Producer, DJ, Emcee, "Coolout Chris" has been rocking Chicago since he formed the 90’s era rap group Spalaney’s, who would spend the next 5 years touring and showcasing for Giant/Warner Bros., E.M.I., A.S.C.A.P and with DJ Quik. At their height the group performed at Prince’s nightclub Glam Slam in Minneapolis, and their ’94 song ‘Universal Language’ was featured on the first nationally distributed Chicago hip-hop compilation, “Talent Fest” on Beathole Records. Coolout later formed his production company Beat Quarters, and soon teamed up with artist Amina to form the production & performance duo Urbanized Music. In 2003 they would co-found Chicago Hip-Hop Initiative, a non-profit artist collective, which championed the passage of a resolution to declare July as the official Chicago Hip-Hop Heritage month. In 2010 Coolout spent 2 weeks in Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) as part of a contingency of US Cultural Envoys conducting workshops and recording local artists around the country while promoting Hip-Hop as a tool for peace and tolerance. As a producer, Coolout Chris Hawkins has worked with many notable artists both in the US and abroad, his music has been featured on radio, television, film, various websites, and podcasts. He’s worked with Konee Rok for JashFest, Urban Grind TV, Interfaith America, Kevin Coval, Avery R.. Young, Poetree Chicago featuring Chairman Fred Hampton Jr., Idris Goodwin, Edo.G, Verbal Kent, Earatik Statik, Nite Owl, Eprestige, SamIamtheemcee, and many others. He has collaborated internationally with artists from Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), producing and releasing 2 projects with Abidjan based rapper Noble MC, as well as songs for rappers Ezzdeane, (who dually represents Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria), and currently producing Muyen a singer-song writer from Lagos Nigeria . Coolout also produced and mastered the Cote d’Ivoire Hip-Hop Initiative’s ‘Unity Album’ which was recorded by Ivorian artists while their country was embroiled in civil war. Coolout is currently in the production of several studio projects, collaborating with local musicians, and continues to mentor up-and-coming artists and producers.