Working with Creator's Way and The Legendary Traxter, producer of the platinum hit, "Po Pimp," Twista approached Adrenaline Rush with much more patience and care. Recalling the support Chicago's underground gave him after freestyle showcases and talent shows, he says "It was the love of everybody that was around me that pushed me to higher and higher levels of acheivement." Twista says his trend-setting style developed under a sort of musically-induced schizophrenia ("Basically hip-hop was being imbeded into my head at the same time that I was listening to house") and was spurred forward by hearing positive feedback. Rap & DJ Polo," Twista remembers, "is what first inspired me to become an MC." He first became aware of rap by way of college radio. Then, after being exposed to krush grooves by the likes of Kurtis Blow, the Sugarhill Gang and the Fat Boys, hip-hop started engaging his mind.
First he moved his body to hyperactive house tracks of his hometown. His attraction to music also began building from an early age. He used his inner strength to help pull him through, while his dreams centered around either music or art. In his urban grit diary he creates musical paradise from poverty's riches.īorn and raised in the K-Town section of Chicago's infamous, impoverished west side, Twista grew up amid scenes of junkies, drugs, violence and poverty. G-funk and challenging the looseness of modern free-styiling, he raps to reveal emotions ranging from ecstasy and joy to sadness and pain. He turned up in 1996 to snatch pavement props and earn Gold status for being featured on Do or Die's number one Billboard rap single, "Po Pimp." Finally with Adrenaline Rush, Twista's transformation from pioneering Windy City hero to spatter king is complete. As he explains it, "After I came off of my first national tour, I went back to the 'hood and just started applying the lessons I learned about the business and writing structured songs to things that were going on in the community, and everything started to seem much more real."
He recognized that the only way to escape the bleak surroundings was to immerse himself in it and shed some sort of light. In 1997 he released Adrenaline Rush, on the title the artist says, "My style was designed to pump listeners up, and when I went back and listened to the recorded songs, the only name that made sense was Adrenaline Rush."īetween the time of the 3 albums, Twista says he added substance and focus to his style by patrolling the gritty landscapes of his Chicago ghetto. He later released his sophomore album in 1995 called Suicide, on Street Flavor records before taking a break to refocus his style and his rap name, becoming simply Twista. His debut album, Runnin' Off at Da Mouth, was released on the Zoo Entertainment label in 1991. Peep the 1992 Guiness Book of World Records where he was dubbed fastest rapper. Includes pics, biography, discography and latest newsĬhi-Town rapper Carl Terrel Mitchell aka TWISTA, was originally known as Tung Twista. The most up-to-date Twista page on the net