Soda

"I just want to make my family proud and be known as a Minnesota legend” - ThatGuySoda

Building a legacy, Marcel Chambers is the long known dancer turned rapper from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. Soaking up the music of legends from Michael Jackson to Tupac and Jay Z, he instantly fell in love with it and made it a part of who he is today.

Family oriented, Soda spent the majority of his time surrounded by his cousins who each played a role in molding his diverse character as a well-rounded artist. Dancing and rapping would be the family’s source of entertainment. Though he favored dancing as an adolescent and it introduced him to the world of entertainment, rapping for Soda hit at the core of his talent.

In 2000 tragedy struck his family when a house fire claimed the life of his younger brother Tremain, who followed in Soda’s footsteps. Despite losing his biggest supporter, he was determined now more than ever to be a full-time dancer. He was recruited in to the in-demand dance crew The Immortals under the name Soda touring throughout Minnesota for nonprofit organizations and major events. Although he showed expressive interest as a dancer and was building a name for himself, behind the scenes his appetite for creating music would cause him to change course.

Soda never wasted an opportunity to challenge his cousin Gutta or any of his friends in lyrical exchanges growing up. Even though rapping was not taken as seriously as dancing at the time, he built a studio in his home. While his cousin and friends were utilizing the studio for recording purposes, he was mastering Protools and teaching himself the basics of engineering. Surrounded by inspiration, he became so enthralled with his music, he abandoned the dance crew for rhyming crew, Paper Roll$, started a music group with Gutta called “Kitchen Productions” in respect to the studio set up in his kitchen and began to pursue a rap career in earnest.

Performing over tracks produced in his kitchen, he released The First Impression and Late Nights & Early Mornings via the internet. The internet favorites enlisted legions of fans transcending him to the next level. Though his musical style did not match his upbeat personality or prior dancer image, the laid back lyricist was hype enough to draw in crowds. Now the province of two territories, he received the “TC Next Up” award at the Twin Cities Hip Hop Award show.

Charged with a creative force, he changed his name to ThatGuySoda and inked a deal with GoldRose Entertainment. He began crisscrossing the US taking studio sessions and earning credits with a diverse handful of guest appearances and singles with rap colleagues. A visit to a Nashville studio to collaborate with musician Chancelor Warhol initiated a series of opportunities. Taking Soda under his wing, Warhol invited him on his 2012 tour.

Known for his humble disposition, he won over rap peers and supporters alike, and embarked on a run of gigs from the X Games, Lollapalooza, to Filter Magazine’s Culture Collide. He has also opened up for industry heavy hitters like Kendrick Lamar and Dom Kennedy.

Backed with confidence, ThatGuySoda went to school for video production, designed his own cd covers and started his clothing line, The Cool Club, and is currently promoting his new project “Legendary” which can be found on his website ThatGuySoda.com.