Dave Raps-Meet the Artist

It's not everyday that you get to interview an up and coming artist before they blow up. Here at Serving Straight Hits, we try and bring you brand new music from artists you may have never heard of before. We were able to land an exclusive interview with Dave Raps, a dude out of New York who is starting to gain some recognition on the blogs and in our opinion, will catch fire in the future. We've featured his work here before, but here is what he had to say to SSH...

Tell us about yourself. Anything you want the readers to know about you?

I'm from Yonkers, NY but I'm going to school in Florida. I feel the fact that I've lived up north and down south gives my music character... I'm not one dimensional.

What got you started in rapping? When did it become serious?

To be honest, I don't know what got me started with rap. It was just something I tried out of nowhere and I fell in love with the feeling it gave me... Crazy

Who have been your inspirations/influences in rapping?
I've always been inspired by Kanye for some years now. He just brings something original to the table each time that no other artist can touch.

How do you find beats for your songs?

I just go on a hunt man. From blogs to forums... anywhere I can find them. Other than that my producer Vee makes a lot of ill joints for me.. and in between spitting on random beats.. he comes up with some heat for me to use.

In 2 years, where do you see yourself?

In 2 years I definitely see myself with my foot in the door... I'm not going to say signed because that's not really a goal of mine because I feel like a lot of times artists get suckered into these wack deals and their music ends up suffering.

What is your favorite song and why?

I don't really have a favorite current song. My all time favorite song is All Falls Down by 'Ye (Kanye).. Just because I felt like I watched the music making process from when it first came out with Lauryn Hill on the hook and then he had to change it to Syleena Johnson. I thought that was dope...

Who is someone you'd like to collab with?

I would love to collab with Chiddy Bang or Lloyd. I feel like me and Lloyd could kill a song with me on the verses and him on the hook.

Rapping: Career or Hobby?

Rapping is definitely a career for me. It's pretty much taken over my life.. That's all I do and I love it.

With a ton of dudes on the blogs claiming they're "different" from everyone else, what sets you apart from the rest of the crowd?

I do whatever feels right.. with my music and everything I do. I go off feelings. So when I make a song, I'm very picky and rewrite a verse a couple times before I lay it down.

Anything else you want to tell SSH?

I got an EP coming out called H.Y.P.E. on February 11th and it's gonna be my best music to date... So check that out!!!

For those of you who still don't know Dave Raps, here is a song from him off his previous mixtape, Too Unknown. Also, we will have another "Meet the Artist" piece very soon. Stay tuned and in the meantime go download Too Unknown and get ready for H.Y.P.E.

Dave Raps-High Life