Twista
Twista is a West Side Chicago rapper famed for his rapid-fire delivery, who went from Guinness-certified speed rapper to a No. 1 album with 2004’s “Kamikaze” and the hit “Slow Jamz.”
K-Town beginnings
Carl Terrell Mitchell was born in Chicago on November 27, 1973, and grew up in the K-Town section of West Garfield Park on the city’s West Side, where he started rapping around age twelve. Performing first as Tung Twista, he built his reputation on an unusually fast, syncopated flow.
Tung Twista and the speed record
His debut single “Mr. Tung Twista” arrived on November 22, 1991, through Zoo, and its video reached Yo! MTV Raps and Rap City. The album “Runnin’ Off at da Mouth” followed in 1992 as the first release on Loud Records, and that year Guinness recognized him as the world’s fastest rapper. A second album, “Resurrection” (1994), was released only in Chicago.
Adrenaline Rush and the Chicago sound
Now simply Twista, he delivered the standout guest verse on Do or Die’s 1996 hit “Po Pimp.” His next album, “Adrenaline Rush,” came out June 24, 1997, on Creator’s Way, Big Beat and Atlantic, produced entirely by The Legendary Traxster; it reached No. 77 on the Billboard 200 and spun off “Emotions” and “Get It Wet,” and the RIAA certified it platinum in 2019. In 1998 he released “Mobstability” with his group Speedknot Mobstaz.
Kamikaze and beyond
His commercial peak came with “Kamikaze,” released January 27, 2004, on Atlantic. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and became his first platinum album, powered by “Slow Jamz” with Kanye West and Jamie Foxx, a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1, and the Kanye West-produced “Overnight Celebrity,” which reached No. 6. Later albums include “The Day After” (2005), “Adrenaline Rush 2007,” “Category F5,” “The Perfect Storm” (2010), “Dark Horse” (2014) and “Crook County” (2017), keeping him among Chicago’s longest-running recording artists.
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