In the new age of the Internet, the “next big thing” is always only a few million clicks away. It’s hard to remember those days when Justin Bieber was a starving artist paying his dues. It takes a youthful mind to embrace the new ways of technology and to think outside the box when it comes to displaying their talents for the world. Fortunately for us, not all internet-savvy youngsters are in the mold of Mr. Bieber. Some of them actually have a bit more to them, including a very promising up-and-comer from the sunny state of Florida who recently joined me for an interview.
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Miami native Cris Cab is only eighteen years old and is still finishing up high school. Other than being a young attractive dude who knows how to use the Internet in his favor however, he has little in common with the teenie-popper Bieber. Cab is a true musician with a huge future ahead of him.
Cris has yet to be officially signed to a record label, yet his extremely well-produced music videos are taking the Internet by storm. His cover of Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow” already has close to a half a million views, due in part to the popularity of the original song but mainly due to the unique spin Cab has put on the track, slowing it down and giving it a much more “chill” reggae vibe. Cris tells me how he got the idea to do the covers. “I wanted to put something online that was relevant and everyone could be familiar with already while also becoming familiar with my sound.”
The young Cab has a very mature voice for his age, which he uses to give his songs a vibe that could be described as Jason Mraz meets Bob Marley. Cab describes his sound as “reggae infused with hip-hop, infused with pop, infused with soul and also a little bit of R & B in there.”
Cab’s music has taken the Miami area by storm, getting the attention of a variety of music lovers both locally and over the Internet. His videos are extremely well shot, and it’s hard to believe that the kid does not have a huge company putting them together for him, but Cris tells me it’s just some really talented friends he has. “I have a great dude down here in Miami who is just out of college and he is just a very ambitious dude, just has vision, you know” says Cab.
Cris has been taken under the wing of mega-producer Pharrell Williams, who has already had an affect on his young apprentice. On April 20th, Cab performed a showcase at The Box in Manhattan, which he thinks went really well. It gave the artist a chance to perform in a different setting all while providing a sneak peak of his catalog for a crowd of interested record labels, fans, and friends.
I asked Cris about his relationship with Pharrell and how it got started. “He heard about my music through a friend of a friend and came to me like two years ago to give me some pointers. A year ago I came back to him having done everything he suggested and he kind of took me on and started mentoring me.”
When I asked Cab if he was a little intimidated at first dealing with one of his childhood idols he said “I have always been a huge fan of Pharrell so I was star struck but he is such a humble and cool guy that he made it really easy for me to be comfortable with him.”
I asked Cris if their relationship might become a bit more business-oriented and if Pharrell has expressed any interest in being the one to sign the future star. “Right now he is just sort of playing the mentoring role and helping me out. He’s helping me get better with everything, my songwriting abilities, my producing abilities and just all around shaping me into a better artist.”
Cris Cab is certainly an artist to look out for and to do so you can go to his Facebook or follow him on Twitter. In today’s music scene, one minute you are a kid attempting to make music and share it with people on the Internet, and the next…you’re a bona fide star. Cris Cab seems like the type of artist with the creativity, originality and drive to make that jump sooner rather than later.
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