Cro is a German rapper and producer. He is known for blending rap with pop and has paved the way for rap music in the mainstream. I think he has cool songs.

Disclaimer: Don’t get me wrong, Cro is musically very talented, but has songs that cover trivial topics.

One of his first popular songs, from 2012, is “Easy” and it is genius. Its certified 3x platinum in Germany. The song is about Cro being laid-back, but interacting with a woman called Isi, who is not laid-back and Cro is happy that they split up. The song samples “Sunny” by Bobby Hebb. the lyrics “Easy” are replaced with a sample from this song. What I find interesting is that the song is this sample, it sounds good and also the structure. It just consists of Intro, Verse, Hook and Outro, which is unusual for a pop song. For the ten-year anniversary of the song Cro rerecorded the song and released remixes. I like the remix from Roosevelt.

His albums “Roap”, “MTV Unplugged: Cro” and “Melodie” capture a similar vibe. The songs are catchy.

Before his success, Cro was rapping in the underground. He did battle rap with Reimliga Battle Arena (RBA) under the name “Lyr1c”. Many artists have been there including Kollegah and Juju. Cro later returned to the RBA in 2015 and battled against BlaDesa. In particular, I like the Rückrunde 2 from Cro, where Cro has a funny line about “Notaufnahme”, his opponent only covering superficial topcics “that could be from Cro” and him referencing his song “Whatever”.

Cro also evolved his sound. His album “tru.” is a departure from his previous work. To me it sounds more mature, introspective and experimental. The song “Unendlichkeit” is a good example of this. It’s about having reached the top and continuing to strive for more. Another song, “Baum”, also has a more serious tone.

His melodies are catchy and still sound fresh. German newcomer Zah1de used “Einmal um die Welt” and replaced the Verses with her own lyrics.

Cro in a way stayed approachable for his fans. There was a story about a fan of Culcha Candela who wanted them to play at her birthdayparty. The band makes snarky remarks about it and said would you ask Cro or Drake to play? Later Cro reached out to her and offered to play at her birthdayparty.