The King of Metaphor

Background:

An American rapper/actor of Puerto Rican and African-American descent, Chino XL, born Derek Barbosa, is well-appreciated among hip hop fans for his technically gifted style and combating abilities. He is infamous for his overstated egoism, and for his handling of self consciously over-the-top punch lines that frequently take the form of witticisms or similes. In addition, the king of metaphors has become the center of interest for a brief quarrel with the late Tupac Sakur.

Frequently listed in ‘Greatest Lyricists’ lists, Chino made a name for himself in the hip hop scene with his critically acclaimed album, I Told You So (2001), and his debut album, Here to Save You All (1996), which was regarded by several underground hip hop fans as one of the better underground hip-hop albums of the nineties. After Poison Pen (2006), Chino will launch Confirmation, a forth album set for the Fall release.

Aside from music, the member of MENSA, just like Geena Davis, Ben Rollins, James Woods and Alan Rachins, Chino, has branched out to acting. His film credits include the comedy Alex & Emma (2003), the drama/romance Playas Ball (2003) and Gang Warz (2004). More recently, he had a guest spot in a 2006 episode of “CSI: Miami.”


Derek Barbados

Childhood and Family:

Derek Barbosa, who would later be popular as Chino XL, was born on April 8, 1974 in Bronx, New York. His father, with whom he is separated, is Puerto Rican and his mother is African-American. He grew up in East Orange, New Jersey and now is a resident of Reno, Nevada.


Confirmation

Career:

Hailed from East Orange, New Jersey, Chino XL launched his debut album, Here to Save You All, in 1996, after an enchantment with the group Art Of Origin. A varied work, it contained autobiographical songs like “What Am I,” which coped with his blended heritage, and more conservative fight rap tracks, featuring Ras Kass and Kool Keith. Here to Save You All reached No. 56 at the R&B/Hip-Hop chart and was considered by some underground hip-hop admirers as one of the better underground hip-hop albums of the ‘90s.

The rapper gained additional popularity by making a number of celebrated appearances on Tech’s morning radio show called “The Wakeup Show” as well as on DJ Sway. During the same time, he received a degree of notorious for a short-lived dispute with Tupac Shakur that was resolved before the death of Shakur. Tupac’s single “Hit ‘Em Up” is deemed to be as a result of a simile on Chino’s first album in a track named “Riiiot,” which read “by this industry, I’m trying not to get fucked like 2Pac in jail.” He responded the anger of Tupac in a radio freestyle, but Tupac did not counter back and was immediately dead because of an unsolved shooting in Las Vegas.

After several years away from his recording studio, Chino returned in 2001 with his sophomore effort titled I Told You So that was absolutely more battle rap-oriented than its predecessor and featured a somewhat more commercial production style. Spawning such tracks as “Let ‘Em Live,” “Last Laugh” and What You Got,” the album earned praise. Unfortunately, it did not sell particularly well due to little promotion.

Chino then relocated to California and started to pursue a secondary career as an actor. His first acting job arrived with 2001’s action movie Crime Partners, where he appeared along side fellow rappers Snoop Dogg, Ice-T and Ja Rule. This was followed by roles in such films as the Paul Wynne films Barrio Wars (2002, starred as Osirus) and Vatos (2002, appeared as Vargas), the Rahman Jamaal vehicle The Beat (2003), director/actor Rob Reiner’s comedy Alex & Emma (2003, with Luke Wilson, Kate Hudson and Reiner) and the drama/romance Playas Ball (2003, starred Allen Payne). He made a guest appearance in a 2004 episode of The Comedy Central series “Reno 911,” as Hymning Perp, before return to acting with starring role in Gang Warz (2004), a drama-action helmed and written by Chris McIntyre.

Chino resumed his music career by releasing a highly anticipated third album called Poison Pen in March 2006. His next album, Confirmation, is scheduled to be released this autumn. Confirmation has a single titled “Don’t Run from Me”/”Warning.” As for acting, Chino guest starred as Juan Carlos in an episode of “CSI: Miami” (2006).


Awards:
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