Residing on Chicago’s northside, Astonish embodies the city’s capacity to produce a street-smart lyricist with enough intelligent swagger to hold his own in the midst of both the thugs and the backpackers. Having been reared in a diverse musical environment, Astonish gained a unique eclectic auditory experience that has helped him develop his balanced approach to music. Between the old-school soul records of his grandparents’ era, his father’s penchant for NWA, his mother’s persistence in developing his creative artistry, and his own musical delving with everything from Hip Hop, Gangsta Rap, R&B, and Alternative Rock: Astonish’s rhymes convey a multitude of topics that reflects this musical heritage.
Having joined up with the legendary Molemen collective at the young age of 21, he wasted no time in taking advantage of a very strong opportunity to allow his dream of becoming an internationally respected emcee to be realized. Utilizing beats by the Molemen camp, Dj O-Zone, and his own producer, Cucs, Astonish got Chicago acquainted with his style with an EP at the beginning of 2008, entitled “From Now Until Forever”. The EP was received with high regard within the hip hop community and spread across blogs and websites worldwide pushing Astonish into being one of the upcoming talents to keep an ear on.
