Humbleness is underrated in hip-hop. Despite what some say, ego does not automatically equal talent and 18-year-old rookie producer C-Sick is proof that even the most quiet hip-hopper can capture a crowd.

Watching the then 17-year-old beatsmith face off with the competition at the 2008 Red Bull Big Tune Chicago battle, C-Sick was clearly not only one of the youngest in the competition, but he was also one of the most reserved. Still, as the skinny kid from Chicago’s South Side modestly shuffled his arms along to his own bouncy beats, the audience responded loudly and I knew he was on the verge of doing big things.

When I got word that C-Sick won the Red Bull Big Tune Finals at the Highline Ballroom In New York, it was good to know that East Coast heads embraced the emerging Midwest producer. Earlier this year I caught up with him via e-mail to talk about his victory and he told me, “Since I was the representative of Chicago as well as the runner-up Rob Bates, I had to put my best into it and show the public that Chicago has a lot of talent.”

Since holding it down for Chicago last Fall at the finals, C-Sick didn’t try to jump right into the industry and I commend him for that. Still finishing up his senior year of high school, he has no problem keeping things low-key while continuing to collect samples and knock out beats on his Toshiba laptop. And when he has time, he keeps his ear to the rap game. “Not a lot of people heard about me, but I did still keep in contact with many record labels,” he says.

Coming up to April, with school coming to a close, and young C-Sick finds himself in L.A. working with Nas as part of his Red Bull Big Tune prize. After two years of quietly building his skills, I have a feeling this is just the beginning for the burgeoning beat maker.

You can catch up with C-Sick at www.myspace.com/csickmusik

Words by Max Herman, photo by Robert Downs/Red Bull Photofiles