A decade into his career, the prolific Toronto and Montreal-based rapper looks at what drives him to make music.
By, Manus Hopkins
Krosst Out poses for a promo shoot in Montreal (by Nicolas Bondu).
Toronto and Montreal-based rap-rock artist Krosst Out never had a plan B for his career path. Real name Aaron Siebenga, He took up the identity of Krosst Out around 2011 when he was only a teenager. Although he knew it would be difficult to make a living with music, he didn’t want to do anything else
“I just envisioned myself doing music,” he says. “To what calibre, I didn’t know, but I just always wanted to do music.”
In high school, Krosst Out dealt with teachers, family and friends telling him that he wouldn’t make a living off of his music and that he needed to pick a more prosperous career path, but that didn’t matter. Even today, he is sometimes asked if he’s still doing music, with the expectation that he would have outgrown it by now and decide to pursue a more “realistic” career path. The music industry is a competitive field and online streaming has made it even more difficult for musicians to make money, something that has been exacerbated by the pandemic, according to a 2020 article by CBC.
When he was a teenager growing up in Campbellford, ON, Krosst Out had a certain naivete many aspiring artists have and didn’t fully understand how much it would take to make it in the music industry. The past 10 years have been a growing process for him, as he’s learned that it takes more than just great music to achieve success.
The marketing and promotion side of things is a tricky business and one of which Krosst Out had no knowledge. After graduating high school, he studied at Recording Arts Canada in Montreal, His time there taught him how to properly produce music, but the majority of his education in marketing and business decision-making came from experience.
“I’m always learning still,” he says. “But as you go along, you pick more and more things up.”
Krosst Out is known for fusing genres by incorporating elements of rock, grunge and punk into his rap music. However, that wasn’t always the case. Although he grew up listening to rock music and multi-stylistic groups like Rage Against the Machine and Nine Inch Nails, he initially only wanted to be a rapper because he found rap music the easiest to write.
“I was obsessed with writing the best rap music I could as opposed to writing an actual song,” he says. “I just wanted to be a rapper. I didn’t know what it was to be an artist yet.”
Krosst Out was constantly exposed to the world of rock music with an old-school rocker dad and metalheads friends, and he unknowingly started bringing influences from those styles into his own music. It got to the point where he had people telling him they didn’t picture him as a rapper. Instead, they saw him as a rock or punk frontman. Eventually, Krosst Out took this and ran with it, maximizing the rock influences in his music and developing himself into a multi-faceted artist.
Krosst Out’s music brings elements of varying genres together, like the fan-favourite “Drive,” which is built around a guitar riff straight out of 1990s Seattle, and “Running in Traffic,” which oozes influence from early 2000s rock acts like Linkin Park.
However, fusing elements of vastly different genres can sometimes cause a lack of cohesiveness in music. Nevertheless, Krosst Out says he doesn't worry about this too much. When he works with musicians like his drummer Taabu, he has faith that they know what they’re doing when it comes to putting the songs together and knowing what arrangement each track demands.
When writing, Krosst Out usually starts with an idea based on a sound or style he wants to emulate. From there, he’ll have a beat made and put a track together, afterwards writing lyrics that fit the music’s emotional tone. His process changes slightly from song to song, but he often follows a similar structure and aims to put a new spin on something he’s heard.
“I’m always seeking to be inspired,” he says. “And the way I get inspired is by listening to new music.”
Krosst Out is currently preparing for the release of his newest single, “Runaway,” a collaboration with Toronto electro-pop singer Melotika, slated for release on March 26. He had the bare bones of the song kicking around for a while but shelved it because he wasn’t sure what to do with it. He was hit with a bout of inspiration from the New York and London punk scenes of the 1970s, which were ruled by bands like Ramones and The Clash, and picked it back up.
“I really wanted to do something with that kind of vibe for a while,” he says. “It felt like it would be really cool to bring that 1977 punk feel into the rap world.”
Careful not to be pigeonholed, Krosst Out wanted his new music to be a departure from the dark, grunge atmosphere of his last album, 2020’s Phone Calls With Ghosts, while still staying true to his artistic identity.
“Runaway” has a more upbeat feel and catchy, pop elements. Fans were eager for another collaboration with Melotika after the success of her 2018 track “Downtown Summer,” which featured Krosst Out as a guest vocalist. After laying the groundwork for “Runaway,” Krosst Out saw her voice fitting with the song, and the two recorded it at Toronto’s Phase One Studios last July.
Though he’s a decade into his musical career, Krosst Out hopes his best work is still ahead of him. He is happy to have had his work recognized by fans and fellow artists, but still sets goals for his artistic development.
“Even if you don’t want to set goals, you still should,” he says. “And your goals can change too. That’s always a factor.
To keep up with Krosst Out, visit his website.