Crosby – ‘New York Posterboy’ & ‘Downtown 85’ [MIXTAPES]

In the last few months, two mixtapes from Crosby have been circulating throughout the ether, additions to a collection of archival media from this artistic multidisciplinarian also known as Crosby Coolest, Clockwork Cros and Crosmopolitan.

New York Posterboy, a concept project set in the offices of the New York Post, follows an eager cub reporter working to break Crosby to the paper. To explain Downtown 85 best, we’ll borrow from the press materials, which describe it well.  Downtown 85 “appropriates upon the narrative of Basquiat and his fellow urban artists who come from around the world to the Manhattan’s Lower East Side to work with a shared sense of freedom”. The vibe definitely invokes a bohemian existence, and the narrative, a series of skits that string the project together, helps visualize the evolution of the artist, his path through life and his LES surroundings.

With an eclectic mix of poetic hip hop, these two projects demonstrate Crosby’s unique musical lane, thoughtful and experimental, but not unapproachable. Both projects showcase a conceptual approach to hip hop that we enjoy, and each have individual gems, but the appreciation for Cros’ ideas are heightened when ingesting each project as a whole.

On the surface, Crosby doesn’t command immediate attention. He doesn’t necessarily possess a voice, swag or demeanor that immediately stands out, but as with good modern art, an open-mind and a few looks/listens, will provide heads who favor artistic, intellectual and progressive hip hop, something to connect with.

As we mentioned, Crosby Coolest has several vehicles to display his creativity; music, crafting clocks for sale, working with Swizz Beatz, supplying artwork for his Monster Monday music series, and video production projects. Find out more about Crosby Coolest at www.crosmopolitan.com.

New York Posterboy: http://www.newyorkposterboy.com
Downtown 85: http://www.downtown85.com