CrystalTears Explains how he used Music as an Alternative to Suicide

Mistah Wilson: Yo, CrystalTears​, thanks for coming thru for this exclusive interview with ThaWilsonBlock Magazine. How ya' been?
CrystalTears: I've been doing great! I Just recently released my first record "Depress" independently after almost five years of hard work.

Mistah Wilson: It's been a minute but we finally connected for this interview. Go ahead and give tha audience a quick background on yourself...
CrystalTears: Well, I'm an 18 year old rapper/songwriter from Norway and I have been making music my entire life. Writing and music has been my only passion for as long as I can remember and way back in 2013 I started working on my first record. On the album I take you to one of the darkest moments in my life. I was sent to a hospital after trying to commit suicide several times. The album starts of with the first night of my stay at the hospital. Which is also the night I wrote "Sorrow" who'm is the very first song on the album.

Mistah Wilson: What led you to start rapping?
CrystalTears: That's a long story man! I started writing poetry and lyrics as a child before I even knew what rap was. Hip Hop got introduced to me by my brother and older cousin. My cousin was a beatboxer at time and he showed me "Fuck the Police" by NWA. I remember thinking, damn I could do that! I was about 9 or 10 years old, got bullied a lot at school, but then suddenly my brother

showed me this dope underground rapper from Bergen. (The Second largest city in Norway) I could relate to his music a lot and honestly I think it kinda saved me from ending my life.. So on that day I wrote my very first "rap" song.

Mistah Wilson: How is the music scene where you're from?
CrystalTears: I'm from a really small town on the west coast of Norway, so I'm the only rapper from my area. Most people here are either into rock, metal or country but once you get to the bigger cities such as Oslo or specially Bergen you have rappers everywhere.

Mistah Wilson: What current & upcoming projects do you have?
CrystalTears: Since my last project was so serious and I managed to recover from depression. I want my next project to showcase me more as an MC since I was not able to flow like I wanted to on "Depress". And that's only because I wanted people to understand the story I was telling. So my next project is not gonna have a single sad song on it. I will be spitting on old school type of beats to honor the era of hip hop that I fell in love with as a kid. I'm also working on a digital cypher featuring rappers from all over the world, including a few Seattle based MC's Infero, DJ Resonance and Abztratik.

Mistah Wilson: Who are some musical influences that encouraged tha artist you are today?
CrystalTears: On that last project I was inspired by a lot of underground hip hop when I started working on it. But nowadays I get inspired by so many different genres and I feel it also reflects in

some of the later tracks on the album. I also spent many years developing my own sound that you can't find anywhere else here on earth. So I would say that old school hip hop, underground hip hop, funk and metal are my biggest influences. Instead of being influenced by certain artist I would say I use genres instead as I pick and chose from what I like, that's probably why some of my stuff becomes really alternative at times.

Mistah Wilson: I can hear tha passion in your songs. Anger & frustration. Where do you find inspiration when developing new concepts and subject matter?
CrystalTears: That last album was dark.. And music is not only about one feeling but in fact all the emotions you experience. So when I write, usually I write about whatever I feel at that moment but other times I might already be inspired. So usually that inspiration might come from a book I read, a certain genre, history, society.. I guess I kinda feed off of everything I either feel, see or experience. I just love writing, give me one word and I'll write an entire essay about that one word and how it makes me feel. Writing cured me from depression and it's kind of like a therapy for me.

Mistah Wilson: What do you plan to accomplish through your music?
CrystalTears: My dream is to help others the same way music saved my life. I want people to listen to my first album, hear my story, feel the hell I felt.. then see me like I am today.. A happy

person, and I want them to think "Okay, if he fought through it.. I can survive the night no matter how dark it gets too!" Now a lot of people message me about this sort of stuff all time and I'm really happy that my record actually helped some people even though I'm an underground artist. I also have dream to be remembered for creating something brand new, like my own hip hop sub genre or something. I want to be a voice for the suffering.

​Mistah Wilson: Where can people find your music online?
CrystalTears: Buy "Depress" on iTunes
Order "Depress CD Version" on Amazon
Stream "Depress" on Spotify
Stream "Depress" on Soundcloud
Stream "Depress" on Tidal
Stream "Depress" on Youtube


Mistah Wilson: Yo, Bjarne Trondsen​! It's been great having you here for this exclusive interview with ThaWilsonBlock Magazine. Go ahead and drop some shout outs!​
CrystalTears: Thank you for this opportunity to let the world know about me. Shout out to my producers: General Chesz, Christian Eide, Yatzi and DJ Resonance
"Infero" one of the best rappers I know of, Check his music out!
Everybody at Hearttales and the all the people who support me!

(Photographers: Espen Johnsen, Jorun Larsen and Arne Hiorth)