@TheHypeMagazine Interviews D BRAXX! | @the_rap_project
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By: Jerry Doby
Who is D BRAXX, and where are you from?
I'm an international traveler and hip hop head from the South. I grew up primarily in College Park and the Southwest side of Atlanta, GA. A few years after graduating from college I moved to Chicago, IL to pursue a career in investment finance and earn a M.B.A. I then moved to Southern California eight years ago after accepting a career opportunity in Beverly Hills.
You went from investment professional to DJ and radio personality, what inspired the drive for you to become a DJ and radio personality?
To be honest it was one of the most unplanned or spontaneous events in my life, in terms of a potential career. It started was preparing to embark on a new hobby, for Iʼ always looking for to broaden myself. Obviously I love hip hop so I decided to take a Dj class at DJ Scratch Academy in LA. A friend of mine was like “yo sun, with all the hip hop music you have, you should just do your own radio show, I know somebody that has a budding new internet radio station.” I admit, I was skeptical at first. Internet radio I thought, no way but after thinking it over, I realized he was right, I had for the most part stopped listening to commercial radio so I figured no reason to complain about how they do things, thatʼ their lane, create your own. A few days later I met Richard Karr, the Founder & General Manager of LA Talk Live! Radio and within two weeks of that meeting, I was in front of a microphone, nervous and talking 200 mph, I knew my future had changed. Shortly thereafter I was downsized and having never been unemployed, it has turned out to be one of the best things to happen to me. Immediately I set in motion, which everyone close to me knows a campaign to never to not go back to the suit and tie, at least not in the capacity that I had become accustomed. Since that time I have primarily focused on consistency, building relationships within the hip hop community, which is still an on-going process; as well as, cultivating an audience.
How did you come up with the title "The Rap Project" for your show?
It came to me pretty much right away. Websterʼ defines project as an individual or collaborative enterprise that is carefully planned and designed to achieve a particular aim. My aim was to give hip hop another way to view itself. To break out of the box of the same ole same. I mean, Iʼ a grown man and grew up with this music, a real hip hop head.
Like many of us and I grew weary of the content I was seeing and hearing. I just felt like nothing really represented me, the people I associate with nor presented any valuable information worth my our time.
