ChrisLegitimate is an underground independent hip-hop artist from the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the son of the late LeRoy Hewitt, Jr., who was a soul singer with “The Dyshions” in the 1970s. ChrisLegitimate has been active since 2006, with several projects created over the years. His most notable release is The Mashup CL, originally released in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was rereleased and distributed in 2023 as his debut album.
His debut single, “Hustle,” was also released in 2023. “I was homeless when I did The Mashup CL album. I made the beats on GarageBand and recorded it out of my car on my iPad with a wired headset. Nothing too special,” says ChrisLegitimate. “I would make sometimes two or three songs a day. I would make the beat, then hop on the song and would have it done; in no more than an hour. I would go in and mix it down with the car audio system.” The Mashup CL has been dubbed a classic in the underground hip-hop community. Focusing on street life, ChrisLegitimate paints a picture of his inner-city perspective and memoirs. Whether singing off-key on “Art of War” or harmonizing about vices with “On the Brain”, he has a great ability as a rap lyricist and an ear for music.