We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Drai$ a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Drai$, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I’ve always been a huge music fan and would always love learning the lyrics to every song I would like. But one day a friend of mine in high school made a comment to me about how crazy it was that I could remember so many words to songs in all different genres of music. I had never thought of it as a gift as it always was something that came natural to me. But from that moment on I started to write down lyrics and poetry but kept it completely to myself. And as time passed I started freestyling with my friends and would throw in lines from my hidden poems and people started liking it. One thing led to another and one day I found myself in a home recording studio and from the first time I stood in front of that microphone and laid my whole art out for everyone in the room to hear. The way it felt so natural and to see how everyone reacted when they told me they really liked it. That was the moment I realized that this is what I wanted to do. Whether it was being a full time artist or just a songwriter, I knew music was for me.
Drai$, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I got into the industry by working on my song writing and production skills. With that I started recording un-mastered songs and released them on SoundCloud. That led to people reaching out to me for live performance opportunities and that’s how I started making my name known around the local music scene. And along with learning how to perform alone, I learned how to perform my hip-hop sets with a live band as well, and it kind of just flowed into the work ethic I had been building with my team. Now it’s just an everyday thing to get up and be a full time artist. From making beats to song writing and song recording to live performances. To zoom call meetings and booking shows alont with organizing the travel and all expenses. It’s all just skills I’ve mastered and really enjoy working on everyday. I think that’s what really sets me apart from a lot of new artists now a days. I really love the art form of creating music and being an artist beyond just chasing fame and money. I take my art and craft one hundred percent serious and feel the need to present myself as professional as possible when it comes to my fan base. I still even kept some old habits that I started out with since the beginning, like freestyling to every beat before I write to it and also writing all my official lyrics on only paper. People ask me why I don’t change it up and type lyrics on my phones or laptop. But honestly something about writing on a piece of paper brings more feeling to it. It’s almost like a nostalgic feeling of when I used to get home from school as a kid and wanted to write letters to my loved ones to tell them about how my day was and that I loved them. I dont know how to explain it, something about expressing myself through words has always been mentally healing for me.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My ultimate goal is to make a comfortable living off doing what I love to do. I want to wake up and not have to worry about the bills or how much food is left or when rent is due or can I pay my phones. I want to wake up one day in a nice house with my family and everyone I love doing good and know that im making a living off creating my music and performing. Not by selling myself out to the industry but by creating a creative force so strong it could not be ignored. Breaking the barrier of what people think modern rap is and combining it with my personal story and point view and create something no else can. And that’s when I’ll tell myself I officially made it. Until then I’m going to continue to grind and create art for the world to hear.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I wish I had learned in the beginning the importance of knowing the business side of the industry. I obviously have always loved the creative/performing side of being an artist. But it wasn’t until I started doing dealing with promoters and label personnel and managers that I found out the importance of knowing the business side. And that comes with having to learn a lot of the legal side and terminology that you see in contracts and emails that are sent to you. And not only that but knowing as an artist what your worth is and not letting people take advantage of you. Whether its through how they want to pay you, contract you or steal your beats/lyrics because you don’t know your rights or how to register your music. Thats alot of the side I wish I didn’t have to learn the hard way. But all in all a lot of the things you learn in this career come through trial and error.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/draismusic_?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drais.520?mibextid=ZbWKwL
- Linkedin: https://www.facebook.com/drais.520?mibextid=ZbWKwL
- Twitter: https://x.com/draismusic_
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@draismusic_?si=UcP8-KiG5vuKTeJ8
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7F9bjaCQpNHxHLdwwL2lww?si=pTvIajmtRCaKyxJz_b1C-A
Image Credits
Caleb W
Victor Gonzalez