Age: 25 • Neighborhood: Bucktown • Follow: Twitter // Soundcloud

With genres blending more and more each day, the work of a true musician has expanded into areas of music that hadn't prominently been represented before. Most noticeably in hip-hop, a style of music that was traditionally created with the use of synthesizers, samples, and/or a beat machine among other digital tools. Now that live instrumentation is being reintroduced into the primarily digital world of hip-hop production, the talents of classically trained musicians like Carter Lang are more important than ever. 

We would normally share with you a small handful of "essential listens" from our Home Team featured artist, but in the case of Carter Lang, it'd be a crime not to share his impressive playlist of production credits he has on SoundCloud. Take a look: you might be surprised at the amount of great records Carter has been part of. With a background in everything from piano to congas to (most notably) the bass, Carter hasn't been limited in what he creates, and this has provided him an opportunity to work with countless people both local and abroad. I believe it was Carter's time with The O'My's that introduced me to his work, but he has since moved on to work on production and live instrumentation for the likes of A$AP Rocky, Vic Mensa, D.R.A.M., Lil' Wayne, Chance The Rapper, and countless others. 

Whether it's him in the studio or providing support on stage, Carter's 2015 brought him all around the country to do what he loves while working with some of the most talented up and coming artists that Chicago has to offer. If there's a live band backing your favorite Chicago rapper, Carter Lang is likely in the mix, just as he was recently during Towkio's sold out performance at the Metro in November.  

At just 25 years old, Carter Lang has made making music his profession, and it seems to be going well for him. No rest for the wicked, as Carter gears up for a busy 2016 with plans to continue working with Chance and The Social Experiment band on Chance's third solo project, as well as new music with SZA, Isaiah Rashad, and Knox Fortune (just to name a few). Between his undeniably sharp ear for music production and his seemingly endless list of friends and collaborators at all different points in their careers, my intuition tells me that this production and instrumentation playlist will only get longer as 2016 unfolds.