THANKS 4 SUPPORTIN ME FRIENDS & FANS! BRAVA MA

Born and raised in Harlem, NY on Manhattan Ave. (nicknamed Money Ave. over a decade ago by the neighborhood residents because of the block’s reputation for excessive cash flow), Brava Man (pronounced Bruh-Vuh Man) began growing a significant buzz throughout NYC after releasing his first self-titled mixtape. On The mixtape, which he released two years ago, and on one of two independent albums that followed, the baritone, raspy-voice rap newcomer took lyrical jabs at his neighborhood life-long friends Murda Mook, Nemisis, T-Rex and their multi-platinum selling producer Ron Browz, (popularly known for his production contributions to Nas, 50 Cent, Ludacris and many others). Brava Man’s original plan wasn’t to attack the seasoned MCs who through lyrical street battles established a name for themselves on the rap scene. However, when he turned to them for help, at the point when he decided to pursue rapping, Brava Man didn’t take the cold shoulder lightly.
“I asked Nemisis to write a track to an instrumental CD I gave him,” he recalled. “When I followed up with him he said the CD broke in his back pocket. Mook and T-Rex kept brushing me off too. So that’s when I decided to go at them. Ron Browz didn’t have anything to do with it, but since he was producing their tracks, I just felt like he might as well take the heat too.” He continued, “Later Ron apologized. We’re all cool now. I respect all of them. It would have never come to anything real serious. Maybe physical, but that would have been the extent of it. We’re all fam.”
T-Rex responding to Brava Man on wax definitely drew interest to his name. However, he also credits his fan base increase to a track called Emotional Music. The heart-felt track was a dedication to his best friend, Terrell Carter (Relly), the victim of a violent death. Although he decided to quit rapping after Relly’s murder, eventually Brava Man experienced a change of heart. “One day I heard Relly talking to me as if nothing happened. He was saying, ‘Do you! What you doing? You’re playing around.’ Hours later Brava Man created Emotional Music. “A lot of people could relate to Emotional Music because Relly was known and loved by so many. People got to hear a different side of me too.”
Highly confident in his destiny and dexterity, on his 20th birthday, Big Cuzin Entertainment’s first signed artist saw it fit to tattoo a larger than life size microphone on his arm. “I’m holding it down and if a ni**a wants it, then he’s gonna have to come and take it from me,” he explained seriously. “That’s why I got the tattoo.” For much of his life, Brava Man upheld the reputation of a problem child. At 14 his rebel without a cause attitude landed him in an Upstate New York juvenile detention facility.
Subsequently, he was kicked out of five different New York City high schools, and frequently found himself behind bars. Punching out the window of a car after his close friend died in his arms, as a result of a stray bullet fired in a crowd at Harlem’s African Day Parade in 2004, accounted one of his numerous arrests. But these days Brava Man’s focus has been redirected. Brava Man admits that he’s undoubtedly matured for the better. Many of his life observances and experiences have prompted him to think before he acts now.
“There’s always going to be downfalls, people trying to bring you down,” he says with a colgate smile. “If you’re strong all of the negativity that comes to you, you’ll turn it into a positive. That’s what I do now. If nobody’s hating on you then you’re not doing something right.”
BRAVA MAN FEATURED IN THE NEW "SHAKE DEM HATERS OFF ME" RMX VIDEO: PRODUCED BY P DOT PRODUCTIONS.