Interview With Draztic

Chicago rapper Draztic recently released his first full EP “The Image of Pain” [read review here] on October 28. His album, full of heat, emotion, pain, and love, takes you on a journey through inner-city life as seen through his eyes. Now with one full EP under his belt, OfficiallyHipHop caught up with Draztic to see what the excellent lyricist had to say.

Your debut album is entitled “The Image of Pain”. How did you come up with the name of the album? Does it have a significant meaning?

Draztic: The title happens to be the name of a song on the album and it is simply a phrase that I use to describe the face of the city of Chicago. It could be applied to every other major city as well.

In your biography, you mentioned that you grew up listening to Common, NAS, Public Enemy and LL Cool J. What drew you to these particular artists?

Draztic: Well, Nas was and is the second coming of the greatest lyricists of all time. Common provides that spiritual vibe without being preachy and he is an incredible writer with one of the best catalogs to date. LL Cool J has been doing this for a quarter of a century, enough said! He in my opinion outside of KRS, he is the total embodiment of an MC. Sure, he does his thing for the ladies, but he will also drop an atomic bomb on you as well. He has many styles. It takes enormous talent to juggle what he has done so long and consistently.

I can tell that you are a major fan of hip hop. Do you have an interest in any other genre of music?

Draztic: I love soul music and what I call real R&B. Today’s stuff tends to lean towards what is called hip hop. The music tends to sound too formula driven. Nothing from the soul. No pain or truth in most of the sounds. There are a handful that are actually doing it from the right place. I also love Jazz and some Pop if it’s good.

In your hit track “Without U”, you rap “This is my destiny…” When did you first know that you wanted to be a hip hop artist?

Draztic: Early on. It did not come easy. I was “wack” in the beginning [Laughs]… However, I have been loving it my whole life.

Hip hop offers artists a way to express hardships and struggles they may face in their lives. What personal experiences have you described in your debut album?

Draztic: Just growing up and dealing with issues of seeing family, friends, and love ones struggling with getting by. Many had ugly demons in their lives such as drugs and alcoholism and it hurts to see people you love go through trials and even tragedies.

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