Rap nowadays is flooded with artists who claim to be the next big
thing. Acts that are bringing New York back or taking over the
industry run as rampant in the streets as them tinted Impalas in the
summertime. And while not everyone is that 'breath of fresh air' they
see fit to portray, there has been no shortage of artists on the come
up who claim to be all these things and more, and yet they typically
tend to fall short. While it's understood that a rapper needs a
certain level of bravado to be taken seriously in today's climate,
it's refreshing to meet an artist whose confidence stems from his
ability to make good music. Washington Heights own Sosa shows that
music is universal, boundaries are made to be blurred and New York
doesn't need to be brought back. Hailing from New York City's
Washington Heights, Young Sosa, born Orlando Robles, has seen his fair
share of ups and downs during his life. While being the son of Rafael
Robles, the first player to ever come to bat for the San Diego Padres,
Sosa's desires took him down a path that didn't exactly align with his
natural born affinity for baseball. Sosa had a story to tell, being
from The Heights as it is casually called, embeds you with a certain
pride. That pride may run hand in hand with the fact that Washington
Heights is by far predominantly a Dominican neighborhood. The red and
blue flag with the white cross is an ever present fixture in The
Heights and that pride to represent not only where you come from, but
your people is one of Sosa's main motivations. "I do this for my
people. I'm a Dominican from The Heights, its the hood like any other
hood in America, people on public assistance, drugs all over the
place, crime all over the place, yet its a place that we wouldn't
trade for anything in the world and that translates into my music
whether it's me recording a track about our struggles, or me writing
to all the ladies out there. Whether it's a track about what goes on
in the hood or me recording a club or Reggaeton track. I like to
consider myself Universal and having grown up in the hood and being
Dominican I can relate to the hoods all throughout the world and make
Universal music." Sosa doesn't feel he can be defined by one genre
of music. While everyone tries to label everything right now Sosa is
on the verge of defining something all new, but something that has
been a long time coming. His music isn't primarily Rap, nor is it
primarily Reggaeton. The way he puts it explains how he sees his type
of music. "I'm not afraid of change. You can't label me a street
artist nor can you label me a party dude. You can't label me a dude
that caters to the ladies, a Spanish rapper nor a battle rapper
because I got all that and more in my arsenal." The same way that Hip
Hop has evolved to encompass all genres in one through influence, it
has also inspired the children who grew up with Hip Hop to react the
same way. Encompassing Street with Caribbean, conscious music with
music for the clubs, we all have these dynamic differences within
ourselves. Why should the artists of our future be any different?
Sosa is set to make an impact in music. His diverse influence base
meshed with his pride or 'swagger' derived from his rich neighborhood
and cultural upbringing, shows why Sosa will have a voice in the
coming year and beyond. He is an artist who transcends genres
effortlessly. The same way we all listen to different types of music,
Sosa blends these different types, because that's who he is and that
is in essence who we all are.
