Written By: Niki Jones of Houston TREND

Singer Chris Huston has proven to be a triple threat in the Houston independent R&B/Pop scene. Let’s be honest. Chris Huston is the city’s pop scene right now. This 26 year-old phenom, has mastered it all. As a singer/writer/choreographer, Mr. Huston, is determined to broaden his horizons and push the envelope as much as possible. “I want to be accepted by the masses in both the general market and urban. It’s a new era. We can’t stay in the same mindset and genre forever. Times are changing,” explains Chris.

256297_524418640910396_1526180379_oHuston’s vibrant personality certainly transforms over into his music and dance styles, allowing him to create magic every time he adjoins the two together. His electric combinations of structured choreography causes for an eclectic performance each time he hits the stage. “I feel like choreography is respected more in dance now; before now it was all about free styling. When you are able to create choreography, you can tell a story with it and make people feel good.” Huston admits.

Having an abundant amount of energy and being able to execute his moves on stage could come from the fact that Chris was an all-around athlete. He has involved himself in everything from baseball to martial arts. “I am a 4X world champion in American Tae Kwon Do. However, I took a break from karate to further my music career,” Huston said.

On first listen of Chris’ songs, his style of music could be compared to Usher, Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown, and the sounds of Timbaland, all of who happen to be people who inspire Mr. Huston. On the contrary, he prides himself in being able to take a familiar sound and configure it into his own. “Nothing really is its’ own; when creating music, everybody has a piece of someone else in their work. I think the difference in what I do is that I try to mix a lot of sounds with my own style in it. You may feel like you’re listening to Usher or Chris Brown, but my sound much more different than theirs,” Huston stated.

308345_289016994454876_30906857_nIn 2009, Chris hooked up with super producer Terry “T.A.” Allen who is known for producing tracks for artists such as Young Jeezy, T.I., Rick Ross, Slim Thug and LeToya Luckett just to name a few. Together T.A. and Huston created Futuristic Lover, which became a hit and introduced Chris to the independent scene. “Futuristic Lover was the first song that helped me get out there,” Huston said. This song generated a buzz around the city of Houston and Chris’s diligence of networking played apart too. Chris states, “I was hungry. I was trying to come up, so every weekend I was going out and networking meeting whoever I could meet. DJ Hardy was the first DJ to play my music. To add to that, one of the promoters I met at a club introduced me to a DJ by the name of DJ Bizz. He was one of the first DJs who frequently played my music. Bizz really liked Futuristic Lover, and from then on, I started to gain more recognition.”

With no mixtape or album circulating the streams yet, Chris Huston was able to land his first performance ever at the infamous House of Blues Houston. The show sold out. “I don’t know how I did it, but I know it was God’s blessing. People saw something different about me and my music. If you’re in a city who majority favors hip-hop music, you have to really do some things different as an R&B artist to get people to notice,” exclaims Chris.

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In order to be remembered, there has to be spark and to ignite a spark there has to be risks involved and to Chris, risks are essential to breaking through to other markets. Aside from developing his self-titled brand, C.O.H., (these initials stand for Huston’s full name which is Chris O’Neal Huston, and has also been translated to the acronym for the “City Of Houston”) Chris is developing a comic book with co-creator Johnny Davis, entitled Turn Ya Body On, as the prequel to his Turn Ya Body On video, he shot this past December. “C.O.H. is the brand that I’m putting under this umbrella of Chris Huston the artist, to where people can respect the multiple arts that are in involved under this name,” Huston stated.

Chris Huston is now working on putting out solid projects, his first project, C.O.H. Magic, will be a mixtape and despite the interjections that he should be working on a real album, which he has chosen to title M.A.D.E “Making A Dream Everything,” Chris is adamant about keeping control of his creativity and not rushing to pursue any deals.

March 2013 Tall Chris Huston

I would like to sign with an independent label because I am too involved in my creations and I don’t want anyone to own or take hold of my creativity. I want to take my time and put more music out. I will have the opportunity to be slightly different than other artists out here. I am determined and hungry. I’m not worried about anything else. I’m just trying to make me successful and represent my city,” Huston exclaimed.