Criss creates music that is influenced by the Minneapolis sound. The Minneapolis sound is a hybrid mixture of funk, rock, pop, R & B and new wave that was masterminded by Prince in the late 1970s. Its popularity increased throughout the 1980s by such artists as The Time, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Sheila E. and many others. Criss's music, while being influenced by the Minneapolis sound, is by no means a throwback. He is creating the new Minneapolis sound which contains the mixture of funk, rock, pop, R & B, and new wave on which the original was based but also embraces the digital presence of today's music.