Chris Shreve is a North Carolina based MC and founder of the hip-hop collective Free The Optimus (FTO). The Professor moniker references his decade plus career as a university professor and it's also part of his rap ethos: to profess and to teach. C.Shreve defines Free The Optimus as “a call to action—to set free our optimal ability & our optimistic perspective, and to transform the world around us.”

As described by the writers at Earmilk, “FTO is known for bringing positive and poetic lyrics that flow over jazz influenced hip hop beats that bring in a hint of soul. Their lyrical talent goes above and beyond of what is expected in rap music these days.”