DRE ROBINSON

While in most minds Boston is the land of baked beans and Harvard, the reality is that Boston has made more than a few contributions to Hip Hop culture. With one hit under his belt (Get Right featuring Mobb Deep and an ever-raising national profile, Pollymore/Mass Appeal recording artist Dre Robinson is trying to do his part to be the latest and greatest.

A combination of impassioned delivery and gritty lyrics has many saying he is the one to watch. Lyrical giants Nas, Rakim, Jay Z and Notorious B.I.G. turned him on to the power of words. But once he saw Hip-Hop up close and personal, he decided the mic was for him. There were these real popular local groups and they were up there rapping and dancing. And I'm like...they are not really doing anything I can't do. I always liked entertaining and the attention but I'm a fairly shy dude. So I tried to write, started writing and I just stuck with it.

After a while Dre discovered a whole new side to Hip Hop. It started to serve as a relief for his stress. Ive got a lot of anger in me for what I've been through growing up. And when I get in the booth I can let that out. I change in the booth dramatically. I can let it all go in the booth. I can just let it loose and when I come out, Im pouring with sweat. I feel like I just finished working out. For Dre music became a refuge from lifes troubles. After losing both his parents (his father when he was ten and his mother passed when he was 23), he became guardian to his younger brother. Having lost his father at an early age and dealing with the long time illness of his mother as well as building on the close relationship with his brother has not been easy.

Dre brings an authenticity to his music that few can claim. An authenticity that comes from having an intimate knowledge of ghetto life. My pops, rest in peace, my moms, rest in peace, they tried to make ends meet in Brooklyn. My moms stayed in NY with us, my pops was hustling back and forth from NY and Boston. So my whole life, Ive seen the street life. Yet even with his front row seat view of the drug game Dre wasnt deterred from joining the grind. It was when Dre mixed the story of his life with the poetics of Hip-Hop that he started to find his creative direction. I'm in the streets with my boys and writing and everything just started coming together for me with the rhymes. My boys were like Yo, you're real good at telling these stories. We'd be out on the street doing stuff and I would see something and go and write.
The desire to rep for his people turned into a desire to get in the music business. With a crew of his friends he formed the Mic Commandos. The MCs eventually caught the attention of Joey Fergus Jr. better known as Joey Politics, who was doing A&R work for a local label. But when the label decided to focus on other projects Joey formed Pollymore Music in order to insure the world heard Dres flow. It was then that Dre teamed with DJ J-Saki and started the 3 part Starvin series and flooded the streets with freestyles and mixtapes to help build the buzz.
That buzz reached Mass Appeal label head Marcus DL and his head of A&R, DJ Gee Spin. In Gee Spins eyes it was simple. I knew from the first verse, I wanted to work with Dre. I wanted to meet Dre, so I had them come to the station, for my Sunday night show, The Launch Pad to see how he vibed and if he could make it happen live on the radio. He killed it! The passion in his flow and the fact that he did 50 bars straight (without a curse), made me excited about Hip Hop again. He just has "it". Whatever "it" is, he has it. He is versatile. And most of all, he is a good dude to be around.
Many artists have it but few can translate it to good songs. Dre has done just that. The Jamaican born Boston-based lyricist has kept the clubs and radio burning with his single Get Right featuring JV Da Rapsinga and the Get Right remix featuring Mobb Deep. The Marcus DL produced track is a club banger aimed straight for the thugs. Powered by a remix featuring Mobb Deep (no strangers to thuggish club bangers themselves) Get Right has jumped into the club set lists and mixes of some of the nations biggest DJs. Jamn 94.5s Gee Spin, Hot 97 Bostons Chubby Chubb and Statik Selektah all have it as a part of their mixes. The Drama King Kay Slay has shown Dre love on his Drama Hour radio show. Hot 97 New Yorks Cipha Sounds and DJ Enuff as well as Power 105s Spinbad have given the song play. Gee Spin says Felli Fel on LA's Power 106 played the original Get Right every night for a month.
Radio isnt the only place where everyone knows Dres name. He has been the subject of a Boston Globe Calendar section cover story on the Boston hip-hop scene. The Boston Phoenix spotlighted him in their New England Product column. Along with being the subject of the column Dre has been getting spins on the NEP show on alternative rock station WFNX. Getting played on the New England Product show on WFNX and featured in the Phoenix is another really good look for us. I am still amazed when I hear people responding to my work. It just feels good to have that support. Believe me I appreciate it because I know its not promised. explains Dre. This is one of many accolades Dre has received as he readies his debut. In the May 2005 issue of the Source Magazine he was spotlighted in the Off The Radar column as an MC on the verge of making a national impact. In addition he was picked as one of the Boston Globe's Top Ten Local Artists To Watch 2005 and was the subject of a Boston Globe Calendar section cover story on Boston Hip Hop. And Dre looks to thank those that believed in him with hard work. It makes me feel good to see people gravitating towards my music and it makes me feel good that DJ's at these power radio stations like my records and show me a lot of support. That gives me more drive to do what I do.
Dres life that was once consumed with the streets is now filled with a full slate of live performances and recording sessions for his Pollymore/ Mass Appeal debut album, This Is Me. This Is Me will include No, No, No, a collab with dancehall giant Lexxus and club ready Ghetto Mistress. All this while holding the door open for his crew, The Jacob Family (named for the street of his childhood home.) and keeping on track with his 5-year plan.
Whats on the horizon for Dre? Dre says thoughtfully, I'll be doing my thing 5 years from now. I should have established myself pretty well. And I'm looking forward to having my own businesses, my own record company or independent record company or other businesses, not music related. 5 years from now I see myself very comfortable and living. Probably a couple of platinum albums, who knows?