Far from a stranger in the Twin Cities hip-hop landscape, North Minneapolis-based Chase Vibe has steadily built his fan base and respect from his peers through projects like Black Heart Rockstar and Love, Again.

After a mini hiatus, the pink-haired rapper makes a comeback with a new album, Kaleidoscope. I spoke with Chase Vibe about the eight-track project, his patented pink hair, and what it means to be a white rapper from the Northside.

Before we even dive into the project, I want to talk about your origins into hip-hop. How did that start?

Chase Vibe: I used to take the school bus to elementary school and it was just me. I don't have any older siblings. There were these kids who were older that liked to f**k with me. I found my own space to hide out from them. Later on, I seen some older kids beat them up. So I decided to sit with them, and they really loved Ludacris. So I got really into Ludacris. I listened to Release Therapy, which is not the best Ludacris album in the world, but it won a Grammy. There's a song called "Tell it Like it Is," and it's a warning about getting involved in the industry. And I was like, “This is a blueprint of how to get involved with the industry,” and I started writing raps from there. Ludacris was my main introduction into hip-hop, but I started writing raps when Lil Wayne was in his prime. That's my biggest influence in this music stuff is just trying to be as consistent and have quality like Wayne did in that era.

What drew you to Lil Wayne? Was it the lyricism, the creativity, the flow?

He was a superstar. Everything he did in my eyes was like the coolest sh*t ever. Like he had a very distinct voice. He was on everyone's record. He was unavoidable. And like, the lyricism, the flow, just the image he gave off. Even before he started doing the whole rock star stuff, he felt like a rock star. I remember in the “Make It Rain” video, he had the DC hat on, and I was like, "Oh, awesome. That's some skater sh*t.” Look at how kids look at YoungBoy Never Broke Again now is how I kind of felt with Wayne. 

I want to ask you about your pink hair that you've been rocking for a bit. It stands out and has become a staple of Chase Vibe. But when did that start?

In 2019, I had a project called Love, Again, which kind of felt like the start to this era, but also the end of a different era. And I went through some losses, with my grandma dying, I had a breakup, and I avoided social media for a while. I was like, “I want to come back with a statement while I'm making this EP Blackheart Rockstar. So, what's gonna make me stand out as a rock star.” I really like to wear a lot of black, and I liked the contrast with pink on black. So I was like, "All right, I will dye my hair pink. That's gonna be what stands out." And I've just been kind of rocking with it since, because people know who I am. It also means I can't mess up at my job.

To you, what is the Northside sound?

I could not tell you what the Northside sound is. It's so diverse here. Because you have artists like the Lioness, BdotCroc, and Mac Turner, and honestly, all of the Royal Family Music Group. They all come out of this area and they all have different sounds. But I think what really sums up what North Minneapolis music is that you can hear the raw authenticity. So like, whereas Mac Turner is a very melodic artist. Lioness and Bdot are lyricists. They all kind of paint these pictures of what our experience is, and what their own experiences growing up on the Northside looks like. Coming from over North, it's a very small community in the grand scheme of things. We all traffic in similar circles. When an artist here talks about something regarding the Northside, it's recognizable to the audience. And I might come with a different view than the next person, but it serves to flesh it out. 

For Chase Vibe, what does it mean to be a Northside rapper?

The Northside is a Black community. I'm obviously a white person. Not only did Black culture, such as hip-hop, really inform me, but also growing up in this environment, I really got to be around Black people in their homes, families, be there for events and everything. I didn't just hear a song one day and be like, cool, this is all I need to know. So to be from the Northside is to speak to those issues that Black people face and understand where they are coming from. Like, higher power structures that come from white supremacy, because that's something I can recognize that happens here. There's a responsibility and an influence from Black culture into my music and my personhood.

In Kaleidoscope, there's a lot of conversation about your own experiences as a rapper in the Twin Cities. I think that really comes to life on the track "Late Night Groove," where you rap with no hooks. It’s just you riffing for two minutes. As a white rapper from North Minneapolis, in a genre that has a love-hate relationship with white rappers, how has it been for you building a fan base and support from your fellow artists in the community?

It goes back to that authenticity piece. I think just being myself and sticking to my beliefs has helped me as an artist. For example, look at Post Malone, someone who comes in, they're kind of just using this to get themselves to another place. Or Lil Dicky, who kind of parlayed his rap career into a comedy show. That was always the goal for him. For me, I have a deep love for hip-hop. So when it comes to building a fan base, I want to connect with people who genuinely like the music. 

And if we're talking "Late Night Groove," I don't like playing the local politics game in music, because why are we even bothering? I won’t disparage someone who is not trying to get themselves involved in my music, but people will say, "Good set. We should work sometimes." I think a lot of artists try to do that to give themselves a window, like, "In case this person blows up, I was already talking with them back in the day at one of the shows." There are artists in the city who are bigger than me that I've performed with, and I'm not chasing them down for features. I see the trajectory they're on and I don't have a song for them right now. I'm not gonna be forcing something because you're hot at the moment.

That's why when you listen to Kaleidoscope, there's two features. One is Knucky, who I've worked with previously and have a good relationship with. And one, of course, is Ozzy the Painter, who produced half the project. You look at like the other voices that exist on there, like Destiny Roberts, who I've known since 2016. We've had a good relationship since then. And Tek, who recorded the whole project.

Talk to me about how Kaleidoscope came to be. 

I do a lot of work with Ozzy. We met through Zeus James formerly of Neon Black. They were at his house back in early 2019. I was in need of a producer. I heard Ozzy's music and I was like, "Hey, can we work on some stuff?" The rest is history. They did five songs on Love, Again, they did all of Blackheart Rockstar, they did four songs on Kaleidoscope. My process with Ozzy, I can bring them any idea and I will workshop it from there. I wrote “Hotline Vibe” in 2019. And I knew what I wanted it to sound like. And I walked through that process with Ozzy, and they fleshed out the whole production around that.

With K.Raydio, we had previously worked on Love, Again. She did the intro to "Falling In Reverse," and I just followed up with that. She sent me a couple of beats and I picked the one for "Late Night Groove," because it just felt free-form, like something I could really spread out on. I definitely appreciate any opportunity to work with K.Raydio, because she's just talented in so many different ways. And she's very selective and private about her musical process.

With Rich Garvey, I've been trying to do more videos, because the visual language is just as important, plus Rich had done some videos for some people. And I was like, "Hey, you got beats that I can check out? I know you produce too." He sent me that one for "Bandana.”

When I think of Kaleidoscope, I'm thinking about reflection. What is it that you're been reflecting that led to the album?

When you look into a kaleidoscope, there's just a bunch of mirrors in there that are reflecting an image around — so when it moves, it changes. So this project was very reflective. Like on "Bandana" that voicemail at the end is my grandma, who passed in 2019. I used to get phone calls from her all the time, and I would never answer because I'd be doing something else. She would leave a voicemail and I used to get so irritated. I never even noticed until after she passed that I had all of these voicemails. I was just scrolling through listening to them one night and I was just like, "Okay, so there was a point to this." "Bandana" is also just reflective, like a lot of this project about growing up poor.

On “Late Night Groove,” there's this line on there where I'm saying, "I feel like Metasota was the only rapper that was praying for me, when my grandma passed," because I tweeted about it. This was shortly after Love, Again came out and he reached out to me. That moment meant a lot to me because I'm a stranger to him. I've never met him.

In Kaleidoscope's intro, I have this line that goes, "There's blood still in the street, fire cleanse the building / your favorite rapper kills a beat and then he beats on women / And then he gets on stage and says we've got to stop the killing / But I think he only says it so that no one starts to kill him." That came from like really reflecting on 2020 in Minneapolis, which was such a revelatory time, because we're dealing with COVID, we're dealing with the uprisings that were sparked by the murder of George Floyd, we're dealing with a lot in the local music scene, and the behaviors of people behind the scenes coming to light. And that that was an intense summer, just for the city. I was also going through a breakup during that time, struggling with my mental health. So like, piecing it all back together, these aren't issues that have necessarily been resolved. 

What's next for Kaleidoscope to maintain the buzz? 

I’ve got the “500 Degreez” video out, and we're going to continue sharing visual content throughout. There's going to be a lot of behind-the-scenes photography of the videos that I shoot, because I think it's important to have multiple visuals that communicate with one another. I got some other videos in the works too, and I'm really getting my legs back under me for performing.

Kaleidoscope is available wherever you listen to music. Also, stay tuned for upcoming Chase Vibe shows near you!