D-RAE

Drae Michael Smith was born on July 29, 1991 in Salem, Ohio. Growing up in the small town of East Palestine, Ohio, Drae loved all types of music. As a toddler, he would perform classic country and rock songs for his friends and family. His parents noticed very early that Drae had a knack for performing and remembering song lyrics. Throughout his childhood, Drae would collect every cd that he could and perfrom songs like a seasoned veteran to friends and family. But it wasnt unitl he was in the 5th grade at the age of 11, that he was introduced to hip hop and rap. Drae's aunt Kathy had showed him some classic rap songs like 2Pac's "California Love", but it was Ja Rule's album "Pain Is Love" that made him fall in love with rap. It was the first rap cd that he had ever heard and he would listen to it religiously.

With a new found interest in hip hop music, Drae began to listen to more rap songs and buy more albums. By the time he was 14 years old, rap/hip hop was the only genre that Drae listened to. In the summer of 2006, at the age of 15, he decided to start writing his own rhymes and "D-RAE" was born. In the fall of '06 he released his first mixtape entitled "Honor Roll". Though the cd was awful and poorly recorded, with no experience in making rap music, it was a start for D-RAE. Over the next year, he would go on to create 3 more mixtapes with the help of his close friends Jon Louthan and Brandenn Keylor, becoming better and better with each release. Though he received large amounts of hate and criticism for his music, D-RAE continued to work hard and push himself to become better at what he loved. He had already become widely popular in his town and school, with most people addressing him simply as "D-RAE". He would hear people singing his songs as he passed, whether is was mockery or praise, he was being noticed none the less. As his junior year of high school approached, he decided to take his career to the next level. He began recording with better sound quality and buying original beats. On January 4, 2008 D-RAE released a free promotional cd entitled "Royalty" The EP. The cd featured big name original production from KaneBeatz, BeatCatererz, The Shah Bros, E-Motion-L Productions, Toxiq Entertainment, and Orlando's R&B star Jon Young. The cd also included guest appearances by Florida-based R&B singers DJ Boes and Santino. It was D-RAE's best work yet and proved to many that he was no longer a joke and that he was serious about his music career. That message became even clearer as he began working on a debut feature length album and doing live performances at his High School's dances, which resulted in a feature article in the school newspaper.

D-RAE released his debut independent solo album, titled "Look At Me Now", on August 11, 2009 through one of the leading distributors in online independent music, CDBaby.com, where it is now available for online purchase. The entire album was professionally recorded at Fynal Step Audio & Video in Youngstown, Ohio and includes guest appearances from artists such as Throwback, AG The Hustla, Fedarro, Yung Da Monsta, Johnny Juliano and more. Production comes from Kane Beatz, Johnny Juliano, Jon Young, The Shah Bros, BeatCatererz, and more. To promote the album, D-RAE toured to multiple states and performed at places like Club Gossip (formerly The Wedge) in Austintown, OH, The Shadow Lounge in Pittsburgh, PA, and even Club Kryptonite in Myrtle Beach, SC. He also did a show in his hometown at East Palestine City Park for the 4th of July festivities, a performance which gained him a feature article in a local newspaper, The Morning Journal. Two singles from the album, "Lose Control" ft. Fedarro & "Believe In Make Believe" ft. Johnny Juliano, gained radio play from Youngstown, OH radio station, 101.9 Jamz. Following the release of "Look At Me Now", D-RAE performed for Vexfest 6 at Downtown 36 in Youngstown, OH, at U-Pie on the campus of Youngstown State University, and also opened for Day 26 (Bad Boy Records) at the 101.9 Jamz Luck Penny Family Reunion. You can purchase "Look At Me Now" online at CDBaby.com and be sure to download D-RAE's debut mixtape, "Star Struck" (Hosted by DJ Chip Banks), which is now available for free download at HotNewHipHop.com & DatPiff.com!