Today we’d like to introduce you to Obriena “Bri Biase” Hope.
Hi Obriena “Bri Biase”, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve been into music for as long as I can remember. Everyone in my family says that even as a toddler I would walk around singing and rapping when music comes on. I first started rapping on record in my mother’s basement with my big brother josh. Him and his friends would be down there recording and he would make me push the record button. So really I was engineering before I started actually rapping on record. Until one day he went upstairs and I recorded myself. When he came back down, I remember him saying “OH SH*T, my sister rap better than all you Ni**as. At that moment I knew that I would be a real rapper. I started doing school talent shows and WINNING with my own material and I remember being the only student in the talent show to actually be performing my own material and actually win. I had grew a following back home where I’m from in champaign IL, outside of Chicago and I knew I wanted to take it further so I decided that I would test my luck here in ATL. I went to school in ATL for audio production (engineering) and graphic design but I dropped out after I took my major courses and went back near Chicago.
Sh*t got violent out there so I officially moved back down here with a few hundred, a dream, no car, no nothing. I think I was waiting for my taxes to hit lol. I got one of them weekly hotel rooms and stayed there and I found a hair salon to go work out of. In between hotels and staying a few nights here and there at people that I knew houses I was able to stack up more money doing hair, got a car, hit the road, started doing shows and eventually got me a lil apartment in the hood on the southside with one my home girls. THAT’S when I was able to set up my own studio here and start printing up CDs to pass out. Every open mic I did I gained more and more of a following to the point where I ended up booking out the country, signing to a trash indie label, even building up my IG following. Eventually, I left that label, keep pushing kept booking got verified, booked in ANOTHER country got some dope features and here I am today weighing a couple of deal offers, I’ve learned a lot, I’ve advanced my skill set, and I’m ready for the major league no doubt.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
NOT AT ALL. Being a single mother is a heavy task in itself to balance parenting and music gets a bit hard. Dealing with these fake guys in the industry that want to hold opportunities over my head because I won’t have sex with them is a struggle. Dealing with these fake indie labels that want to buy your soul and starve your family is a struggle. But I keep going and I stand strong.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m one of the best female rappers unsigned and signed. =) My pen game is strong I’m a seasoned well rounded artist.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I love the fact that I was able to come to ATL and be accepted for doing what I love. In Chicago, it’s like “Don’t come here; you not from round here”. In Atlanta it’s like “oh sh*t you dope I rock with you; let’s rock”. So I was able to build here easily by just being dope and killing shows and having good energy. People in ATL can’t go to Chicago or champaign and do what I did. Them folks are not friendly at all…
The traffic is the worst sh*t ever. That and the fraud. Lol, this is the city of finesse. Fake it til u make it. The city of cap… the capital of cap if cap was a state lol.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bribiase.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/bribiase
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/bribiase
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/bribiase
- Youtube: www.yotube.com/bribiase
