Follow James Christos @ twitter.com/jameschristos

James Christos: Higher from tombcast on Vimeo .Pitch Blog By Jason Harper (10 Reasons why you should like James Christos)
James Christos is intense and bad ass and totally underrated in the Kansas City hip-hop scene. It's not for lack of hustling -- the guy plays a ton of shows, drops a ton of CDs, and stickers up the town (to name a few of his tactics). More likely, it's because Christos' music floats between gangsta hardness and indie ideology: He sounds angry and his beats are hard and locked-in, cleaving to a non-jazzy, non-funky, street-angst sound; but his lyrics are devoid of thug-life narratives.
"Its hard to get an audience in KC because the type of music I'm doing is not exactly 'Gangsta Rap' or 'Hip Hop,'" Christos said in a recent e-mail. "It's more like "Neo Rap," something alternative."
Whatever it is he's doing, Christos gets more compelling with each release. His latest is an EP titled The Black Reign, which contains six bangers cooked up by Christos with help from Jaz Brewer and Krush Groove of 64111 Studios.
Here's 10 reasons to dig ya some Christos. ...
10. The Name "Christos" is an invention. His real name is James McGee. Not only does his alias top his original surname, it's way better than the moniker the gangsta name generator spat out when we put in "James McGee." Plus, it sounds righteous.
9. The Lexicon We don't know the name of every record Christos has dropped since he started, but the last few have had some impressive appelations: The Guerilla Movement: Fire and Brimstone (2006, his third full-length), The Coup: A 21-Day Revolution Within (2007), and now The Black Reign (2008). On the latter two, Christos has taken to giving his songs corresponding opus numbers, you know, like a hip-hop Chopin. He signs his e-mails with the phrase "Guerilla is the movement." Like his alias, his song titles, album names and slogans, seem significant an portentous regardless of whether they actually are.
8. The Industriousness Going strong at one CD a year for ... years ... Christos puts other locals to shame on the merch-table front. These aren't skit-loaded filler biscuits, either. When you buy Christos, you get Christos.
7. The Longevity of the Hustle We first encountered Christos way back in 2005, at an open-mic showcase at the long since gone Red Vine. He's been up in our ears ever since. Oh, and by the way, at that Red Vine open mic, he rapped with a guitar player behind him.
6. The Threads Shades. Check. Vest. Check. Tie. Check. Gloves. Check. Graduation robe. Of course.
5. The Crew Called: True Spittaz Click. Includes: Christos, Big Frame, Bucc$, DJ Rockwell, and DJ Shad. Forgive us if we've left anyone out. The five mentioned put on a fantastic live show last Wednesday at the Record Bar. Best live hip-hop performance I've seen in a while.
4. The Party Track "The Celebration (Opus 10)" from The Black Reign
3. The Statement of Purpose "The Black Reign (Opus 11)" from The Black Reign
2. The Lyrics Aggressive, but not meatheaded, with catchy choruses and clever verses, Christos is a writer for thinker and drinker alike. He tends to err on the side of being overwrought in vocal production tricks and shouts, but that's better than being overserious -- or, worse, weak.
1. The Sound and Fury Echoes of Kanye and crunk resound in the Christos sound, a loud, unabating crash of ghetto waves. Want something that's way meaner than backpacker rap but a bit kinder than gangsta? Christos may be your savior.