DrewB

Skilly: How were you able to start your journey in the entertainment business? Where did this all start?

DrewB: This all began back in December 2011 when I was a part of a rap group titled Company 1-A (C1-A) in Plant City, FL alongside my older brother and 6 other guys. Eventually the group fell apart and my brother and I decided to do music on our own. A year later he decided to join the military, so I became a solo artist September of 2013 and 2 months later released my first self-entitled EP I Am DrewB.

What are some of the creative ways you use to promote your music?

DrewB: I definitely use the platform of social media to my advantage due to the era of technology that we’re in, but one of my favorites that I utilize the most is Snapchat. I post my stories, host a theme every night, and keep my friends and fans updated on upcoming events, music or my lifestyle outside the studio.

What is the greatest challenge you face in today’s entertainment business? How do you overcome them?

DrewB: The greatest challenge I face nowadays is being able to keep up with what’s relevant to the consumers. With the platform of radio stations playing mainstream music, as an independent artist I have to work 3 times harder because I’m doing things on my own. Independence is bliss so in the end, I still win.

How is the music scene like in your hometown? What do you like about it and what don’t you like?

DrewB: The music scenery in Plant City is slim to none, I usually commute to Tampa daily and on the weekends to find out if there are any music opportunities. The music I implement isn’t well received in the Tampa Bay area and I don’t like it too well because most of the music is geared towards what’s played on the mainstream radio stations.

Where do you think the future of music is going to be? How do you feel artists can be more a part of it?

DrewB: I feel that music is going towards a direction where people want to have instant gratification because it makes them feel good at the moment. I also feel like the truth doesn’t matter either and artists nowadays say anything just to sell their record.

What advice can you give to other upcoming artists and musicians trying to achieve success?

DrewB: Don’t follow the trend of what you see or hear. Create your own lane so that others can see how well you stand out. Don’t rap over industry made beats because it has already been done. If you want to be recognized and stand out then invest in yourself to do it on your own. Be original.

What inspires you to write your next song?

DrewB: My inspiration comes from the theme of what I’ll be writing about. If the idea in my head comes to me as a creative storyline I immediately search online for an instrumental so that my writing process can begin. At times I do have writer’s block so when that happens I just silently meditate for 20-30 mins and then words start flowing like a ripple effect.

What are the steps you take to make a song?

DrewB: I find the instrumental beat I know I will write to and listen to it for an hour, then I begin to write. Once I’m done writing, I contact my musical composer/producer James Garrison Summers and give him the beat I found; he would create one from scratch to have a sound as close to what I found.

What do you think makes a great song?

DrewB: I believe if you take your time and not rush the process it would make a great song. Why is that? Because if you’re rushed then it’ll come across your vocals when you’re recording. If you take your time and memorize what you’ve wrote, when it comes time to record in the studio you can knock it out in one or two takes.

Where can we connect with you? Can you give us your social media links and where we can contact you?

DrewB: Official website: www.iamdrewb.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UC-a-wsZRYMai7Za1nDTjGbA - Skilly Magazine

You Treat Me Right (Featuring Bishop Wayne)

This is the 4th song on my most recent 2nd released EP entitled “Language Arts”. It’s initially about a woman who is self-sufficient, very independent, and maintains her self-dignity and self-worth. She knows what she wants in life and some characteristics about her would be that she’s diligent, faithful, thoughtful, dedicated, loyal, and also goal oriented. This woman has all the confidence within herself and she can careless what society or anyone else portrays her to be.
The writing process on how this song came about first began at my old job working at a call center for Verizon. This woman I’ve wrote about was ironically again a co-worker of mine and at the time it was written we were on the same team. I won’t reveal what her real name is for her personal protection. Moreover, on a daily basis of getting to know more about her, she definitely surprised me with her persona and charisma of how she carried herself. Unlike my previous song ‘Good Chance’ who was about an older woman, she’s was a young, beautiful, black Nubian Queen. The energy she shared while conversing with me just infused my well-being within and our conversations were never boring.
The department we worked in together was called the Credit Verification Center and there’s only two reasons why a customer would be referred to this department. First, it’s either to collect on any debt owed to Verizon in full (which may either be for residential services like Basic Phone, FiOS TV/Cable, High Speed Internet, Verizon Wireless services, or both) from the customer, or verifying their identity with the information provided when he or she placed an order for new/additional services. As a Credit Verification agent we have to protect our customers from identity fraud or collect on the associated debt if it’s confirmed that he or she owes it. Before a customer may obtain complete services with Verizon we have to either verify who the consumer is or collect all their debt. In this department we deal with personal/sensitive information on a daily basis from the consumers who calls us to establish services with Verizon, so it’s forbidden for any agent to have their cell phone, notebook, pen, paper, or anything that may be used to obtain customer’s information from the computer. None of which these items may be visible at the work station so I took the proactive approach to write this song in my virtual notepad whenever I was awaiting the next call or idled. As I was getting to know this Nubian Queen she just amazed me day after day so I was motivated to write this song not only because of her but also because at the time I wrote it, there was songs on the radio that seemed to be degrading our women instead of uplifting. Calling women out of their name and of their character of who they really are isn’t my forte so I thought to myself there really isn’t a song out there that motivates or speaks about women from a positive perspective (especially in the hip hop/rap genre).
I spoke to my music manager Keith Richardson about my theme of what I was going to write about and just like he had the immaculate idea of finding me a featured artist for my #1 song “Good Chance” that was also featured on AVA Live Radio in 2014, he found another indie recording artist who’s also from Plant City and his name is Bishop Wayne. When Keith introduced me to him I found out that he lived 10 minutes down the street from me and I didn’t even know it. When we finally met at my house I shared with him my idea and he thought it was great. We wrote this song in my sister’s huge, lifted, imperial blue Chevy Silverado pickup truck. We met at my house about 3 times just to rehearse in the pickup truck playing the instrumental beat and then a week later we went to record the song with the multi-platinum producer also known as my music engineer Bryan Tyson of DEEP Productions in Tampa, Florida.
I’ve been working with Bryan at DEEP since my first EP entitled “I Am DrewB” back in 2013 so when he heard the theme, our verses, and the production he was astonished and said “Drew, this is going to be a great song. I love it and this one will open up doors and opportunities for sure. You always have something remarkable to share and I know that God placed you here for a purpose.” After Bryan did his part to have our sound professionally mixed and mastered I emailed all the finalized tracks on the LAEP to my management team. Moreover, Keith was able to close a deal with Symphonic Distribution in the month of January and after Rich-Entertainment signed with them the Language Arts of hip hop is finally here. You can purchase your copy of the EP by going to www.amazon.com and type “Language Arts DrewB”.

The Upcoming Video...

The process of brainstorming the music video for this song is what we’re doing now. The collaborative idea of what the outcome of this music video will be like came from Bryan Tyson to work in sync with my photographer Emmit Dobbyn. The initial plan/theme that we’re going to approach in the creation process is to have scenery footage at a beach alongside with a woman that Bishop Wayne and I are describing in our verses. This song was originally composed and produced by James Garrison Summers and again my manager Keith knew of him back in 2012 and gave him my contact information. James heard the 5 tracks on my first EP on Soundcloud before he even met me in person and he texted me saying “I heard your music on Soundcloud man and you have an impeccable sound with great content. I’m looking forward into working with you.” The chemistry was great during the creation process of this song and he was always making me laugh. What was so amazing from working with him was his method of how he composed his production and when he explained his process to me it was just unheard of. I was there at his studio to just have a simple hook/melody placed which took about 10-15 minutes at the most and he would just call me to come through and hear the finalized beat within a week. I was just so astonished of what I heard I just had to share it with my snap fam on Snapchat and posted studio sessions/bloopers with James in my story. He not only produced/composed this song, but he also did 4 other tracks on this LAEP as well. As for who will be in this video, only the featured artist will be the main one in front of the camera and of course extras will be a part of it while dancers are in the background. The place will probably will probably be shot at Saint Pete Beach or Clearwater Beach sometime within the next week or two. Again this is still the brainstorming process right now but the music video is aimed to be released before the summer time and the distribution company we’re working with will take it into their hands from there.

The generalized platform in which I’d like to address as an artist along with the brand of my music is…

geared towards more of awakening the subconsciousness of the consumers. I want to help people realize that its more than what you see, envy, or idolize from celebrities, an athlete, or public figure. Focus on yourself and what can you do to better the lives of others around you and also from a global standpoint. As for myself, the way I can help exercise this to the best of my ability is by writing music the way I do and also creating the lane in which I’m in right now. This is what differentiates me from the next rap artist who’s going into or is in the same music genre as me. Being yourself is looked over (as usual) so I share my revelation with the people I interact with because it’s cliche to think this way. Though it’s so basic yet it’s 100 percent true so I remind myself on a daily basis to only be DrewB.

The 3 things any new music artist should know coming into this industry…

1) Would be first and most importantly to have your music material legally registered and have its copyrights. This pertains to your lyrics, your production, and your stage name. This will protect not only you as an artist but it will protect you from anyone attempting to file a lawsuit against you. Having these necessary documentations will prove you’re in ownership of your work and its also good to obtain for your personal records.

2) Second, as for rappers/hip hop artists, DO NOT RECORD OVER INDUSTRY BEATS!!! Even though at the time the song came out and it was popular for so long with many views/hits on youtube don’t think that recording over the same beat that Kendrick Lamar did or J. Cole would make you stand out more. You may think that your verse was a lot better and you’ve done it justice, major record label A&Rs or talent scouts woudn’t be interested to hear it. Why? Because it has already been done and they will pass you by without hesitation. What they’re looking for is originality, uniqueness, and creativity. From a business perspective they want to discover an artist who will make their company not only grow but will also retrieve profitable income.

3) Lastly, don’t rely or depend on anyone to do anything for you if you can just do it yourself. This will prevent unnecessary stress/burden when you’re creating your masterpiece. The reason why I say this is because no one in life owes you anything. If you want to protect your potential business be your own boss, but just know that you have to spend money to make money. Music isn’t cheap so if you’re going to invest into your music career pursuit it with a purpose.

One thing I wish I had done differently when I had started…

would be to invest in buying a laptop and purchase the necessary music programs to create my own beats. Sometimes I wonder if I would be in the same position or maybe further in my career if had done that from the start. Don’t get me wrong the producers I’ve worked with thus far have been superb, but if I would’ve invested in a laptop I know I’d be up late nights watching YouTube tutorials on how to produce beats all night long. I know I definitely wouldn’t be posting my nightly theme stories on Snapchat that’s for sure. Lol


At this point in my career, the most important thing that I feel should be noted for is…

the time and effort writing my content, dedication, and consistency I’ve invested into my craft by seeing that the results are paying off for the greater good. Why? Only because it makes me feel satisfied as a recording artist to know that the consumer(s) are happy with what they’ve purchased and/or heard from me and that I’m doing it right. Once I feel I’m at that level of accomplishment that will only motivate me to continue to do it more and even better the next time around.

My favorite social media page would have to be Facebook because…

Snapchat isn’t a social media page. Lol but on a serious note it is Facebook. It creates a portal that reaches out to so many people that I have affiliated with even before music came into the equation of my life. It’s also my favorite social website because I can keep in touch with my family overseas back home in Haiti who’s familiar with the site. If I told them to get on Twitter or Instagram and follow me on there it would take them some time to figure it out, so Facebook is my go to site for networking, sharing, and keeping in touch with my loved ones. What people will see going to my Facebook timeline would still be the nightly themes I share on Snapchat but in the formation of a status. Instead of looking into a camera talking to my snap fam in a 10 second video format I just type it in my status and place my hashtags of whatever the theme is for the day. #MyTheme with #DrewB on #Snapchat.

What’s coming up…

For my new gregorian year of 2016 I’m looking forward into doing a lot more shows
traveling out of state and also going overseas to perform, network with international DJs, and/or work with some artists too. Possibly all of the above if need be and I’m looking forward into extending my brand of music not only as an artist but also creating my I Am DrewB empire through this sound I’m sharing. There’s additional information of what’s to come that I have to disclose for the sole purpose of the label I’m signed to, but to any of my supporters/fans who has been with me since day one they can always get the exclusive rights of DrewB by watching my themes and stories on my favorite app. If you’re a potential fan and want those exclusive rights download the Snapchat app to be a part of the journey alongside with me! - A.V.A Live Radio

GETTING TO KNOW DREWB
By Jacqueline Jax

Good Chance

It started back in December of 2011 along with my older brother Phil who’s currently serving in the military. We were part of this rap group called Company 1-A aka C1-A for short in Plant City, Florida. We recorded songs with the group and uploaded them onto Reverbnation while attending Hillsborough Community College at the Plant City campus full time. I also had a part time job working at Sears inside the Westshore mall in Tampa in order to pay for school, production, and for studio time. The story behind my song “Good Chance” is about my ex-coworker named Maria who worked in the shoe department downstairs at my job. At the time she was 38 with an 11 year old daughter and I was 23. I’ve always had an attraction for older women (preferably the ones in their mid-late 30s up to their early 40s) and I would always see her working so hard to give the best customer service to our shopping guests. It was her smile that just made her so noticeably attractive. I shared with another coworker who I was best friends with named Tae Woodard telling him “Yo Tae, Maria is so gorgeous man and I want to take her on a date.” He laughed and said “Drew she’s way older than you and she has a daughter. There’s no way she’d date you.” I replied, “Bro, she’s 38, perfect height at 5’5, cuban, dark straight hair, and has the physique of a 21 year old. She’s putting shame upon the girls our age, but hey what’s the worse that could happen if I ask her out? A no?” He said “Well, you might have a chance. Maybe, but I doubt it.” And I said “I think I gotta good chance.” So after work when I got home at 10pm I went on twitter and networked for producers to send me instrumental beats. Ironically a producer from New Jersey happened to have a beat called Good Chance and so I heard it. After hearing his production it was confirmation for me to use that beat and I wrote the song about Maria that same night. I stayed up until about 5:30am to finish the record. I sent the beat to an indie producer named Shaquille Mitchell (a friend of mine who also lives in Plant City) so that he can put more of a hip hop feel behind it. He remade the beat himself to his style because the one I got from twitter was a bit too slow and classical. After he finished the beat he sent it to me and then I sent it to my music manager Keith Richardson. After he heard it he contacted two other artists to feature on my song. An R&B singer named Demont aka Demont Ti-22 is the artist who’s singing on the hook. The second indie artist is a Haitian jazz trumpeter named Caleb Joseph and he played his trumpet over the hook. I got paid that upcoming Friday from work and with my paycheck I spent the whole thing on studio time to record this song and also to get it mixed and mastered at the well known professional studio Deep Productions in Tampa by Bryan Tyson of Atlantic Records. During the creation process of this record words from other coworkers were circulating at Sears back to Maria that Drew who works upstairs in the tools department wrote a song about you and it’s going to be on the radio. She was so surprised and didn’t believe them and said no way that’s not true. One day I was brave enough to ask her out on a date but she said I was too young for her and that we’re not allowed to date coworkers within the same workplace. I felt shot down but as a man I didn’t sweat it so I said “Ok I can respect that. No problem, but I still can’t resist that smile of yours. I love it.” She was blushing and said “Drew you’re sweet. Thank you!” I had quit working at Sears in September of 2013 to focus more on my academics and my music career. I then released my first EP entitled “I Am DrewB” on my 24th birthday two months later. I created a buzz both on Twitter and Facebook by sharing my soundcloud page with my followers and friends. After receiving so many compliments and notifications from my female friends and even guys too about the song Good Chance, my manager took the initiative to get the record on the air and it played on the University of South Florida’s college radio station hosted by Slick Worthington in May of 2014. My ex-coworker Tae heard it on the air and it was ironic that Maria was working with him that day and said to her “Hey Maria, remember Drew who worked in tools?” She said “Yeah, where is he? I haven’t seen him in a while.” He said “Oh he had left the job since last year to go back to school and pursuit his music career. His song Good Chance that he wrote about you is on the radio right now.” He was streaming the radio station’s website off of his phone and he let her listen to it. After hearing Good Chance she was astonished and said “Oh my gosh I love it. I never knew he was going to really write a song about me. Oh my gosh! If you talk to him again or see him tell him I love the song.” I made a visit to Tae at Sears about 3 months later while the record was still in rotation at USF and I happen to bump into Maria. She smiled and said “Hi Drew I heard your song and I want to say thank you. I never knew you liked me that much.” I said “Yes I really did at the time I was working here but that’s in the past. Hope that both you and your daughter are doing well.” She said “Yes she is and thank you for asking. I wish you well with your music.” Then she gave me a hug. I wanted to sneak in a kiss on the cheek but I didn’t want to seem desperate or disrespectful, so I had to settle for the hug instead.

The music scene like in Plant City, Florida….

The music scenery isn’t very broad at all. The population consists of about 2,000 people and because the city is so small it’s nicknamed as “Itty Bitty Plant City.” Though we’re not known much for music, Plant City has the best strawberries in the nation. People have traveled from out of state and even from overseas to come to the Strawberry Festival that we host once a year. It consists of roller coaster rides, delicious fried treats from Oreos, to ice cream, to butter, and even candy too. Most importantly people come for our strawberries. The strawberry shortcake milkshakes too is a must buy and try while attending the festival. I never went for any of that though, so I just went for the games to win prizes.

Social media…

Just how convenient it is to network across the globe to anyone wherever and whenever you want. From Facebook to Instagram to Vine to Twitter and YouTube. It’s amazing to see how technology has a big part of an artist’s success seeing how easy it is to share and network your music, your craft, or your business. Through my endeavors, a challenge for me was not having internet access to communicate with my friends/fans online. It’s very rural and country like where I reside and we’re about 1,000 feet from the road. Having wifi at any house around where I live is luxury to acquire because the closest thing to any socialism of interaction publicly was about a 20 minute drive. That’s why I network off of my iPhone a lot but pay more for GB of data usage on my plan. RIP and thank you to Steve Jobbs. Team iPhone! Lol

Artistic Influences…

It’s most definitely the rapper Jay Z aka Sean Carter. Though his music doesn’t implement anything that has to do with my life personally, but it’s the storyline behind his lyricism (especially on his Reasonable Doubt album) that catches my attention. He influences me not more as being an artist, but more from the perspective of being a business man first and an artist second.

Trends…

Music is most definitely trendy nowadays. If the prominence of an artist is noticeable by having one of their popular songs in rotation, but has no substance behind the record then their artistry is irrelevant. Us as the people are stuck in a facade that if it’s not catching the attention of others by promoting negativity then it’s not a hit. That’s why as an artist it’s imperative for me to do it right from the start especially for our younger generation to come. We’re taught by the system to be independent, be creative, be yourself, be you but yet we tend to follow the lifestyle of what society portrays on television. The stereotype of what a rapper looks like and raps about isn’t positive most of the time. As a conscious artist, I’ve created my own lane and proved to the people that independence is bliss.

My definition of success..

Accomplishing your set goals/dreams that’ll be a beneficiary not only to yourself but also towards the universe.

If heaven exists what’s the first thing you would like to hear god say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

“When you were conceived inside your mothers womb I was certain that you’d have a good chance at life and from what has been reviewed, well done.” - A.V.A Live Radio