Chris Barz

Chris Barz (stylized as "x||z", pronounced X Z ) is an American musician. Chris began his love for music on a piano at the age of 3. At the age of 11 he developed a passion for rapping, and freestyle cyphers which created a love for bars, rhyming and clever wordplay. Chris started recording songs on a boombox tape recorder. At the age of 12 he was introduced to an MPC2000 XL and started producing beats and writing songs in middle school. Chris played in many popular young go-go bands growing up in Prince George's County, Maryland and the District of Columbia, including his own Go-Go band called "Total Assault". One day, while headed to shoot a video, Chris was riding passenger of a vehicle that was struck by a truck and totaled. Surviving with minor injuries, only to be involved in a similar accident with a truck totaling the vehicle while riding to band practice in Washington D.C. a second time. Feeling like he had a third shot at life, Chris began to live a life dedicated to leaving a legacy through music. His first hip-hop/rap mixtape landed him as Complex magazine's 10 New DMV Rappers to Watch Out For, XXL Magazine's 15 DMV Artists You Need To Know, and The Washington Post. . His love for piano and composition has led him to score songs for movies and stage plays. The stage play "7 Layers Captive" by Stacy Jewell Lewis won Best Play & Performance in Professional Theater and premiered at the John F Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. On Friday, November 27, his collaboration with Chris Brown, the airy and sensual "Just So You Know" was released which was produced and written by the young virtuoso. Chris is planning to release his self-produced debut project "Angels & Jets" in 2016.