King Chip

Charles Jawanzaa Worth^[1] (born October 20, 1986), known by his stage name King Chip (also known as Chip tha Ripper), is an American rapper from Cleveland, Ohio. He is best known for his guest appearance on fellow Cleveland rapper Kid Cudi's 2013 single "Just What I Am," which received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Along with his association with Cudi, Worth has amassed numerous mixtapes tailored for the Cleveland area.^[2]

King Chip
Worth in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Charles Jawanzaa Worth
Also known as	Chip tha Ripper
Born	(1986-10-20) October 20, 1986 (age 37) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop
Occupation(s)	Rapper songwriter
Years active	2006–present
Labels	S.L.A.B. Rebel Castles
Formerly of	P.O.C. Almighty GloryUs
Website	www.kingchip.com

Musical career

2006–2008

Worth began releasing music on hip-hop blogs and mixtapes in 2006.^[3] Worth's musical style has been described as a slow, chopped and screwed, southern hip hop.^[4] One of his biggest songs that shook the city of Cleveland, is "Catch The Beat", featured on his Money mixtape. This track is one of the many, that introduced him to the industry. [1]

In 2007, the song "Club Rockin", from his Money mixtape, featured Akon singing chorus.^[5] Worth remained an independent musician, and did not sign with a production company. In 2008, Worth frequently visited Chicago, where he eventually performed with Kidz in the Hall on their album The In Crowd, on which Worth performed the song "Mr. Alldatshit". Worth was featured on producer Hi-Tek's album Hi-Teknology 3 in 2007, and on Kid Cudi's first mixtape A Kid Named Cudi in 2008. Much of Worth's work near the end of this period leading into national prominence had been performed with rapper Kid Cudi, also from Cleveland, Ohio.

Interior Crocodile Alligator

In 2007, Worth appeared on PrettyBoy Floyd's show, "Street Stars' Radio", and performed a freestyle song to the beat of Ali & Gipp's "Go 'Head". It became known as the "S.L.A.B. Freestyle" (after his own label),^[6] but it has, in recent years, come to be known more commonly as the "Interior Crocodile Alligator" song (or rap), after the iconic final two lines:

"Interior crocodile alligator / I drive a Chevrolet movie theater."

The lyric refers to Chip's Chevrolet having reptile leather interior, being large, and having television screens installed in the vehicle. However, many young fans did not understand his meaning and believed the lyric to be a non sequitur.^{[citation needed]} This snippet of the freestyle became very popular on the internet, especially for usage in memes.

2009–2012

In late 2009, Chip released a mixtape entitled The Cleveland Show, named after the animated sitcom of the same name. The single, "Fat Raps", features Big Sean and Currensy, and is produced by Chuck Inglish.

On September 5, 2010, Chip Tha Ripper announced plans to form the musical duo "The Almighty GloryUS" with Kid Cudi, with whom he shared a mutual appreciation.^[7]

In 2009, Worth was featured on Kid Cudi's first album Man on the Moon: The End of Day, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Worth performed with Kidz in the Hall again in 2010, on their Land of Make Believe album.^[8] Also in 2010, Worth performed the song "The End" on Kid Cudi's second album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. On February 18, 2011, Worth, Freddie Gibbs, and The Cool Kids formed the hip hop supergroup "P.O.C.", an acronym for "pulled over by the cops".^[9]

2012–2018

On August 9, 2012, Worth changed his stage name from "Chip tha Ripper" to "King Chip". He also said that he had signed a contract with Creative Artists Agency.^[1] Regarding his changed stage name, King Chip tweeted:

I am King Chip. Actually born in the ghetto slums of East Cleveland, Ohio. Rest in peace my mentor and former king, Hawk. His death made me....My birth name is Charles Jawanzaa Worth. Jawanzaa is Swahili and it means 'great leader and great warrior.' Look it up. I am King Chip.^[1]

King Chip performed on Kid Cudi's single "Just What I Am", taken from Cudi's third studio album Indicud (2013). On September 4, 2013, King Chip released the mixtape 44108.^[10] On December 26, 2013, King Chip released a music video for a song titled "Action Plan", from his 44108 mixtape. His next project was to be titled Rebel Castles.^[11][12] On September 16, 2014, a deluxe edition of 44108 was released to digital retailers through King Chip's "Rebel Castles" imprint.^{[13][14][15][16]}

2019–present

In 2019, King Chip started referring to himself as Chip tha Ripper again on recent singles.^[17]

In early 2020, an old 2007 freestyle from Chip's visit to Street Starz TV Radio resurfaced and became a TikTok sensation gaining over 70 million views.^[18] In the same year Chip teamed up with New Zealand rapper Lil Mussie to take part in his charity EP helping kids in poverty.^[19]

Discography

Main article: King Chip discography

• Money (2007)
• Double Trouble with Al Fatz (2007)
• Can't Stop Me (2008)
• The Cleveland Show (2009)
• Independence Day (2010)
• From Me to You -EP (2010)
• Gift Raps with producer Chuck Inglish (2011)
• Tell Ya Friends (2012)
• 44108 (2013)

◆ 44108 (Deluxe) (2014)

• CleveLAfornia (2015)
• Thornhill (2017)
• Bonfire with producer Lex Luger (2022)
• The Charles Worth LP (2023)

Concert tours

Headlining

Supporting

• The Cud Life Tour (with Kid Cudi) (2011)^[20][21]

References

1. "Chip Tha Ripper Signs With CAA, Changes Name To King Chip". HotNewHipHop.com. August 9, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
2. Hockley-Smith, Sam. "Chip Tha Ripper, The Cleveland Show Mixtape". TheFader. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
3. . Allhiphop.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
4. . Allhiphop.com. Archived from the original on December 15, 2010. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
5. "Chip Tha Ripper Money - RRT". Real Rap Talk. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
6. "A 2007 King Chip Freestyle "Interior Crocodile Alligator" is Going Viral on TikTok".
7. Kuperstein, Slava (September 5, 2010). "Chip tha Ripper Talks Group With Kid Cudi, New Album". HipHopDX. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
8. "Kid Cudi Makes Peace With 'Man On The Moon'". Billboard.com. September 14, 2009. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
9. Freddie Gibbs. . freddiegibbs.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2012.
10. "King Chip – 44108 // Free Mixtape". DatPiff. Idle Media Inc. September 4, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
11. "Peep The First Visual Off King Chip's Forthcoming Project Entitled "Action Plan"". The Source. December 27, 2013. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
12. "King Chip - Action Plan". Trill HD. December 27, 2013. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
13. "44108 (Deluxe Edition) by King Chip on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. September 16, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
14. "King Chip (@Chip216) 'Money & Fame' | All Unsigned® Digital Hip Hop Magazine". Allunsigned.com. September 16, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
15. "Rebel Castles Releases & Artists on Beatport". Beatport.com. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
16. "44108 (Deluxe Edition) [Explicit]: King Chip: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
17. "Chip Tha Ripper Overdoses on "2 Much Ass"". HNHH. February 21, 2019.
18. Pazzalia, Casey (May 4, 2020). "Chip Tha Ripper is Having a Moment With 'Interior Crocodile Alligator'". Slackie Brown. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
19. Niesel, Jeff. "Cleveland's Chip Tha Ripper Guests on New Track From New Zealand's Lil Mussie". Cleveland Scene.
20. Lilah, Rose (July 22, 2013). "Kid Cudi Announces "The Cud Life Tour" With Big Sean, Tyler, The Creator & Logic [Update: Full Dates Added]". HotNewHipHop.
21. "Win Tickets to See Kid Cudi on Tour!". Rap-Up.com. Retrieved November 15, 2018.

External links

• Official website