Pairing his daily life with rap instrumentals, this high school senior admits it's time to claim a spot amongst his peers.
BY SON OF VINCENT
SEPTEMBER 26, 2024 2:00PM
The Most Important Meal of the Day: Artist, Cster. Photo credit: SON OF VINCENT
Having met Cster in 2012, when he was only six years old, there was a lot of life in between then and his eventual musical career. Over the following decade I had become a filmmaker, spending time on and off camera, and by 2022 Cster was a budding artist.
SOV: Where’d the name Cster come from?
Cster: I don’t remember the exact moment but I was in the studio downstairs, and I had started originally by making beats. It was like a revolutionary moment, someone said, you’re stirring it or you’re stirring it up, you’re out here producing the beats, you’re cooking.
SOV: And what about all the cereal?
Cster: I remember I was really high, like super super high. I smoked 2 joints to the face and I was scrolling through my the emojis. And you know how everyone has their emoji, I didn't have one, and I saw the bowl and I thought, that’s hard. I like that.
SOV: Do you have a favorite cereal?
Cster: I really fuck with vector, it’s so good for you. But if I had to choose a fun one? Honey nut cheerios. I lived with my grandparents off and on for 3 years and every time my grandma would let me have a snack, it’d be cheerios. If I walked in their house I guarantee you there’s at least like 2 jumbo boxes available, and shake and bake. Oh my god, shake and bake.
Cster at Headspace Recording Studios. Photo Credit: SON OF VINCENT
From day one at the PH4RM house, it was clear that Cster’s bedroom had been a sanctuary to his creativity. But in the spring of 2024, Cster’s home caught fire. With over 250 songs recorded at home, nearly everything Cster had known was gone. Birthed literally from the fire and flames is Cster's debut mixtape, "SFTW (Sorry For The Weight)".
SOV: What do you want people to know when they're walking away from this project?
Cster: I think I’m here to stay, you know what I mean? I’m about to turn shit up. My thoughts used to be, if I blow up, I blow up. It’s too fucking easy for me to do all of this, for me to not be making money. I haven’t written a song in how long? I wrote 3 bars for toxic. I’m about to drop such crazy music, I’m an artist, I’m not just a rapper. I’m making what I’m good at, and what I know, but I’m about to artistically indulge.
SOV: Do you have any goals after music?
Cster: Still make music, let’s be honest. If it’s not rapping it’s art. Record label executive, some shit. I would love to do clothing with Kanye. Balenciaga. Expressive clothing.
SOV: Any other dream collaborations?
Lil Uzi, Lil Yachty, Paul Wall, or if Tupac was alive. I was like 8 when I started listening to yachty and I listened to so much yachty.
SOV: Anything else before we finish up?
Cster: Sorry for the wait. And not weight, like genuinely.
Focused, prepared and with an undying love for the art form, Cster patiently waits for his time at the top. His mixtape "SFTW (Sorry For The Weight)" is out this Friday.