Chris Conde isn’t afraid to get naked — on or off stage.
Queer, LatinX hip-hop artist Chris Conde (they/them) has not let pandemic slow them down.
In April 2022, despite soaring gas prices, Conde completed a successful three-week run of the West Coast with Fake Four Inc. labelmate Myles Bullen, which kicked off in Seattle, WA and culminated in Los Angeles, CA. Donning their stage-outfit staples (a leather harness, leather jock strap and Doc Martens) Conde served iconic performances for audiences all down the coast line, packing out rooms in Washington and Northern California, rocking hip-hop punk rock heads at Berkeley’s iconic punk venue 924 Gilman and converting new fans to aggressive queer hip-hop in LA, just to name a few highlights.
On March 4 of 2022, French record label Atypeek (Monster Magnet, Moodie Black) released Conde’s 2015 debut EP Twisted Kite Strings to streaming platforms for the first time. Featuring production from Angel Marcloid (Fire-Toolz), the EP was written between 2010 and 2014 and documents the rapper’s journey out of alcoholism and drug addiction into sobriety.
Writing and recording an entire album at the tail-end of 2020, Conde dropped the “revelatory” (Austin Monthly) album Engulfed In The Marvelous Decay (Fake Four Inc.) the following Spring. It landed at #12 on Bandcamp, grabbed a 9/10 star review (Sun Burns Out, France) and was declared one of the best albums of 2021 (Ghettoblaster).
That summer, after touring with labelmates Ceschi Ramos and Dark Time Sunshine (Onry Ozzborn), the rapper teamed up with Grammy-nominated Corpus Christi electro-cumbia king El Dusty to release “Summertime Heat.” Celebrating their queerness and Mexican culture, the track came alongside a hilarious and hard-hitting visual (see the video here) directed by Richard Whymark (Missy Elliott, PJ Harvey, Black Angels).
Engulfed In The Marvelous Decay boldly displays a broad spectrum of moods and sounds from the soaring and redemptive “Mariposa” (see the video here) to the blistering nu-metal of “American Faggot” and “Cancel Culture Blues”, the pure radiant chill-hop joy of “Okinawa” and the hypnotic, banjo-tinged atmospheric soulful experimentalism of “Leaves”. The production team includes KDEATH of Moodie Black (who are serving as support for Maynard James Keenan’s band Puscifer this summer), Whatever Cecil and Lazerbeak (Lizzo, Doomtree), the latter of which helped to birth the undeniable hit that is “Mariposa”.
It’s all rounded out with cameos by Ceschi Ramos, Rodleen Getsic (best known for her vocals on “Knife Prty” by Deftones), Sammus and others. Pulling not just from rap, Engulfed draws influence from indie rock, electronic music, glitch, metal and punk and is a self-reflective, diverse and charismatic commentary on the bigotry of the Trump administration. It’s also a fiercely honest story of the challenges of navigating an often unjust world while battling addiction and the triumph of the feeling that comes from graduating to a place of self-acceptance and pride.
Conde is currently working on new music right now with legendary underground hip-hop producer Blockhead (Aesop Rock), Lazerbeak (Lizzo, Doomtree) and vocalist/guitarist Morgan Lander of nu-metal stalwarts Kittie, and hopes to have new music out by early 2023.
As a self-described “thicc, queer Mexican,” Conde has a flare for boldness, giving them a certain je ne sais quoi. But if you really want to call it, Conde is passionate about presenting their queerness to hip-hop culture in the face of any preconceived notions about what that might actually look like.
From the moment Conde was introduced to the slam poetry of Saul Williams, they knew they wanted to weave words together into their own colorful tapestry, something that finally afforded them the ability to express the often uncomfortable feelings they experienced growing up.
A military brat, their parents were both active duty Air Force but ultimately divorced to marry other people in the military, so Conde’s whole nomadic life was spent bouncing around. Their mother didn’t initially accept their queerness, which sent them looking for alternative “solutions” to that part of their identity. From the ages 15-20, they embraced the “Bible thumping” Christian lifestyle in an effort to figure themselves out. But, that didn’t really work. They eventually turned to drugs and alcohol, which really didn’t work but led them to the path they’re on now. In 2006, they went to their first 12-step meeting and a seed was planted. Although they faltered along the way, they finally got sober in 2014 and have been committed to recovery ever since.
At some point, they made a conscious choice to pursue hip-hop as a career — despite being somewhat embarrassed to fully embrace the “rapper” identity.
“I really feel like I’m an artist and my medium is hip-hop,” Conde says. “This is how I process life. Hip-hop is cathartic for me. I also care about the culture and want people to know I respect it. I will forever be a student of the culture.”
Case in point, Conde’s 2019 EP Conde Digital was a nod to Bobby Digital, the alias of Wu-Tang Clan luminary RZA. But although they adhere to rap’s ethos, the 35-year-old is very much a unicorn in the game. Sometimes they’re rapping over static with a minimalist beat, other times it’s over an acoustic guitar and then they could be rapping over a UK-inspired Grime beat like Skepta, or even a traditional boom bap-type beat.
“At the end of the day, my focus is always the rhymes,” they say. “It’s the story, the rhymes, the cadence, the flow and how I navigate each different audio terrain. That’s hip-hop.”
As Conde became more comfortable with the un-masked, unabashed version of themselves, they began to become even more courageous with their lyrics.
“It’s been a lot about my drug use and recovery I’d say,” the rapper says. “A lot of those themes came up on my debut album Growing Up Gay (2019). I write about what I’m going through, I like to be vulnerable. Sometimes it’s easier to do that when I write raps because in my head I think no one is going to listen to what I’m saying, even though I know that’s not really true.”
“The biggest themes I’m writing about lately are hope, letting my audience know they are worthy of healing and becoming whole and that it’s ok to reach out for help. I’ve been writing a lot about self-care too. I also like to make it visible that I am queer and Mexican in my songs, too. I think that visibility is important for intersectionality in the genre.”
While it might have been a bumpy road to get to where they are today, they fully embraces who they are, flaws and all. It’s one of the most empowering and endearing qualities the Fake Four, Inc. artist possesses. The shell of the former 160-pound addict they once were has been replaced by a healthier, curvaceous version of themselves and they’ve learned to accept every inch.
“I think I just got to a point where my body is what I have,” they explain. “I’ve spent so many years trying to fit in: trying to be a straight guy, trying to be skinny, trying to be sober, trying to get the approval of all these people, so now I’m kinda like ‘fuck it’ — what you see is what you get.”
Diving into Chris’s discography is is refreshing, as the vocal delivery combined with the lyricism for each song gives quality. Watching videos of Chris perform live gives us the full picture: they’re an icon in the making. Leather gear down to the jockstrap and harness, you’ll find Chris rapping aggressively into the microphone on stage. I adore this energy, and can’t wait to see them perform live!
I had the opportunity to interview Chris recently. Check out their answers to my questions below!
Bryce Quartz: What inspired you to start making music?
Chris Conde: I grew up playing lots of different instruments: viola, drums, guitar, piano, bass. I also wrote poetry and produced beats. So, I mean, I was creating and playing music from as early as I can remember. I played in punk and metal bands, indie rock groups; I played banjo for a church down in San Antonio for a bit too, but I was always writing hip-hop.
I feel like I just had so many secrets. I think us queer people carry them, especially as children and young teens. Writing poetry and playing music was an outlet for these secrets and allowed me to express myself in a way that made me feel better. As far as pursuing hip-hop, when I got off hard drugs and stopped drinking back in 2014, I felt like I had a second chance in life and wanted to give this rap stuff a shot, so here I am!
BQ: What are some of the songs in your discography that you are most proud of?
CC: I really love “Mariposa,” “Year of the Queer” and “Summertime Heat.” They’re all pretty different but I’m very proud of the work.
BQ: Your latest album Engulfed in the Marvelous Decay is queer rap at its FINEST. What are some of the challenges you faced when creating this album?
CC: Thank you! I think the most challenging thing was wondering if people were going to understand where I was coming from. Especially with songs like “Cancel Culture Blues,” and “American Faggot,” I didn’t know if people were going to get my point of view.
Ultimately, I think people did get it and I’m grateful for that. But yea, I feel like there was a lot of distortion through 2020 and this record was ultimately about putting love and light into a world that I felt really needed it.
BQ: You just came off a tour of the West Coast with your label-mate Myles Bullen, tell us about some of your favorite moments from the tour?
CC: Oh man, so many! I really think just the amount of love that people showed us was the ultimate highlight. Performing is a real act of symbiosis; we as performers put out these literal vibrations and it’s cathartic and our audiences receive it and are transformed by it. Everyone wins from it and I think, especially with a lot of shows starting to happen again, we all need to experience as much live art as possible.
Also, there was this guy at our Santa Cruz show who mouthed “Oh, my god” when I stripped down to my leather jockstrap and harness. So that was fun. Subverting conventional “straight” bars and venues into hyper queer spaces is one my favorite past times.
BQ: What are some of your favorite songs from your discography to perform live to?
CC: “Year of the Queer” is such a banger. It pumps. You can start a mosh pit to that song and it’s just such a strong LGBTQ anthem. I also love performing “Coffin Apartment (Remix)” ’cause I get to sing a little bit and the crowd usually just vibes.
BQ: I absolutely ADORE your stage presence and your outfit you wore on tour. As an artist that dresses similarly on stage, I feel empowered showing off my body while performing. What does it feel like for you to perform on stage in leather gear?
CC: I feel like a gay super hero! (laughs)
Honestly, I feel empowered too. Being a plus size person, I’ve struggled with my own internal fat-phobic thoughts so every time I get on stage and take my clothes off, and am just my authentic self, the more free I become. In turn, I think it also gives people permission to love their bodies too.
BQ: What are some of the things that keep you motivated daily?
CC: I feel like my performances are healing. So, I want to continue pushing my music and performing and facilitating opportunities for people to be encouraged and entertained by my shows while also being transformed, healed and given permission to be the dopest fucking person that they’re capable of being.
BQ: Now that you’re moving to Bushwick here in New York City, what are you looking forward to the most?
CC: I want to be creating art next to other bleeding-edge queer artists in New York City that are grinding just as hard as me. I want to be encouraged, inspired and challenged by them. I want to be pushed to write the best shit I haven’t made yet.
BQ: What can we expect next from you?
CC: Well, I’m currently working on a new album, which I think will probably come out in Spring or Summer of 2023. But, I’ll definitely be dropping singles and videos before the year is up.
BQ: Are there any other artists you’re listening to on repeat lately for the tour and for your move across the country?
CC: Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Nine Inch Nails, Sufjan Stevens, Radiohead and Busta Rhymes. Also, anything 80s new wave, darkwave and industrial I’ve been eating up.
BQ: Thank you for taking the time to answer those questions for us, Chris!
