Charles Hamilton

Cleveland-born and now Harlem-based, the producer-rapper Charles Hamilton drew widespread notice in the late 2000s for his wide-ranging musical palette and commanding freestyle ability. He sharpened those abilities inside the recording room of his Harlem high school, then perfected the classic hip-hop craft of sampling by folding his broad listening habits into a distinctive style. After joining Interscope in 2008, he generated intense internet excitement by rolling out what he called “The Hamiltonization Process,” issuing roughly a dozen mixtapes that same year. Among them was The Pink Lavalamp, positioned at the time as his official Interscope debut. Although a follow-up project titled This Perfect Life was slated as his genuine label introduction, Interscope ultimately shelved it and released the material as a free digital download once the imprint parted ways with Hamilton, whose misattribution of J Dilla as executive producer drew criticism. Even after those obstacles, he maintained an extraordinary pace of mixtape output that stretched through 2014. Early the next year he moved to Republic, unveiling “New York Raining” featuring Rita Ora as his opening single for the new home. Hamilton and Ora later performed the track during the season-one closer of Empire, while his first full-length album was readied for release before the year closed.