Posted in NewsApril 27, 2012
Andrew Parks, AKA Drew32 is a twenty-year-old rapper and producer from Detroit, Michigan, and ahead of the release of his latest mixtape Label Me, he’s taken the time to answer some questions for us here at Cut Out Sounds.
You first set foot into a recording studio at the age of 9, but how did your love of music start?
I think my love of music started when I was probably like 2 years old, crawling around in my kitchen at my house banging on pots and pans – I guess you could say I was making beats back then, lol. After that, you know, I heard music playing at my house and in the car a lot, particularly riding around with my dad – he played a lot of interesting music in the car. Everything from Bob Marley, to Coltrane, to Taj Mahal, to Sade, to Greek music, and the list goes on. He even was playing Capoeira music, which is music from a martial art/dance from Brazil. I got exposed to a lot of different music as a kid. My love for hip-hop started when I was about 5 or 6 years old. As funny and weird as it sounds, it was originally from listening to the Space Jam movie soundtrack. One of the songs on there, “Hit Em High” had LL Cool J, Method Man, BReal, Busta Rhymes, and Coolio on it. That was my favorite song at the time.
With being from Detroit, and a fan of Rap music, has Eminem been an influence on your music? Are there any other musical influences that have shaped your style?
Oh yes. When I was young and just getting into hip-hop was right when Eminem was exploding into the game. I got my hands on some of his music, and then got The Eminem Show, and that’s one of my favorite albums even to this day. Of course afterwards I went back and got his other albums too, but yeah. Eminem has definitely been a huge influence on me and my music. The stress that he puts on his flow, delivery, and just the technical aspect of rap, like, internal-rhyming and rhyming syllables. He puts his words together incredibly. That’s what I like so much about Eminem. Other than him though, I also was influenced by other Detroit and metro-Detroit artists too. I listed to a lot of D12, Obie Trice, Royce Da 5’9″, and my friend and local rapper Jay Hussle. Listening to them really had an impact on my music.
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Posted in NewsApril 3, 2012
Check out this interview I did for WXOU.org (FM 88.3 The Grizz) w/ Kirby Gwen!
Posted in NewsJanuary 10, 2012
Shoutouts to Music Bliss!
Lets talk first a little about your Greek heritage and growing up in Detroit. What significance did your background and your environment play in your development as not only an artist, but as a person?
As far as being Greek, I love it, I definitely grew upsurrounded by family. The whole being Greek thing made me feel…I guess the whole being cultured was kind of importanceto me, I didn’t realize it at the time growing up, but now that I have had the opportunity to live through it and see a lot of my friends… I have friends of all races, I call my friends the UnitedNations. I got everybody you know what I mean [HA.] I think that its cool, especially in music because like with a whole bunch of different backgrounds in music, I think it really makes for a better product. I would say growing up I was definitely blessed having the family I have. Growing up in Michigan was fun man. We had fun. Growing up was definitely an experience, I feel like I am still growing up being that I am 20 years old. Being Greek is cool, I have a lot of Greek friends, I did try to go to Greek school to learn the language, but I definitely don’t have time for that, I do know the swear words and stuff like that [HA.]
Definitely one of the first things anyone learning a language picks up on…
Definitely [HA.] A lot of the whole being Greek thing is connected to church. That’s where I got a lot of my culture, was going to church and events and stuff like that. As far as just being a kid growing up in Michigan, I feel like I had a normal life for a suburban kid. In middle school and stuff, I was the kid that got picked on for being short ya know. That made me want to write, it made me want to do music, it made me want to do something different. I don’t want to say that I was bullied or anything, but I was one of the only white kids on the basketball team, and I surrounded myself with other kids that played basketball, who did music, who rapped and stuff like that. I surrounded myself with a lot of African American friends that I had because of that, which I love, which is cool. I was just doing what my friends were doing, I was saggin my pants; I was wearing big clothes in middle school and stuff. I definitely got call “wigger” and all kinds of stuff like that you know, but I just felt like I was doin me. High School came, and I still played basketball up to varsity. I did not play my senior year though, that’s when I was really getting serious about music. That’s really it man, I started making a lot of music, doing mix tapes and I guess… that’s where I am at now.
Who would you say are the artists and for that matter even closer to home, the people that are a part of your life that truly inspire you to succeed in this industry, against odds that for many are often a deterrent in this game of chance we call hip hop?
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Posted in NewsNovember 29, 2011
Posted in NewsSeptember 29, 2011
Video Interview: Detroit’s Rookie of the Year- Drew32
Written by Nick Williams. Read full article here
“2011 has shown us a lot about hip-hop. One of the most emerging characteristics of hip-hop spotlighted in 2011 has been emcees coming up in all different shapes, colors and creeds. Mac Miller has made us all reconsider the pretense behind “independent.” Action Bronson rocks the fuck out of a ginger beard. And now Detroit‘s got something up its sleeve with the 19-year-old Greek-American Drew32. While the kid still has some maturing to do, he’s already garnered some love from XXL , thisis50.com and MTV. On his latest mixtape, The B.U.R.N. Project, he goes verse-for-verse with Royce Da 5’9” on “Spazz Out” while weaving in and out of rap and more rhythmic tunes produced primarily by him. Not a bad look for the young Detroit spitter. Check out what he has to say.”
Drew32 X RESPECT. Interview from theresalwaysroominthecity on Vimeo.
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