Elevator Music: A New Wave of Hip-Hop

 

What do you get when you mix a passionate DJ and a non traditional rapper? A master piece! Maryland natives, Brain Rapp and Nature have composed a one of a kind EP titled Elevator Music, that takes you on a musical roller coaster. Apart of the Dope Music Village crew, the pair did not disappoint. The opening track titled “Hello” samples an Isley Brother’s single, which sets the tone for the rest of the project. The honest, organic lyrics conveyed throughout this EP, gives you a sense of who Brain Rapp and Nature are as people and not just as artists. By the end of the closing track “B.Y.O.B.“, it is evident that this dynamic duo went hard in the paint to show the world what they have to offer. The sky is the limit for these two!

To purchase Elevator Music please visit https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/elevator-music/id1006882406/ .In the meantime checkout this dope interview I did with the pair below, and visit their soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/brainrapp/sets/elevator-music to get a taste of their talent! Be sure to follow Brain Rapp and Nature on social media @BrainRapp and  @PeachBaggies .

 

Me: How did you get your start in the music game?

Brain: I got my start in the business side of the music game when I began pursuing music professionally after graduating college. That being said, I’ve been involved with the music since I began writing rhymes at thirteen. What drew me writing initially was the sense of relief that it offered me. It allowed me to channel my emotions into something positive, something I could be proud of.

Nature: I started deejaying when I was eight because my father was a deejay. My mother was also a fan of hip hop and she kept me in the school band. When I was sixteen, a good friend put me on to production software and I started making beats. I began to pursue music professionally after my freshman year of college. 

Who are your musical influences?

 

Brain: Outkast is number one on my list, specifically Andre 3000. Guru from Gang Starr, Eminem, Q-Trip, DJ Paul from Three 6 Mafia, J. Cole, Lupe Fiasco and a whole lot more. Andre, Lupe, and Em set the bar for where I’d like to be lyrically one day. Their ability to tell stories while maintaining lyrical complexity is something that few artists are able to do.

 

Nature: Just Blaze, Jadakiss, Jay-Z, Isaac Hayes, Three 6 Mafia, and Kanye West just to name a few.

 

How would you best describe your sound?

 

Brain: My sound is rooted in traditional, east coast, boom bap. There are elements of Dirty South, trap as well. Growing up in Maryland, I was exposed to prominent hip hop artists from both sides of the Mason-Dixon. I probably spent as much time listening to A Tribe Called Quest as I did Ludacris.

 

Nature: Best of all worlds. I grew up in the nineties so I’m a hip hop baby which has a lot of soul and disco samples. I became a man while the southern influence began to go mainstream. My sound is the last forty years of music all put together.

 

What does it mean to have done a project with your best friend?

 

Brain: It’s awesome. It was something that was long overdue in one regard but also something that couldn’t have been done until now. Everything we’ve done together has progressed slowly and naturally. Though we’ve known each other and been friends for a while, we didn’t originally begin working together until I needed a DJ for a show. We ended up making our first song together, “Elevator Music”, after one of our of rehearsals for that original show. Since then we’ve just continued building–from Shows What We Know, Dope Music Village, to Elevator Music and beyond.

 

Nature: It’s everything. We’ve known each other for over a decade now. We’ve always been extremely passionate about music but when we began to create together, it brought us to a family level. We see eye to eye on a lot of things so that makes the creative process comfortable.