As we watch unfathomable atrocities unfold on our door steps, in our schools and colleges and lives lost in pointless battles and wars there has always been one thing that is good for lifting spirits and hearts and that is music. Brooklyn’s Torae has enough heart, soul and enthusiasm to lift the spirits of many and he achieves that through his ‘feel-good’ music. You remember the type, you know the wholesome educational Hip-Hop that started this s**t.

Graced with beats from some of Hip-Hops most coveted for his own projects, he is featured on a numerous albums belonging to others. Collaborations with Babu, Chaundon, Sean Price and K-OS to name a minimal few have you pondering whether this dude is actually having us over telling us he isn’t signed. But the reality is, he really has yet to sign put his pen to paper in the business sense.

However here at HipHopDX.com we have a feeling that it will only be a matter of time before he is picked up by a label to reach the summit he is already close to arriving at on his own grind. Sharing his in depth industry insight and divulging what he thinks makes a hit record, Torae gave us a sneak peek into what being a musical craftsman is truly about. And that, my friends, is why we picked Torae as our first DXnext artist.

HHDX: First off I have to ask you with your presence in the game why aren’t you signed?
Torae: Well that goes back to the good old word, politics. You know with the cats that get signed, there is a lot of co-signing, just a lot of people looking out for each other and looking out for their people and not necessarily looking out for those that are the most talented, so to keep their name popping and keep their thing popping, they put their own people on. It is nepotism. So between the politics and trying to keep the money in their own pocket, they are not looking for the new talented cats, the cats that aren’t necessarily affiliated with them. But it is all good, I will break through eventually.

HHDX: You are surrounded by infamous names in the game though like Cam, Jimmy Jones and DJ Premier.
Torae: But it’s like in this new day and age and this new breed of Hip-Hop, I can have tracks with 9th Wonder, tracks with Khrysis and tracks with Premo but if I am not on the Kay Slay tape or if I don’t have 12 Just Blaze songs or I am not in the Smack DVD and you know making that ‘trendy’ stuff, people don’t check for you. Even though the people I work with get the respect, it is still that I am not the type of dude they want on the Smack DVD, battling and cocking guns is just not my cup of tea and just not what I am into. Continued on page 2 »