Brandon D

Scouting Report: Brandon D. If hip-hop had a barcode, then everyone would be in line at Wal-Mart or Best Buy to purchase their own success. However, any artist who is constantly on top of their grind knows that the moves and looks in the industry don't come easy. Carolina rapper, Brandon D., 24, has definitely been in the mile-long line waiting to check out and these days, it's inevitable to say that it won't be long before he hits the express lane. The prices of fame for this ascertain and inventive artist has never had a solid price. And at all costs, he has devoted his life to form his own path through shows, studios, and mixtapes in an intense effort to echo his sound in the ears of anyone who willing listens.

Growing up on the streets of Greensboro, North Carolina, Brandon D.'s the first to let you know where he came from. "We started out homeless," he states as he begins to reminisce on his playground days. With only his uncle and grandmother to support him, they lived in a local homeless shelter. As he got older, he moved around from spot to spot, and often stayed at a different friend's house to get by. There was even a point where practically eleven people were living in his grandmother's two rooms.

While in high school, he began writing poetry. Connecting with other emcees that were steadily battling, he decided to flip his poetry and started preparing for rap battles. "We used to win and shut it down," Brandon D. says with enthusiasm. "And we were just in high school too!"

Soon after graduating from high school, his uncle Eli Davis (who currently manages Anthony Hamilton) decided to move him and his cousin (and now manager, J. White) to Los Angeles, California. While in L.A., he was able to witness the creative and business process of putting an album together through Sunshine Anderson's debut, Your Woman. "I realized, 'Wow, this music sh-- is real'," he explains. "So I decided that I couldn't just be lyrical. I love music and taking an idea from a beat to a full song is amazing."

Moving back to the same streets he called home, Brandon D. got right to work. The first song he ever recorded, "Dakak Joint," landed him his first record deal with Elektra. Unfortunately, the situation with Elektra didn't go further then the one single. Severely disappointed, Brandon D. made it a point to start promoting his own music. "I learned quickly, not to wait for nothing and for no one," he shares.

Locking a promotional tour with national recording artist, Ludacris, Brandon D. and J. White saw an opportunity to promote the music. "We printed up CDs and just passed them out at the shows," he says. "Once the tour was over, we had a lot of promo material left over, so we started selling them."

Posting up the town with flyers, making more cds to sell and traveling from the East to West of the state of North Carolina to let the word out, is exactly what they did. From the mom and pop record stores to the local gas stations in small towns like Warsaw, NC, not only could fans get the music, but put a face to the tracks. By the end the summer of 2005, Naps Krew Entertainment was established and Brandon D. shortly debuted his first independent album, Rolling With The Punches. Also classic bangers like "Dakak Joint" and "Carolina Step" took over the Carolina radio waves.

Practically a year and a half since the first album release and over 30,000 mixtapes sold, from the very trunk of their famous "Brandon D. Rap SUV" to date, the sophomore independent album, Almost Famous, is well underway. "This album is going to be so much more fun because with the last album, I was so serious and going through a lot of sh--," Brandon D. explains. "That's now over and it's time to celebrate. It's a celebration!"

With exclusive production from Durham beat makers, Gav Beats and Mike Blaze of the Neckbreakers, Brandon D. will be taking his fans for a ride in his car around Greensboro or even to a party night with Brandon D. himself. "I want to make music that everyone can listen to," he says. "My grandmother and her friends listen to my tracks, and so do my little cousins. I want everyone to listen."

One's grind determines where one eats, where one sleeps and who one will be. It's foreseeable to say when the mics are turned off, the bottles are empty, and blunts are ashes, that Brandon D.'s music will carry on into a whole new face of hip-hop. "I want to be remembered as an inspiration," he states. "No matter where you are or where you came from, you can achieve anything."

Scouting Report

It's about to be that time, of stardom, for the Kack superstar. He is beyond the underground and on a whole new level of commercial. For years, North Carolina artists have been patiently waiting for the opportunity to show and prove. He truly breaks the cookie cutter down south artist repertoire that a lot of other artists are molding into.

Everyone has a story to tell, however, Brandon D.'s story is one that firmly stan