Today we’d like to introduce you to Coolee Bravo.
Coolee Bravo, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started rapping in 1999 at ten years old. I was so good that the people I rapped my first few rhymes for didn’t believe I wrote it, so that inspired me to keep going. I dropped my first album in 2003 after I won a slew of talent shows in the south and midwest. My biggest response to my music after that was in 2008 when I did my first solo album. After that, I really didn’t do music because I lost focus. Then in 2017 after my newfound “Twitter fame” came my now current biggest response to my music. After that, I decided to move to Atlanta because I think the dudes down here got networking down pat and inserted myself into it to see what could happen. Now, I’m building my own company and hoping this time I get an even bigger response.
Has it been a smooth road?
Well being a rapper is actually expensive. Not having money was an issue at the beginning. I remember I recorded on a stage mic inside a banana box in a closet on an Acer laptop. It’s not like country or R&B where you can do a cover or something and go viral. You can get lucky and make up a weird dance or do something outlandish but that not music. That’s a gimmick. I don’t have a gimmick, so I rely on my hustle and quality of work. Which is why I don’t release as much as I should in this era. Plus its oversaturated. Then on top of that hip hop is a genre where you don’t really have to be talented to gain success. I’m not hating I’m just saying I wonder how some of these dudes even got where they got based on the body of work. Most people say it’s not what you can do its who you know but I think it’s not who you know its who knows you to be honest. Other than that its not really any obstacles.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Yayerversity Sound story. Tell us more about the business.
Yayerversity Sound is my label. No one currently on it but I’m looking for artists. I have a good ear for talent. Most of the people I collaborate with I just randomly found because I browse Soundcloud and just listen to what’s going on. I’m proud I stayed true to myself. I think what sets me apart is I sneak in lyricism and still stay current in today’s rap climate where its not a lot of bars being thrown around.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Well, I really can’t tell. I think streaming is gonna ignite a problem between artists and stream services one day. We get paid like less than a 10th of a cent. That’s horrible lol Rap changes every five years so we might have robot rappers soon.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cooleebravo.com
- Email: contact@cooleebravo.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/cooleebravo
Image Credit:
Photo Credit – Sharena Rhodes
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