Chann Bowman knows what it’s like to have nothing. For large chunks of his life, Bowman has had to scrape together his means using any means necessary, so to speak. But now Bowman has his sights set on a burgeoning hip-hop career and seems on the cusp of breaking through into the mainstream. Bowman, better known as “Kid Tarri”, has entered the rap game determined to celebrate a sound that is as unique as his life has been.
He recently released his second single, called “Wildboy”, which has captured mainstream attention and was featured as a hit on Spotify’s weekly Rap Essentials playlist. “Wildboy,” which is available on Itunes as well, shows Bowman heavily emulating today’s hip hop sound as Bowman croons over a catchy, melodic hook.
“Wildboy is like rockstar rap stuff, like let’s party, let’s rave, let’s feel the wave of the music,” Bowman told Madison365. “It’s my sound and it’s my voice. I put out unique flows. Music is like just a way for me to release all the stuff that I have been through. All the pain and hurt that I’ve had over time.”
Bowman, who right now is working on building his music library (he says he has recorded over 90 songs) as well as his production team, says that it was the ups and downs of his personal life that led him to start performing.
“So, my sister and my brother were recently incarcerated,” Bowman says sternly. “My sis was making music and I was always around. So I could understand what they were doing and when all that stuff hit, I decided I’m gonna carry on my sis’ dream.”
Bowman spent portions of his life homeless and out on the street. His siblings did what they had to do to survive and try to provide a better future for him. Bowman wound up moving down to Atlanta and while he was there he began dabbling in music before ultimately releasing his first single, “Huey’s Club”.
“I was in Atlanta and I started making music down there,” Bowman said. “I put out a song called “Huey’s Club”. That hit like 120,000 streams on Soundcloud. I was like ‘I’m gonna start making music.’ It was so crazy. One morning I woke up and someone’s like ‘You’re song is at 20,000’. The next morning it was 40. When it hit 100 I just started freaking out. My Instagram started to grow. I got like 5k followers. I was like, that’s crazy. And that’s when I came home.”
When Bowman, who went to Middleton High School, decided to forego the rest of school and focus on his music, his mother was supportive. Bowman says she was always musically inclined herself when he was growing up and enjoyed watching him spread his wings as an artist.
“Ever since 7th Grade me and my family were homeless,” Bowman said. “My mother is still homeless. She’s never seen something like the check I sent her recently. My brother, he knew we were struggling so he had to try to make a way. And he got locked up. Next up was my sister and she had to try to make a way for us and she got locked up. But now I have this going.”
So, by the time he was opening up on stage for Lil Zay Osama, Bowman felt determined that his wave of momentum would not be stopped. Last weekend he was hired to perform at a college party in Minnesota out of the blue. He blew a show in Milwaukee out of the water.
“As of right now I’m just growing as an artist and I go to house parties and stuff, just making appearances,” Bowman said. “No one in that building in Milwaukee put on the show I did. Each song was different. I had a song for the old heads, a song for the kids, one for everyone.”
Bowman says that opening for Lil Zay Osama was a springboard to connecting with both other artists and people who work in the music industry. But with all the new “friends” come other concerns. The game is filled with fake people, shady dealings and long-lost well-wishers looking for quick handouts. Bowman, however, just brushes them off and never loses his positive vibe. A vibe that is the first thing one notices about Bowman or hears expressed about him by everyone who has ever known him.
Earlier this week Madison365 spoke with two youths who are about to become sophomores at Middleton High School. Both of them played summer basketball with Chann Bowman as one of their coaches and both said Bowman filled them with positive, never say never, fun loving attitudes. But that’s who he is.
“I just feel like a normal person,” Bowman tells Madison365. “But I’ll be walking around downtown and people I don’t even know come up to me saying stuff. I don’t feel any different than any normal person. I try to engage with people. I still engage with the kids. I don’t think I’m any different.”
Right now, Bowman is working on his album and expanding his marketing team, while also upping the level of his production and talent. He is studying guitar and drums as well as beginning a search for a vocal coach to help him expand his range. He wants to learn unique ways of sounding because that’s what he thinks an artist should be.
“Some people think that you’re not being yourself because you don’t trap yourself in the box of one sound,” he said. “I have stories to share about drugs. I have stories to share about sex, about partying. I’ve been everywhere. So I don’t feel like I’m trapped in one box. Struggles don’t determine your future. Whatever you go through shouldn’t stop you.”
