Young Chris Gets His Re-Introduction Courtesy Of Usher Pal Rico Love

Main Pick

Street King: Young Chris

Holding It Down For: Philly

Mixtape: The Re-Introduction, hosted by DJ Drama and Don Cannon

Real Spit: We've known Christopher Ries for a minute now from his time on the Roc, where he inked a deal with Jay-Z and Dame Dash as a member of the Young Gunz and State Property. But since Jay and Dame split, the Philadelphia native has been stuck in limbo, releasing a series of mixtapes but toiling on the bench instead of taking the starting spot his talent calls for.

Enter Rico Love. The artist-turned-songwriter/producer (Usher, Beyoncé, Diddy) scored a deal with Universal/Motown to launch his own label, Division 1, and signed Young Chris as his flagship artist.

"I'm like a coach," Rico said. "A guy who is a star, all he needs is a good coach."

The pair's first collection is the aptly titled The Re-Introduction, a set that seeks to put Chris back in the spotlight and into the class of MCs he was compared to earlier in his career, from Lil Wayne to Juelz Santana.

"We been working on the tape since I got with Rico," Chris told Mixtape Daily. "All the records that we cut, that's what we putting out. We getting real cocky with it right now."

For the effort, the D1 team reunited DJ Drama and Don Cannon, the former Aphilliates team who have helmed some of the biggest mixtapes in hip-hop history.

"I guess this is like history: Me and Dram came together," Cannon said. "This is the alliance year. This next decade is gonna be the decade of partnerships, alliances, no matter what."

"This is also the reintroduction of us coming back together," Drama added. "And y'all really understanding where this stems from."

Joints to Check For

» "The Re-Introduction": "That's serious," Chris said about the intro record. "That's one of the first records me and Rico cut, man. He just told me, 'Go crazy on this joint.' No hook or nothing. I just went off. Actually, we got the name of the [mixtape] from that record.

"Pardon me for this sweet interruption," he continued, rapping. "Nah, this ain't no re-enactment, this a reintroduction."

» "Break a Bitch Down" (featuring Rico Love): "The music is intense," Rico said. "We're really excited about the rollout. It's just raw rap and just real hit records and real good songs. Just an MC at his finest."

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