2kdrae

Hip Hop with a melodic vibe! This is the sound that Chicagoland recording artist 2kDrae will contribute to the music industry. 2kDrae, born Andrae Thames in the impoverished, but music rich city of Gary, grew up during the golden era of hip hop in which he collected many musical influences along the way including artists from multiple time periods and genres such as Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, David Ruffin, Sam Cooke, and Pink Floyd. His sound is a reflection of his more contemporary influences such as Kid Cudi, Wiz Khalifa, Redman and other hip hop greats. After the death of his father, William Thames Sr at the young age of 7 due to a fight with cancer, Drae grew up faster and had a different grasp and outlook on life and reality, and despite all the hard ships that come with growing up without a father, he knew he had to do something great, but not knowng what. Later, he was inspired by his late older cousin Michael Thomas (Big Mike) and began rapping at the age of 16. Rapping had become a hobby in which his skills were honed on the house party cypher scene during his three year post high school graduation stay in San Diego and Los Angeles. During his time in California, Drae evolved from a free style artist to a songwriter and recording artist that began to take his craft serious. Upon his return to the Midwest, Drae refused to be held captive to the streets or a dead end jobs that would fail to bring his vision of life to fruition. This further fueled his fire to pursue his music whole heartedly; as he began to invest his time and money into his musical craft, him along with two partners, created there own label/entertainmet company FYT (Family You Trust) in 2012 and now specializes in merchandising and music production. They now have a roster of some of the most talented producers, artists, photographers, and videographers in the indiana and the Chicagoland area. The 24 year old artist is creating an undeniable sound that hipsters and conservative hiphop heads and all around music lovers are finding to be a breath of fresh air. His debut project entitled, "Hard Work/Loud Purp" was released on October 31st of 2013. This project includes a laid back smokers vibe with a midwest twist and is receiving great audience responses from various colleges and venues in the Midwest area along with various other citys and states across the country. His Sophmore project, "Hard Work/Loud Purp 2 The ePIFFany" will be dropping spring of 2015. The hype surrounding the new project has caught attention of numerous blogs and magazines. 2kDrae was featured in the January issue of Hip Hop Weekly Magazine as the "Next to Blow" as well as being a featured artist on the blogs of www.hiphopsince1987.com, www.usd2r.com, www.allhiphop.com and www.canitalkmyish.com. Support has come from various areas such as given plays on the hit radio station in North Carolina, 104.5FM. He has had performances at varies venues within the Midwest such as Bluebird (Bloomington, IN), Mojoes (Joliet, IN), Evil Olive (Chicago, IL), Double Door (Chicago, IL) and The Metro Chicago along with many others. He has performed with artists such as Dom Kennedy, Rick Ross, YG, Curren$y, Rae Sremmurd, Que, Taylor Bennett, Skeme, Rich Boi, Yoson Tala, Al Koleon, Mike Jones, and Jarren Benton. Other projects of his include features from a wide array of artists from various genres such as Ric Jilla, Tank Lucas, Jim Tuck, Ilce, Yoson Tala, Jay Oskulata, Macktastic, Jay Staffz, Fakulty Studios, DJ Danni Boi, Sammy F Steward, Malcolm Flex, and Jsquared. His latest single, Thottianas feat. Lil Herb, has gained almost a half a million views and counting in a few short months. Be on the lookout for the new artist, 2kDrae, as he plans to not only make a wave in the game, but to leave an everlasting mark on the Hip Hop scene. https://soundcloud.com/2kdrae Indiana hip hop artist 2kDrae