Bricks

Big cities and bright lights surely don’t define Milwaukee, but one rapper by the name of Bricks is placing an indelible shine on the city that has illuminated the underground rap scene. Arguably a novelty to this industry, the eloquent rapper simply states with candor, “I’m just real life.” “As an artist, every word in one of my songs will describe something someone has been through,” he states confidently. “People don’t feel my music just because it has a nice beat; they feel it because they can relate to it.”Honing his skills now for over a decade, Bricks began writing raps back in middle school. Then, he was only writing, and his affiliation to music was through singing. Hosting one-man karaoke nights on days when his friends were out playing basketball or partying, he recalls not being a very outgoing kid. “I often sat in the house and learned new songs,” he says. But after writing rhyme after rhyme, he made a self-discovery that he expressed himself similar to a rapper.It was this discovery that led him to continue writing and expressing himself through pen and paper. “I had so much bottled up inside of me that I would just write every word down,” he recalls. “I would write about everything from what I saw, to what I wanted to say to people that may have led to trouble, to every experience I went through growing up.”The next step he was confronted with was to speak the thoughts he transferred to paper. Taking the dauntless approach, he began letting others hear his raps when he was a junior in high school. “In the beginning, I would listen to others rap in the lunch room and I wouldn’t express myself because I hadn’t truly found myself yet,” explains Bricks. “Then, I decided to let others hear my flow and I began freestyling in the school’s hallways. As people responded positively to my rhymes, I became more comfortable with rapping.”From there, Bricks was determined to only be in a position to make the inevitable happen. Hitting the studio on a daily and hooking up with long-time friend Flawless who was also involved in music, proved to be his destiny early on. Together, their infectious ballads are still heard throughout the city and what keeps their names afloat.“I’ve grown a lot since I’ve first started rapping,” professes Bricks. “I’ve learned how to perform, how to be comfortable when writing a verse, and most importantly, how to be myself.” One thing Bricks values and thinks is the dominating factor to success, is being original. “People like to focus on what everyone else is doing instead of finding their own identity,” he laments. “When you’re not scared to be yourself, you’ll get better results. What’s new is what pops.”As far as Bricks, what identifies him is his aggressiveness. Running off high emotions every time he spits a verse, he’s bound to get your adrenaline pumping too. “That’s what they like about me…the aggressiveness in my music. It makes them feel it even more,” he states. “It’s a blessing to be able to do this; to be able to express my thoughts because thought is the most powerful thing ever. Even when no one listens, they will listen to music. That’s the beauty of it, they will