East Oakland’s Bossland Chris shone bright back in December during our annual Best Of Thizzler Awards. He led the year’s most memorable cypher by providing a hook that began, “I’m looking for a bing bing.” While admittedly problematic, the hook was the stickiest moment of the 2019 Best Of Thizzler Awards. We have a Bossland Chris to thank for that, and he didn’t even write a verse!
Get Mr. Ling everywhere here
Before last year’s cyphers dropped, Chris was primarily known as DNI Mike and Zayel’s little homie who had a few dope songs. In 2020 he’s one of Oakland’s most promising upstarts. Today on his birthday, he delivers his debut mixtape Mr. Ling, an homage to the moment that put him on a lot of folks’ radar for the first time.
The new album runs 10 tracks long and finds Chris doing what he does best. That’s delivering charismatic verses and never letting anyone steal the spotlight from under him. While his feature lists features bonafides like C.M.L. and Philthy Rich, it never feels as if Chris is taking a back seat. He does his thing and holds his own on each track.
Other featured guests include Drew Beez, Zayel, TMS KB, Smook, BP, T. Casa, and BNC4Nero. If it’s anything Chris does a good job with, it’s keeping it in the family. None of Chris’ features are the result of industry connections. He’s outside with it, and the homies that he’s gotten on his records just happen to rap too.
Mr. Ling’s a solid debut that gives us a look at the Bossland Chris’ potential to be a big player in Oakland and Bay Area hip-hop. He’s got a lot of room to grow, but if his work ethic is even half the size of his personality, there’s no doubt that we’ll see him doing some pretty cool things this year. Make sure to grab Mr. Ling on your streaming platform of choice at the link here.
