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Lil Romo poses for a portrait outside his studio in the McKinley Park neighborhood. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
YouTube popularity of the rapper, whose debut album dropped last week, also lifts up the producers and videographers he trusts.
Englewood hip-hop artist Lil Romo wants the music industry to get to know him, and his music.
His 13-track project “King Without a Crown” showcases subject matter that’s in lockstep with the times: violence, police brutality and social unrest, along with the trials and tribulations of a young musician having to change his environment based on his success.
In the track “Long Time,” he raps, “Wishing s— was different, nowadays we can’t have any fun,” and another track named “War Is Won” has a similar mantra.
“When I heard the beat, I felt like ‘let the kids go outside,’ ” said Lil Romo, who is signed to The Programm/EMPIRE records. “Back in the day, we were able to go to the park and have fun and stuff, but nowadays you can’t.
“I have songs you could probably dance to, but then I have songs you want to cry to if you felt it in that way.”
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Lil Romo poses for a portrait outside his studio in the McKinley Park neighborhood.
The impetus behind the project’s name has to do with where Lil Romo views his place in Chicago’s hip-hop scene.
“I’m one of the youngest in the game; I’m crazy underrated and a lot of people don’t hear me because of that,” said Lil Romo. “Everyone is a king in their own way, for sure.”
Lil Romo, 19, is surrounded by a team of producers and videographers who carefully curate his content.
Producers “OG Mic Will” Micah Williams, Kid Wonder and All Day were the beatmakers for the project, while Milky Made It is the video production team consisting of Mark Cukier and Brandon Demas.
One of Lil Romo’s videos, “223,” which was released on July 10, has more than 200,000 YouTube views, while “When I Was Down” has 505,557 views since dropping in April.
After a lack of consistency from videographers he worked with in 2019, Lil Romo found Cukier and Demas on Instagram and reached out.
Their working relationship can be best described as random. In one instance, the duo was called to film a video during a house party.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
The team working with Lil Romo (pictured with arms up) includes producer “OG Mic Will” Micah Williams (in UIC short) and videographers Brandon Demas (left) and Mark Cukier (right).
“They called me at 10 p.m. and I’m sitting at home like: ‘Damn, I really don’t want to go. … F—, I’m just gonna go,’ ” said Cukier, who lives in the western suburbs.
Due to the success of Lil Romo’s videos, Milky Made It and Williams now find themselves in high demand from a number of Chicago musicians who want to collaborate.
“For me as an engineer, since I started …read more
Source:: Chicago Sun Times
