Well, thank you MC Tree and Chris Crack for this Christmas present! The two Soul Trappers unite again for an extra hot surprise EP called simply Tree + Crack released on Christmas Eve. Tree produced 2 of the 5 tracks and brought in Timothy Turtle, Cudda and Gwop for Wild Beats Team for the rest. Both rappers are at the top of their game here. I had the pleasure of seeing these two perform together last week at The Concord and they put on an excellent show.
“Chicago’s MC Tree has had one hell of a year, releasing a slew of Soul Trap-themed collaborations throughout 2014 alongside his own solo projects, he has established himself as the sort of Godfather of Chicago’s burgeoning hip-hop scene. He returns today with a re-hashing of his work with fellow Chicago MC, Chris Crack. Having teamed up earlier this year with the New Deal Crew artist for a resounding hit in TreeSwag which has found itself on year-end lists, the duo returns on Christmas Eve with a tightly packaged, five song EP to tie folks over through the holidays. Once again a furtherance of the patented ‘Soul Trap’ sound that Tree established with his Sunday School series.
Over the last few years, as Chicago has grown into a central hub for hip-hop talent, MC Tree has been the driving force behind linking the two sides of the city’s rap motifs. Around the time of Chief Keef and Chance The Rapper, Tree created the ‘Soul Trap’ sound which he unveiled on his 2012 mixtape, Sunday School. A mixture of Kanye-esque, expertly-chopped, high-pitched soul samples and the heavy trap drums that have come to define the ‘drill’ movement. Combining the production with his endearing, raspy voice, the Cabrini-Green native has created a unifying sound in a city divided. Having performed at Pitchfork Festival, overseas in Europe as well as being a part of the Red Bull Sound Select series, Tree has become a bonafide star in his own right.”
