Chris Rivers Recaps The Week’s News In A Blistering Freestyle (Video)

Bronx, New York MC Chris Rivers has supplied Hip-Hop Heads for years with a steady stream of freestyles, collaborations, and an acclaimed onslaught of mixtapes. The son of Big Pun now is the latest lyricist to accept Ambrosia For Heads’ challenge to weave headlines in music, news, and lifestyle from the previous week into one cohesive verse.

Unsurprisingly, Chris Rivers opens the floodgates for some fiery lyricism. In his minute-plus verse (over the Cool & Dre-produced “All The Way Up” hit instrumental), the New Yorker uses his full body to weave in some recent and developing headlines.

He begins with lines pertaining to Jay Z addressing Lemonade and squashing his beef with Fat Joe on his own “All The Way Up” remix verse. Rivers then used similes to mention how 3D printers are now being used to create permanent buildings and soon, possibly homes. He etches one particular series of bars to include Chance The Rapper’s historic Top 10 chart appearance of his new free album, Coloring Book. He then moves into referencing the formation of Prophets Of Rage, combining members of Public Enemy, Cypress Hill, and Rage Against The Machine. This group includes B-Real, who appeared alongside Chris’ father on “Wishful Thinking,” as two of the most successful Latino Hip-Hop acts of all time.

To bring his animated verse home, Rivers ties in a study on how our phones (and modern technology in general) are hijacking our brains. The MC uses that point to bemoan rappers popping into his DM’s, and breaks out with an impassioned closing to this supreme rhyme display. Finally, he closes with a reference to the story of the gorilla who was recently killed when a boy fell into its enclosure in the Cincinnati Zoo.

Another elite unsigned MC (and fellow Joell Ortiz collaborator), Massachusetts’ Token was the previous MC to take this challenge.