Crystal Renee
By Dennis Richmond Jr.
“Shut up and listen to those who did it before you,” Crystal Renee said. To move forward in the Hip-Hop/Rap culture, we must pay homage to those who came before us. “Respect the knowledge.” Crystal Renee, 28, is a battle rapper from Yonkers, New York. No stranger to hard work, when outside of the ring, she’s either catering with her catering business or working as a nanny. Crystal is a “go-getter, going for her dreams.”
Crystal’s love of music goes back close to 20 years. At nine years old, she performed a song during a competition in her Foxfire Elementary School 5th grade class. The song was a remake that she made of a Missy Elliot song. Her group performed the song and won. The rest is history. Missy Elliot is one of the people that inspire Renee. Elliot grew up in an active church choir family. The Black church is a vital part of Black music.
For centuries, Black Americans used the church to express themselves. Clapping hands, stomping feet, and shouting are some of the ways of self-expression in the church. Gospel music plays a role in Black America to this day. Without the Black church, there would be no Crystal Renee.
Missy Elliott is Renee’s famous inspiration. Her more local inspiration is a young man named Phillip. Phillip “P Bills” Wells introduced Crystal to her first league to have her first battle competition. Afterward, the head of O.T.M known as ChopNGo Ty, scouted her out. Through her lyricism, she was able to earn the nod of many Yonkers folks. P. Bills, QwanDaRebel, Taj_Milli, and Whitted, always pushed and supported her.
What makes Crystal different is that she isn’t afraid to network with her competition. “I try to connect with other local rappers,” she said. A trait like this will put her ahead of the pack. Nicki Minaj once said, “I lead the pack, so my back’s to them.” Renee is still a competitor, though. She will wake up at 3 or 4 a.m. to write lyrics. “Music is my outlet,” she said.
Many young people across the country use music as an escape from reality. Home lives are sometimes in ruin, but music is there to help. Bus rides and train rides are long, but music is there to help. Sometimes you feel upset or down, but music is always there to assist you with whatever you need.
Crystal wants to leave readers with one takeaway. “You could do anything you put your mind to.” She’s determined to live her wildest dreams by any means necessary. With no children and a supporting family, the only thing that can get in the way of Crystal is Crystal. My “family gives props,” she told me. Her uncle tells her, “it’s all on you.”
Dennis Richmond, Jr., is an author and journalist focused on the Black, Latinx, and LGBTQIA+ Community. He has covered HBCUs periodically for six years at Yonkers Rising. He lives in Yonkers and is on Twitter @NewYorkStakz.
