Chicago, IL has produced some of the hottest rappers over the years, from Chief Keef to Chance the Rapper (just to name two). The city is seriously busting at the seams with talent! That’s why it comes as no surprise that another Chicago-born-and-bred rapper is currently on the rise and making waves. Stepping out from the unknown, Warhol.SS has taken over the underground scene and is slowly pushing himself into the mainstream. The 21-year-old-artist recently dropped his project, Chest Pains in November 2018, with the biggest bangers being “War Ready (feat. UnoTheActivist),” “Switch Locations,” and “With Ease.”
Warhol.SS was born July 12, 1997, in Chicago, IL. He grew up on the southeast side with a fashion designer mother and a grandfather that was a painter. Warhol moved around a fair amount when he was young, going from Chicago to Minneapolis, MN as well as Atlanta, GA. He lived in Chicago for most of his childhood but moved to Minneapolis to live with his father for a bit. Warhol moved to Atlanta to attend and finish his final year of high school. During high school, he sold shoes and drugs and began getting involved in music during his junior year. Warhol’s childhood and adolescence both helped to shape his personal style of music. He took influence from Chicago and Atlanta, as well as the music he heard growing up, which ranged from Jay-Z and MF Doom to Erykah Badu. He ended up making it all his own sound, taking a different route than many other Chicago rappers.
When he was 16, Warhol decided to take rapping seriously, seeing how other rappers were able to come up and create a serious career for themselves. As the years went on, he chose the stage name Warhol.SS, taking the name on as inspiration from the American artist, director, and producer Andy Warhol. He believed Warhol was a man that refused to let people define and put him down, something that he aspires to. The “SS” in his name stands for his love for cars. In 2016, Warhol dropped the music video for his song “Speed Racer.” The song was produced by Brent Rambo and the music video was directed by Cole Bennett. As all three were generating buzz during the time the song was out, the combination of the three helped to blow all of them up. This, along with the ever-growing popularity of Chicago rappers, helped propel Warhol out of the underground and more into the mainstream.
With Warhol.SS now in the mainstream, his music is getting more and more popular. Besides Speed Racer, Warhol has garnished attention from songs such as “MAC UP (prod. pierrebourne),” “12OZS (prod. F1LTHY),” and “Pistons (prod. staccato).” The Chicago-born rapper has also worked with artists like Ski Mask The Slump God, Trippie Redd, Famous Dex, and UnoTheActivist. These rappers have helped increase Warhol’s popularity, as they have worked with big-name artists such as Travis Scott, Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti, and JuiceWRLD. Although he has grown, his sound has kept the same flair that made him not only different from other rappers but enjoyable to listen to. His latest project, Chest Pains has managed to have the hunger and grit of his earlier songs, as the beats are filled with bass and hi-hats, and the lyrics are strong and shocking (“Speakin’ of demons, I roll with a couple, Got 500 shooters, they ready to rumble”). The rawness of his music has helped him grow his following, with 178K followers on Instagram (@warhol.ss), 73.6K SoundCloud followers (@WARHOL.SS), and 217,457 monthly listeners on Spotify. As he grows, fans hope that he will keep the raw strength and hunger that has separated him from other rappers today.
With Warhol’s popularity steadily increasing, his music has reached ears far and wide. Getting roots from both Chicago and Atlanta, the combination of sounds has helped him create something unique that has rarely been seen before. Warhol hopes to not let those around him define him and wants to create his own wave. He has achieved this partially, gaining a fan base of loyal listeners who help spread his music. Warhol.SS is just one of the rappers out of Chicago to make it big, and one can only hope that he will stand alongside bigger artists one day.