Christian Cooper, an up-and-coming hip-hop artist based in Federal Way whose alter ego is KillemAll Coop, recently released his first album, “3 Degreez,” on iTunes.
“I just launched the album sale,” Cooper said. “It’s a good feeling that people are buying, because nobody buys music anymore.”
So far, over 100 digital copies of the album have been sold on iTunes. The 11-track album includes the lead single “Westside Livin’,” featuring the late Bay Area-based rapper The Jacka, who was shot to death outside his studio five months after production work with Cooper. “Westside Livin’,” which Cooper said has a classic Westside rap feel to it, was recently aired on Seattle-based KUBE 93’s Sunday Night Sound Session.
Cooper, 26, who started investing in his hip-hop artistry five years ago while a junior at the University of Washington, said he attributes his album sales to his built-in fan base and strong social media following.
Prior to “3 Degreez,” Cooper had released six mixtape projects of his music, which he distributed for free at his annual summer barbecue every July in Steel Lake Park.
“Every summer for the past three years my buddies and I put on a free community barbecue with free hot dogs, hamburgers and chicken and free music,” Cooper said. “I want to keep the tradition going. My buddies believe in me.”
The success of the barbecue each year and his growing following encouraged Cooper to decide to produce an album for sale. He set the price at $9.99.
“My thing has never been about the money,” Cooper said. “The money will come.”
The momentum to record the new album came when Cooper connected with Vitamin D, one of Seattle’s premier hip-hop producers and beat crafters. Cooper met Vitamin D while hanging out at hip-hop shows in Seattle, something he does regularly.
“Vitamin D did all but two beats on the whole album,” Cooper said. “It made it a quality album as far as production goes. Having his name on the album got attention.”
Cooper said it isn’t easy being a hip-hop artist in Federal Way because there is virtually no venue in the city that will welcome his art.
“It’s tough to get a solid venue, so you have to go to Seattle and Tacoma,” Cooper said. “And it’s tough to take your home-grown music outside. It’d be nice to keep it home.”
Cooper has a studio in the backyard of his mother’s home in Federal Way, where he creates new music. He said he’s in Seattle five days a week, 10 hours a day, working a day job in shoe sales at Nordstrom in downtown Seattle.
“I’m a regular guy. I sell women’s shoes,” he said. “Being normal keeps me in a humble position.”
Cooper, a 2008 graduate of Todd Beamer High School, hopes to one day perform his music in his hometown.
“Federal Way isn’t what it once was,” he said. “As the population grows, the music scene should grow as well. There is a scene here, but we’ve been forced to go outside of our realm. I want there to be a strong hip-hop culture here. I want to be the first one to cultivate that lane.”
To learn more about KillemAll Coop, visit killemallcoop.com or check him out on Twitter: @KillemAllCoop.
