Soriano began rapping as a hobby at the age of 9 and began recording and uploading songs to
YouTube and
SoundCloud at the age of 14. In July 2020, Soriano
self-released his first commercial breakthrough single, titled "
Whoopty". The song contains a sample from
Arijit Singh's "Sanam Re", with CJ rapping over the beat that he found on YouTube (later the rights were cleared). The song peaked at number 10 on the US
Billboard Hot 100 in February 2021, and number 3 in the UK. He also reached the top of the
Billboard Emerging Artists chart. He later signed a record deal with
Warner Records and his uncle, record executive, James Cruz, on his record label, called Cruz Control Entertainment. He stated that various labels reached out to him, however, Warner had the "best situation". On January 26, 2021, CJ released the single, titled "Bop", the follow-up to "Whoopty". By 2023,
XXL magazine described CJ as a
one hit wonder, and noted rumors surrounding him being an
industry plant, due to his uncle's industry connections. == Artistry ==