Rodney Chrome Defines and Dismantles Queer Pressure
by Ethan Ayer
★
The R&B and hip-hop newcomer crafts a debut that not only serves as a summer soundtrack but also as an odyssey for self-acceptance.
Up-and-coming rapper and singer-songwriter, Rodney Chrome, describes the title of his debut project, Queer Pressure, as “an acknowledgment of every societal pressure that queer individuals have most likely experienced.” Over twelve tracks, he dismantles these “queer pressures” over hard electronic beats produced by electronic musician underscores and himself. Whether it’s subverting shaming someone for feminine qualities on the distorted “LOW END” or critiquing hookup culture on the tongue-in-cheek “AUSTIN WOLF,” Rodney Chrome creates a queer hip-hop and R&B record that explores topics usually relegated to trauma therapy.
In his freshman year of high school, Chrome decided to release music under the name Atlas, a moniker he chose because he was "so obsessed with the idea of being named after a Greek god and the way Atlas was condemned to hold the world on his shoulders was always relevant to how I felt within the universe.” Songs from his Atlas days like “2K” showcase Chrome’s early conceptual vision and vocal arrangement skills. Most apparent, however, was his work ethic. For his 12th birthday, he asked for an Apple apogee mic and pop filter. “I would sneak into my mom’s closet and write random songs from beats off of youtube until about 2 or 3 am even though I had school in the morning,” Chrome explains over email.
“Around this time I was introduced to James Fauntleroy. His project “String Theory” was the most interesting thing I had heard when it came to how songs were written. All of his concepts were so elaborated and every lyric had such intention that I eventually became a student of all of his work.”
“I was so obsessed with the idea of being named after a Greek god and the way Atlas was condemned to hold the world on his shoulders was always relevant to how I felt within the universe.”
During the school week, Chrome would take dance classes in his hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas, and on the weeks take the Megabus to Atlanta for rehearsals. During this time Chrome started to “understand the value of work ethic within the music industry” and began his first project, Teammates.
Still, Chrome confesses that “it’s so hard for me to go back and listen to that project. The years between 2017 and 2020 became one of the toughest transitions in my life. With a few things I was going through, my sound had to develop at the same rate at which my mind was changing.” It wasn’t until Chrome explained that when the “music and sound progressed and I started to disconnect from the name,” that he decided to change names.
“There became this overwhelming drive for me to want to use my real name because the music I was creating during this transition was starting to become so open and honest” he explains. He toyed with potential names like “Bizarre, Zephyr, Winter” but none of them hit how he wanted them to until he thought about the name Chrome and underscores created the signature bass “Chrome” tag that is heard throughout the record.
Every track on Queer Pressure except for “LOW END” was produced entirely by underscores. Existing somewhere between a classical hip-hop symphony and experimental hyper pop, underscores’ signature electronic jazz mixed with Chrome’s vulnerability gives the project its unique life. Their relationship began when Chrome attended New York University’s Clive Davis Institute in 2018. “Everyone was just walking around meeting each other and when I stopped to talk to underscores, we introduced ourselves and he realized I made ‘2K’ with his friend William Crooks,” Chrome explains. The two didn’t talk much after that until a teacher suggested they make a song together, which would eventually become the song “INTRO” off of Queer Pressure.
Along the way Chrome reveals, “I found my best friend Eric Hart who has been not only a blessing to my image with his amazing eye for photography, but in just keeping me balanced while both of us push each other to create the best work we possibly can. Not many times do such beautiful people fall into your life, but when they do you’ve got to hold on to them and cherish every ounce of love they allow you to feel.” That type of artistic community is evident when listening to Queer Pressure and watching the grandiose music videos for songs like “PULPIT.”
Cinematic drums bang as Chrome asserts, “I move on a high horse / Tell the caterer that they ready for the main course” before wind chimes descend to make way for a choir of Chrome’s vocals and legato strings.
In the Zachary Dov Wiesel directed video, Chrome changes from streetwear in his childhood home to a wedding dress on the top of a skyscraper as he is followed — or chased — by a group of men wearing wife-beaters. While that may read like gender chaos, with Chrome, that blending of two worlds is exactly what he is trying to accomplish. “PULPIT” serves somewhat as a signature for Chrome, with the emergency alarm opening synth as its intro, warning the listener for the musical onslaught that is about to occur. Cinematic drums bang as Chrome asserts, “I move on a high horse / Tell the caterer that they ready for the main course” before wind chimes descend to make way for a choir of Chrome’s vocals and legato strings. Despite being an introduction, it sounds like Chrome has been here before.
When creating this project, Chrome says he “wanted to incorporate every aspect and experience that influenced who I’ve become.” Naturally then, his mom, who he describes as his best friend, inspired many tracks on the album. The track “CHIN to MY CHEST,” which features the baritone siren call of Jovan Perez was inspired by one particular conversation Chrome and his mom had in 2019 that he describes as being “so profound… so I secretly pulled out my phone and acted like I was texting someone, but instead I was recording the moment.” Eventually, he explains, that led him “to create a song surrounded by the idea of having such a beautiful support system like my mom. While writing it, he confesses that he “didn’t know how impactful it would become until Jovan started to sing the lyrics… I still have trouble listening to that song now without getting choked up.”
Similar snippets of real-life conversations make it into the end of “5 STARZ,” where a group of men gossips about Chrome, comparing him to other queer musicians like Lil Nas X and Frank Ocean. It’s a unique mix of SZA’s Ctrl and homophobia, where Chrome’s anxieties about how his music will be perceived are revealed.
Ultimately though, the project serves as a deflection of such remarks, as Chrome’s expanded definition of “Queer Pressure” explains.
“It’s when you understand that regardless of what people say or think, you know that you are content within who you are and nothing else matters. As I got older, I began to realize that many individuals within my life who weren’t accepting of myself had this concept of who they wanted me to be that made me think everything was wrong with me but instead it was them that needed altering,” he said.
Queer Pressure is meant to be “a soundboard for all of these emotions and feelings” and a reminder to listeners to “start living for yourself and remember that your purpose on earth is so much greater than your current struggles.”
To Chrome, Queer Pressure is meant to be “a soundboard for all of these emotions and feelings” and a reminder to listeners to “start living for yourself and remember that your purpose on earth is so much greater than your current struggles.” He expands the definition to not just be for queer people too, stating “it’s also an outlet for many straight identifying people to understand that they too fit into this image. You can either be the oppressor, the ally, or even someone who suppressed emotions relatable to queer experiences but chose to be silent out of fear.” Ultimately, he explains, “this project stands for everyone. I just hope when hearing it listeners can just find a piece of themselves and see where they fit into this narrative.”
Besides bops, for queer listeners, the project provides a cathartic release, and for everyone else, a new perspective. With Queer Pressure, Rodney Chrome crafts a debut that not only serves as a summer soundtrack, but also as an odyssey for self-acceptance.
★
Queer Pressure is out now on all music streaming platforms.