Listen Up - Chris Rene

Chris Rene first appeared on the scene thanks to the American version of the X Factor this past fall. I thought about writing a blog about just the X Factor, but I A. never got around to it,  B. didn’t actually watch it, I just watched some of the auditions online, C. didn’t actually care about it. Sorry if I missed out on educating y’all.

Anyways, as I said, Mr. Rene’s audition was a big hit with the judges and with the fans. Within a few days of his performance, the clip had amassed millions of views online, and he was sure to do well in the competition. He ended up placing third, which really isn’t that bad. While it is difficult, sometimes you can make a real career out of these reality competition shows, even if you don’t win.

When I first saw his audition, I must say I was impressed.

Well, the show has only been over for a few months, and Rene isn’t wasting any time. He has chosen this tune to be his first single from his upcoming debut album. While Chris originally made the music for this song, super producer JR Rotem jumped on board to clean it up a bit and make it a little more radio-friendly. Epic Records, who snapped Chris up, is releasing “Young Homie” a bit later in February, and I think it might do alright. It certainly has a great deal of crossover appeal, something I think we can expect a lot of in Rene’s debut.

“Young Homie” was definitely his big break, but he does have a few other songs here and there. Chris performed another original later in the show that I think showcases how diverse his upcoming album could be. Rene seems to be part hip hop, part singer-songwriter, and part pop. Like Jason Mraz, but with some rapping thrown in.

Chris seems to not only be genuinely talented, but like a super sweet and awesome guy. After all he has been through (he talks about it in his audition a bit), it would be great to see someone like him do well. Even if that doesn’t necessarily mean top ten hits and smash albums, I would love to see him find his fanbase and work with it.

<a href="http://www.chrisreneofficial.com/">Website</a>

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<a href="http://www.myspace.com/chrisrene">Myspace</a>