ProbCause Has The Recipe For Success

By Katie Karpowicz in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 12, 2013 7:00PM

ProbCause (left) performs at the 2013 North Coast Music Festival/Photo by Katie Karpowicz

This time last year, it looked like Chicago's reputation for producing socially and politically conscious hip-hop might be going down the drain faster than Chief Keef's legal record. Then came the phenomenon that is Chance The Rapper, bringing to light a different circle of local rappers, ones that were writing poetry along with their beats.

Much like his friend and colleague Chance, 26-year-old ProbCause (real name Colin Grimm, originally from Evanston) writes plenty of chemically-induced tracks about lazy Chicago summers. However, just one conversation with Grimm is enough to make you realize that he's deeper than even his his most serious lyrics suggest.

"I think especially in Chicago you have a really interesting movement going on," Grimm told Chicagoist. "A lot of young rappers are coming out of Young Chicago Authors—Chance, Vic [Mensa], me. Chicago's always been a little bit of conscious rap city, elevating the literary nature of hip hop."

Grimm followed the free mixtape method that many young rappers on the rise have implemented with his latest release The Recipe Volume 2. It was the first to gain him national attention. The young rapper also released the mix tape through a "pay what you want" model for fans who wanted to show financial love and, surprisingly, they did. Grimm has received payments up to $50 for a single download—"People want to support art when it comes down to it." At this point though, he's not worried about getting rich off of his releases.

"If you do the math, what's worth more? Ten thousand people hearing your music or one hundred people buying it. When you start doing shows, all that money's gonna come back around."

So that's what he's been doing. Touring and playing local shows wherever he can with other Chicago artists, most recently electro pop duo Cherub. The only thing that can keep him off the stage at this point is his weekly night class at the Art Institute of Chicago. A visual artist and painter, Grimm flies home every Tuesday to continue his pursuit of a master's degree in fine arts.

All of these details further explain the passion and intellect that are almost tangible when you hear Grimm talk, even over the phone.

When asked about his friends and fellow hip hop artists in the city, the budding MC sounds almost as excited as he does when he talks about his own career, at one point even relating the "communal" hip hop scene in Chicago to that of New York jazz artists in the Miles Davis and Charlie Parker era.

"Chance set the bar really high with his mixtape [Acid Rap]. It's fun because we all know each other but we're all competing with each other too. I'm glad to even be mentioned in the conversation."

Grimm's looking forward to another productive year under his ProbCause alias with a split EP with Psalm One titled Running From The Trap and the third installment of his Recipe mix tapes on the way but this week he's focused on bringing his music back to Chicago.

Catch ProbCause this Wednesday, November 13, at Northwestern University where he and fellow MC Tree will participate in a panel discussion on the art of hip hop songwriting led by Sound Opinions' Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot.

ProbCause headlines Lincoln Hall the following night, Nov. 14, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance.