A Live Mixtape

While the classic feud between East Coast and West Coast hip-hop may have dissipated, the inherent differences between the two approaches still inform much of today’s landscape. This works out perfectly for the Brooklyn-bred, LA-based MC Crown, who finds new ways to express himself working with the M.O.B., veterans of the Southern California studio-music scene. By setting up out West, Crown has found greater freedom to make positive music. “Especially as a hip-hop artist, you can really get away with a lot more here in LA than you can in New York,” he explains. “They expect every rapper from New York to have that whole street mentality—as opposed to LA where it’s a little more relaxed; it’s a little more laid-back.” Working with a band also allows Crown to expand the potential audience for his music. He describes his live performances with the M.O.B. like this: “I’m looking around the audience and it’s a nice mixture of people in there. I’m talking ages, races, everything—and everyone has their hands up. Whereas, if I’m doing the mixtape stuff, there’s pretty much one target audience for that.” The transition from traditional mixtape rapper to fronting a live band hasn’t been without its challenges, particularly in the vocal approach. “I had to learn how to translate the harsher content that I was doing into a softer balance,” says Crown, who released All Rise, his debut album, in early 2015. But in doing so, he’s finding a home for the uplifting perspective he brings to the music.