Slake Dransky

The opener sat down on the floor of the Aspen Suite of the University Center. His arms rested on his knees, his spoon tattoo visible on his forearm. As he sat, he discussed the final touches of the concert, where he should be during his introduction, prepping for his biggest performance yet.

The Spring Concert headliner JoJo hand-picked Slake Dransky out of three UNC student submissions. The Spring Concert genre this year was chosen by poll and hip-hop and R&B was selected.

His friends were in the room with him. They would be performing with him on stage as his features, artists featured on his songs. It was a large and diversely talented crew, the trumpeter played a short practice tune.

“For such a big event like this, I want everyone to have a party here,” Dransky said. “I think seeing me with my friends up there having a good time, hopefully, it’ll trickle down to everyone else.”

Dranksy’s performance was nothing less than stellar. His stage presence and attention to detail kept his audience interactive and moving. With the help of his feature crew, Dransky surprised many by his strong performance and reminded people of the great potential and talent of UNC students hold.

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Dransky is a stage name, a prior nickname given to him in high school by a theater buddy. The senior acting major’s real name is Drake Slansky. The name became his stage name when he learned the concept of “spoonerism,” which is a literary device where the first consonant sounds of two words in a phrase are switched. Inspired by this pleasant accident, he branded his stage persona with a logo of a spoon.

Likened to Denver artist Flobots, Dransky’s rap music is packed with energy that engages his listeners musically and thoughtfully. He said his music is something people can groove to while inspiring critical thought.

“For me, it’s all about the lyrics,” Dransky said. “I love good production, but I’m a lyricist first and foremost. What’s an artist without his words?”

He typically tries to bring every featured artist that appears in his tracks along for the ride whenever he gets a new gig. He met each of his featured artists through UNC. He said the “perks of being a theater major” is being surrounded by great talent. His crew consists of: his trumpeter, Kelso, Sydee Whigs, Radiance, Type 1ne, Frederiiick the Great and Jason LoCricchio. Together, the performance was lively as the friends collaborated on their art.

Dransky has had prior success with performing at the Moxi Theater and bars like the Jager in Greeley as well as open mic nights and gigs in Seattle where he is from. Dransky has released two mixtapes, available on all major streaming platforms, called “Spoonerism” and “How We Pictured It from the Front Porch.” His next work, an EP, is projected to be released after he graduates. - UNC Mirror