Cellus Hamilton from New York City has hip hop in his blood thanks to his mom being a hip hop artist in the ‘80s. He attributes his hip hop love to his home life and his mom helping him to find his own way to the stage after she asked him to become her hype man. In 2016, the Atlanta-raised artist moved to NY and started rapping in the subway to chase his dreams. Cellus is inspired by Jesus, his life, modern love, hope, and observations about the world.
The COVID-19 pandemic is not bringing the hip hop artist down with 5 track releases in 2020. Cellus brings us new single with Chicago emcee and longtime friend Brittney Carter in “Same War.” Produced by Temper, this track is mellow, introspective, and features a theme of guilt and mental struggles. Cellus and Brittney takes turns on the verses on their views about the world against a jazzy vibe, electronic keyboard sounds, and snapping beat. It is already the 2nd most played song on his Spotify account with just under 10k streams.
“Psalm 55,” also released in 2020, differed from “Same War” in that a trap-sounding melody drew one’s attention. That single involves Cellus essentially doing a creative retelling of the Psalm in his own way, rapping with authority and confidence. This track is about former friends who betray and turn into enemies, described by Cellus as encountering a backstabbing best friend, “I’m used to suckers talking reckless. Tryin’ to block my moves like checkers. I feed off it like breakfast. It’s different when your homies disrespect that.” The lyrics get more hard-hitting with “My best friend won’t be there. All I showed is love. Used to give me hugs, now it’s slugs and mugs. I don’t know you, cuz.”
The performer and lyricist has a lengthy discography, with 3 albums, 1 EP, and 27 singles. His first single, “Mojo,” debuted in 2017 ambitiously discussing themes of evil forces such as money, fame, and partying against a childlike innocence. The imaginative music video for it achieved over 40,000 views in the first two weeks and now stand at 106,000 on YouTube. The former is “Choices,” a collaboration with Se’A, and currently stands as the top played track on his Spotify by far with almost 400,000 streams. The latter is a romantic “Washing Her Feet,” a compilation dedicated to love and his relationship with his wife, Denya. This one drew attention because he released it the same day as his wedding, making it his “wedding album.” Several weeks ago on September 21, Cellus premiered the music video to the song “Beautiful One,” which is off of the wedding album. This is a slow, sensual, hopeful story of his relationship with his spouse and the faith in God they have. Filmed in Long Beach, NY, clips of the pair gallivanting along the water is stunning, interspersed with scenes of their everyday life inside their home.
Cellus sets himself apart by distinguishing himself as a Christian hip hop artist, wanting to shift the culture and language. Learn more on the poetic performer with his Spotify, Facebook, and YouTube accounts as Cellus Hamilton, and Instagram as @cellushamilton. He can also be found at www.cellushamilton.com.