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Drae Michael Smith was born on July 29, 1991 in Salem, Ohio. Growing up in the small town of East Palestine, Ohio, Drae loved all types of music. As a toddler, he would perform classic country and rock songs for his friends and family. His parents noticed very early that Drae had a knack for performing and remembering song lyrics. Throughout his childhood, Drae would collect every cd that he could and perfrom songs like a seasoned veteran to friends and family. But it wasnt unitl he was in the 5th grade at the age of 11, that he was introduced to hip hop and rap. Drae's aunt Kathy had showed him some classic rap songs like 2Pac's "California Love", but it was Ja Rule's album "Pain Is Love" that made him fall in love with rap. It was the first rap cd that he had ever heard and he would listen to it religiously.

With a new found interest in hip hop music, Drae began to listen to more rap songs and buy more albums. By the time he was 14 years old, rap/hip hop was the only genre that Drae listened to. In the summer of 2006, at the age of 15, he decided to start writing his own rhymes and "D-RAE" was born. In the fall of '06 he released his first mixtape entitled "Honor Roll". Though the cd was awful and poorly recorded, with no experience in making rap music, it was a start for D-RAE. Over the next year, he would go on to create 3 more mixtapes with the help of his close friends Jon Louthan and Brandenn Keylor, becoming better and better with each release. Though he received large amounts of hate and criticism for his music, D-RAE continued to work hard and push himself to become better at what he loved. He had already become widely popular in his town and school, with most people addressing him simple as "D-RAE". He would hear people singing his songs as he passed, whether is was mockery or praise, he was being noticed none the less. As his junior year of high school approached, he decided to take his career to the next level. He began recording with better sound quality and buying original beats. On January 4, 2008 D-RAE released a free promotional cd entitled "Royalty" The EP. The cd featured big name original production from KaneBeatz, BeatCatererz, The Shah Bros, E-Motion-L Productions, Toxiq Entertainment, and Orlando's R&B star Jon Young. The cd also included guest appearances by Florida-based R&B singers DJ Boes and Santino. It was D-RAE's best work yet and proved to many that he was no longer a joke and that he was serious about his music career.

Currently, D-RAE is working on his debut solo LP which will be titled "Look At Me Now", a fitting title considering where he started and how far hes come. He plans to professionally record the entire album at Fynal Step Audio in Youngstown, Ohio and is looking at a late summer or fall release date, right at the the start of his senior year. The album is already slated to include big name features and production credits. On April 4, 2008, D-RAE debuted the lead single from his album "Like Yeah" alongside DTown of Da Kreek and Throwback The Jewish King during his first live performance at The Wedge in Austintown, Ohio. The song is produced by BeatCatererz and features DJ Boes, ENice and Affluent Records recording artist: Throwback The Jewish King. "Like Yeah" was officially released on May 9, 2008. Listen to it now and be on the look out for "Look At Me Now" late this summer!


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