Homeless Chicago Rapper Hits the Record Store

By: Rizoh

      He’s known to his parents as Brian C. Wharton. But in the streets of Chicago, where he works and lives, the world knows him as Sharkula. According to the Medill Reports Sharkula has been living and breathing hip-hop on the streets since 1992.

      His latest release, Diagnosis of Sharkula, is a well-packaged CD that’s being carried by Reckless Records, among other places. Sharkula doesn’t make music in a fancy studio. He supposedly writes, rhymes, and records on the street, burns the CDs at a friend’s house and then sells them out his backpack for up to $10 a pop.

      For the 33-year old rapper, hip-hop is his first and final option. “It’s the only thing I know,” he said. “I’m a hooker to hip-hop.”

      If only we can get the same degree of dedication from established artists.