| While In St.Petersburg
FLA for the GTP music conference, we had the opportunity to meet
one of Florida's rising artists, BloodRaw. During the interview,
we notice that BR had a lot of insight on what it takes to make
it in todays music game, and also how he keeps the respect of
the fans of this art form .
Np: Whats going on with you?
BR: I'm cool.
Np: Where are you from originally?
BR: I'm from Panama City Florida, thats
between Tallahassee and Pensacola Florida.
Np: What’s the rap scene like in
your area?
BR: Basically like everywhere else. Everybody
trying to rap or get on, but as far as somebody that has made
it or is affiliated with somebody, that hasn't happened yet.
Np: What got you into the rap game?
BR: What got me started was, it was basically
something to do at first. I wasn't too serious with it, ya know?
But when the block got hot (laughing) it was this or either the
streets for me. Just being real.
Np: So, how long have you been rapping?
BR: Probably since 13 or 14, but I started
taking it seriously about a year and a half ago when I caught
a trafficking charge. I was like damn, I can't even play with
it (my talent) no more. I had to do something better, because
when you do something, you have to definitely be good at it. So
I took the 100% out of the streets an put it into this, my music.
Because I was real out there. I can be real at this.
Np: Your sound is a distinct sound from
the rest of the Florida. What sets you apart from the others in
Florida doing this?
BR: Basically a couple of different things,
#1 my voice,and #2 I don't do the genre of music that Florida
is normally known for. That up tempo booty music. I keeps it street.
Most of the things I deal with are realistic. Ya know, something
to do with my life and the struggle I been through. Me and my
family. Me and my homeboys situations.
Np: The single that your pushing now with
Pastor Troy, how did that come about and what label are you under?
BR: The Label is mine, BloodRaw Entertainment.
And the single that we're pushing right now, "My Block Burns",
is a pretty big single. It's a real street gutta single. A lot
of people may know it from part of the hook, "If you gone
hate, then nigga gone hate". I worked that single for about
8 or 9 months and in the midst of recording and finishing my album,
me and Pastor Troy did the song "My Block Burns"and
at the time,that's what I was going through. Dealing with my situation,
and the single exploded back to back with the single "Represent".
That kind of overshadowed "Represent", because it (My
Block Burns) was a near commercial single,and Pastor Troy was
on the single. It exploded. So I put two singles on the cd and
as it came out ,I used "My Block Burn" as the single.
Everything turned out real lovely and I've received a lot of love
from people outside of Florida with it.
Np: With your single being in good rotation
now, do you have any majors checking for you?
BR: Yeah,there's a couple of different
majors trying to get at me, but basically I've created a buzz
in three states and I'm not stopping. I'm gonna push it all. I'll
be a fool to sign just as a artist right now for two or three
hundred stacks ,that ain't no money, knowing what I've put into
it. It's a different picture now. I came in working as a artist,now
me and my squad are working as a label. So we got to treat the
situation as it is.... a label.
Np: So you feel the independent side more
oppose to the majors?
BR: Right, I'm one of those guys that do
what I say I'm gonna do. I'm gonna show you that I can move 30,40
thousand units like it ain't nothing, I'm gonna show you that
I don't play with this, because when I move those units and you
come to me then, then it's gonna have to be gravy.
NP: Being Independent, is it easier to
control, regulate and maximize your money, or do you fell like
it's better to have that label control and that million dollar
push?
BR: I feel like most artist would need
that major push, fortunately GOD blessed me to meet the right
people and that's been one of the most important things because
I've been able to cut through a lot of the middle men. And cutting
out the middle man is how you cut on your spending. Because the
middle men, they're gonna cut you every time. So when you meet
people and you got a good vibe,then a lot of people open up their
arms to you.
Np: What's the name of the album, and who's
featured?
BR: The album is called ,I didn't do to
many features because I wanted people to know who I am. But, I've
got Dirty, Grandaddy Souf, Ole-E on the album. 1-16 is gonna be
heat.
Np: What’s up with you and Triple-Six
on that Game Room song?
BR: Actually the Game Room song is my homeboy
Grandaddy Souf's song. He's signed to (SRC/Universal), he helped
me a lot. He showed me that this game is about the grind. About
building the relationships with the Dj's and with your fans. I
give him much respect and love.The single he was working with
at the time, he called me up and ask me to get on it, I was like
yeah. That was a blessing. I did my verse and everything came
out good.
NP:What do you feel about the rap scene
of Florida, and what do you feel about what they bring to the
game?
BR: My thing is this, what has me mad about
the state of Florida is, like you can take the state of Georgia,
9 out of 10 times, when you speak about Georgia no matter where
they're from.... Savannah to Valdosta, you know they represent
the whole state as one. And on the outside when you talk about
Georgia, you think Atlanta. But in Florida, you only hear people
talk about Miami. You rarely hear people mention Jacksonville,
or you only hear some people speak on Orlando, and that's because
of Disney World. I feel if we stick together,because the state
is so big, then there's no reason why an artist down here shouldn't
sell albums like a New York or L.A. artist. Even with a artist
like Trick, I doubt if he has sold over 200,000 in Florida.
Np: Well what do artist need to do to get
their state behind them?
BR: Well there's a lot of artist that fail
to realize that the fans are how we make our money. Without the
fans the artist really ain't shit. They get so caught up with
the star status shit, they forget about the real people. They
don't mingle with the fans. They don't go to the hoods anymore.
They don't fuck with the Dj's anymore like when they was on the
grind. A lot of people, they remember that and they ain't gonna
support you when you act like you don't know who they are and
where you come from. So I make it my business to hit the hoods
and get at the Dj's. Even if I haven't heard of them, I'm gonna
fuck with them. Because you never know what that that person may
become or do.
Np: We had the chance to see you preform
in St.Petersburg at the GTP music conference. You had a good energetic
show. Where's your favorite places to preform?
BR: Man, Dothan Alabama. They show me a
lot of love like the home team. And that's real.
Np: What’s the future looking like
for you?
BR:The future is looking like a Florida
No Limit over here. I also have a group and a artist named Gator,
who is a part of the NFL Ryda project, which is my group (NIGGA
FOR LIFE). It consists of me, my cousin, Gator, and a female rapper.
The focus right now is to get everything off the ground.
www.bloodraw.com
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