| Chiddy Bang | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Genres | Electronica, hip hop |
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Labels | Parlophone America[1] |
| Associated acts | Big Sean, MGMT, Passion Pit, Tinie Tempah, Q-Tip |
| Website | www.chiddy-bang.com |
| Members | |
| Chidera "Chiddy" Anamege Noah "Xaphoon Jones" Beresin |
|
Chiddy Bang is an American alternative hip hop band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The group consists of Chidera "Chiddy" Anamege and Noah "Xaphoon Jones" Beresin.[2] The duo was introduced through former band member Zachary Sewall in late 2008 during their freshman year at Drexel University,[3] in Noah's hometown of Philadelphia, PA. Their sound is based on the fusion of hip hop and alternative using samples from artists such as Radiohead, Sufjan Stevens, Passion Pit, MGMT, and Yelle.
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In late February, 2009, the popular music blog Pretty Much Amazing showcased five songs by Chiddy Bang that were on their Myspace account. Because of this, the group gained some following in the underground among music blogs and local colleges, playing a notably packed show at Swarthmore College in April 2009. Pretty Much Amazing continued to occasionally release new Chiddy Bang songs, and in November 2009 debuted the group's first free mixtape, entitled "The Swelly Express." During Thursday night’s first-ever MTV O Music Awards, Chidera “Chiddy” Anamege of Chiddy Bang broke the Guinness World Record for Longest Freestyle Rap, as well as the Longest Marathon Rapping Record. Chiddy stole the throne from M-Eighty – who broke the record in 2009 by rapping for nine hours, 15 minutes and 15 seconds – by freestyling for nine hours and 18 minutes. He also beat out D.O. (aka Duane Gibson, Canada) for Longest Marathon Rapping session – D.O. rapped for eight hours and 45 minutes.[4]
The Swelly Express is the debut mixtape from hip-hop duo Chiddy Bang. The mixtape quickly gained a music following from its online hit "Opposite of Adults" (which features a sample from MGMT's song "Kids"). The Swelly Express tells the story of Chiddy Bang's rise in the music business and their experiences with record labels, it was first released and promoted through the music blog Pretty Much Amazing. The mixtape was praised by fans for the production style, including samples from Passion Pit (Truth), Tinie Tempah and Pogo (Expialidocious). It also contains a guest appearance from Black Thought of The Roots. The songs "Truth", "Opposite of Adults", "Fresh Like Us", "All Things Go", and "Dream Chasin'" have been re-released for download via iTunes since the release of the mixtape.[4]
On 8 April 2010 Chiddy Bang followed up The Swelly Express with the mini-mixtape Air Swell. As the hip-hop duo had a strong following in the UK, many popular UK artists were featured on the mixtape including La Roux, Ellie Goulding, Tinie Tempah and Gorillaz.
The UK-based EMI subsidiary Parlophone had heard about the group through their online following.[5] According to president Miles Leonard, they had been listening to the song "Opposite of Adults" in the office all summer when A&R manager Ollie Slaney said: “As we keep on listening to this maybe we should do something with it.”[5] In March 2010 the duo signed to Parlaphone/EMI with plans to release a full-length album in 2011.
Chiddy Bang signed exclusively with Jesse Kirshbaum of NUE Agency 29 April 2010 for booking representation.[6] That same year the band headlined their first tour, The Swelly Life Tour[7] featuring Donnis[8] and XV(rapper).[9][10] The duo also opened up for Tinie Tempah on his UK Disc-overy tour.[11] Chiddy Bang has toured extensively throughout colleges nationwide and hit numerous festivals such as Lollapolooza,[12] Austin City Limits, Bamboozle,[13] Bonnaroo,[14] Wireless Festival, Glastonbury and Electric Forest Festival.[15]
Chiddy Bang was planning a late summer release for their debut studio album "Breakfast", the album will be available in both iTunes and Walmart. The first single "Mind Your Manners" was premiered on 29 June and features samples from Swedish pop band Icona Pop. The single is also featured in the soundtrack for the EA Sports video game Madden NFL 12. It was also included on Now That's What I Call Music! 39 (U.S. series), a collection of popular music with periodic releases. On 30 August, in an interview with CraveOnMusic.com, Chiddy Bang stated they are planning on releasing Breakfast on 15 November. Xaphoon Jones, however, tweeted on November 7th that the album would not be released on November 15. On November 15, Chiddy Bang released a single instead, titled Ray Charles, the track features a piano riff sounding like Ray Charles and background singers of that era. He also stated in replies to fans that the album would be out soon, but not until after November. The official release date for the album will be February 28, 2012.
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. | ||
| Breakfast |
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| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. [16] |
U.S. R&B [16] |
U.S. Rap [16] |
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| The Opposite of Adults EP |
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— | — | — |
| Chiddy Bang: The Preview |
|
76 | 17 | 11 |
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions[18] | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | US | AUS | AUT | GER | IRE | JAP [19] |
NZ | SWI | ||||
| 2010 | "Opposite of Adults" | 12 | 90 | 10 | 60 | 81 | 10 | 57 | 8 | 18 | Chiddy Bang: The Preview | |
| "Truth" | 50 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 2011 | "Mind Your Manners" | – | 115 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Breakfast | |
| "Ray Charles" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| As featured artist | ||||||||||||
| 2011 | "Rescue Me" (You Me at Six feat. Chiddy Bang) | 21 | – | – | – | – | 50 | – | – | – | Rescue Me – EP | |
| "Children" (VV Brown feat. Chiddy Bang) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Lollipops & Politics | ||
| Year | Song | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | "The Good Life" | Chiddy Bang: The Preview |
| Year | Song | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | The Opposite of Adults | Ben Dickinson and Duncan Skiles |
| Truth | ||
| Under The Sheets | ||
| Pass Out (11 May 2010) | ||
| Sooner or Later (30 June 2010) | Kristopher Rey-Talley | |
| Dream Chasin (19 July 2010) | Kristopher Rey-Talley | |
| The Good Life (17 September 2010) | ||
| 2011 | Too Fake (ft Chiddy Bang) |
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