Born Christopher Marshall, this 21 year old grew up in a small town outside of San Antonio without much of a dance scene to speak of. The ability to burrow through record stores and discover music was not an option, so a young Crizzly found most inspiration for music making from videos on the internet. Although he was making “weird stuff” in his bedroom when he was 15, Crizzly didn’t stumble upon dance music or production until he was 19. Picking up a set of turntables shortly thereafter, the first gigs he scored were usually birthday parties. Production followed with Crizzly bootlegging/remixing rap songs that he heard on YouTube. He released his own versions of Waka Flocka Flame’s “Hard in Da Paint” and “Snap Back Swag” from AJ Hernz, and set the worldwide blogosphere alight. And after websites began reposting his cuts and edits, Crizzly started to develop a strong following.
But it is perhaps his ambitious, grassroots approach to getting his music out to the world that we admire most. After playing 2011’s Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas, he took 20 USB drives with his music and distributed them to some of the industry’s heavy-hitters. “I made it a mission to pass them out to my favorite producers. I was nervous, but I gave it to Diplo. He listened, and now he plays ‘Hard in Da Paint’ in his set.” Crizzly even had his track “Snap Back Swag” added to a playlist on Skrillex’s tour bus, and Skrillex added the remix into his set as well.
Blending dubstep and hip hop to create his signature sound coined “crunkstep,” Crizzly describes his style best. “It’s definitely a mixture of two different worlds, dance music and hip-hop,” he goes on. “People can connect because there’s a lot going on, and there’s more than one dimension. The audience responds immediately too. Since there’s a half-time feel, the blend just makes sense. It feels right to me.” So what can you expect when Crizzly joins us at Sun City Music Festival? “I play a lot of hard stuff. I expend a ton of energy. I want the fans to get buck wild, crazy, and crunk. I want them to make some bad decisions and have fun.”
Come get crunk at Sun City Music Festival on August 31st and September 1st when Crizzly takes the stage at Ascarate Park. Grab your tickets online or in stores!
