On the Come Up: Kris Styles aka Steezy
By: Tiffany Harrison
Issue date: 2/2/10 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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23-year-old Eli Reyes grew up in one of the East coasts roughest neighborhoods. "I'm from one of the craziest projects in the Bronx called Edenwald. Although, growing up here has made my lyrics grow a lot. I used to just rap about street life and basic gangster rap because I rapped about what I saw. As I grew older I found out how to be more mature about my music and versatile," Kris said.
Now, Kris classifies his rap as real because his music comes from experience. "I'm a hardcore rapper that's not scared to go commercial or go out of my comfort zone... I focus on how I feel. It could be about the past, future, or the present. I try to come up with things and concepts that no one has wrote on or spoke of before," Kris said.
The only boy out of three sisters, Kris was left to be the male role model in his family after his father died when he was six. "I took to the streets, which basically became my male role model. I've seen somebody get killed in front of my face. It stopped affecting me because I got used to it. I've got a real strong sense and stomach now. I can see something bad and not get squeamish," Kris said.
Life on the streets brought Kris to a point where if he did not witness violent things around him things would seem out of the ordinary because he'd expect it to happen.
Growing up Kris was influenced by his peers, Bustah Rhymes, Snoop Dogg, Big L, Jay-Z, Biggie and Tupac combined with a lot of R&B from growing up in a house full of women. Finally, there came a point when Kris finally decided rapping was the career he wanted to pursue.
"I was I think 13/14 with my man Ralph and this dude named E-jam that used to live in my building. He always tried to manage people. I used to battle people on the street all the time and that day I rapped for him. He ended up taking me to a dude in my building who was an intern for Roc-A-Fella and I recorded my first song "Down for my N*****." This was all in my building and I never knew about it. He started taking me to showcases and we got offered our first deal with Blood Line records at one, but I turned that down. I didn't really have a name so I just said I'm going to call myself Kris Styles because everyone used to say that my style was crisp because I never had a certain one and I have the ability to rap the same verse several different ways. Steezy, another name Kris goes by is tattooed on his chest with a rosary around it. This tattoo is one of five.
