three. I know for a fact I had a black one and a white one. 

Sparkhop:  On a real note - growing up was there any particular songs, emcee's, or just experiences in general that led up to or influenced your decision to become an emcee?

Crom Royale: Yeah, there were a couple. Being from Detroit I obviously idolized Eminem, not just for his lyricism but also for the turmoil he was forced to overcome in order to become successful. I was also a big fan of Biggie, Mase, Puff Daddy, and the whole Bad Boy crew. Although I love all styles of hip-hop, I think I've been influenced the most by east coast rap. 

Sparkhop: What was the first album that you ever purchased?

Crom Royale: The first album I ever purchased was Puff Daddy and The Family - "No Way Out". Actually, I used to buy singles as opposed to albums so I had a bunch of Coolio singles. I also remember saving up my money to buy the Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz single for that song "Deja Vu". That was the first time I learned what an instrumental track was and I remember trying to write my own verse to that song. 

Sparkhop: How do you feel about the current state of the hip hop in Michigan & overall currently & where do you see yourself in it all?

Crom Royale: I think the current Michigan hip-hop scene is amazing. Some of my favorite rappers - Guilty Simpson, Elzhi, Black Milk, Mae Day, Boldy James, Clear Soul Forces - are all from Detroit and it makes me honored to be from the same area as my favorite rappers. I don't really see myself in the Michigan hip-hop scene yet but hopefully by this time next year I'll be mentioned in the same sentence as some of the artists I admire. 

Sparkhop: What can fans & newcomers to your music be on the lookout for coming soon from Crom Royale? 

Crom Royale: I'll be releasing an 8-track EP over the summer with MoonChild that we're both really excited about. I'm also working on a new solo album that should be out in the fall.

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You can hear the entire "Demo" project in it's entirety below for free. Or catch a few more video highlights underneath that! Either way if you haven't heard of Crom Royale yet I at least encourage you to give him a listen. If you like what you hear & live in Michigan you can catch him performing live in Downtown Pontiac, MI atSparkhop's 2nd Annual Sparkfest All Day Hip Hop Event on August 4th, 2012.

In conclusion thank you for checking out Sparkhop's Emcee of The Week! We will return next week with more new music to discover.

In the meantime enjoy "Demo" below as well as a few other videos I found dope from Crom Royale.

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