Reks

Born and raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts, street lyricist Corey Isiah Christie, known professionally as Reks, first gained notice as a teenage breakdancer affiliated with the local B-boy crew Funk Town Connection. While attending the University of Massachusetts-Amherst he established a foothold in Boston’s underground rap community, yet he ultimately dropped out to focus on recording sessions for Brick Records. Two 12-inch singles, “I Could Have Done More” and “Fearless,” surfaced in early 2001, followed later that year by his debut full-length, Along Came the Chosen. The project earned a devoted following among Boston-area hip-hop listeners and drew Boston Music Awards nominations in the Hip-Hop Album and Artist of the Year categories. Despite coverage in Source, XXL, Vibe, and URB, national recognition remained elusive, prompting Reks to issue his sophomore effort, Rekless, independently in 2003 with distribution limited to the trunk of his car.

By 2004 he had shifted attention to the mixtape circuit, unveiling Happy Holidays in 2005 and the Rash Music series under the newly formed group M Diesel alongside Lucky Dice and Chi Knox. Around the same period he connected with fellow Lawrence native and prominent mixtape figure Statik Selektah, leading to a signing with the DJ’s ShowOff Records label. Reks appeared on Selektah’s 2007 album Spell My Name Right as well as on early releases by the DJ’s protégé Termanology. Executive produced by Selektah, the ShowOff debut Grey Hairs arrived in 2008; a companion collection of outtakes, More Grey Hairs, followed in 2009 and featured beats from both Selektah and DJ Premier.

Reks delivered his fourth studio album, Rhythmatic Eternal King Supreme, in 2011. Returning collaborators Premier and Selektah were joined by Pete Rock, Hi-Tek, and the Alchemist, and the project received another Boston Music Awards nomination for Hip-Hop Album of the Year while reaching number 41 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Selektah again handled production duties for the fifth LP, Straight, No Chaser, released in 2012; REBELutionary appeared the same year. After Revolution Cocktail in 2013 and Eyes Watching God in 2014, Reks issued his ninth album, The Greatest X, in late 2016.