Booky Blanco is known as an American rapper from Elizabeth, New Jersey. Booky has been rapping and making music since his early teenage years but hasn’t started his career until late 2016 when he released his break out local hit “Show Me”, which garnered him a lot of attention and notoriety throughout the entire Tri-State area.

The name Booky Blanco derives from his casino and sport betting lifestyle and habits, with Blanco being his real last name. Blanco’s music is delivered from a unique perspective of someone who is able to navigate in the streets mixed with that of a person who went to college and is educated.

This allows him to navigate into both worlds, thus creating a broader audience, as he brings you smooth melodic tunes also coupled with real relatable traditional rap lyrics that any hip hop fan would come to love and appreciate.

1) Do you remember the moment you wanted to be a hip-hop artist?

Yeah, I remember it like it was yesterday. The moment I wanted to be a hip-hop artist was when I was 13, I wrote some bars down listening to some Lil Wayne instrumentals and the bars I was writing down to it came so effortless and easy to me at the time, that I actually stopped and thought that I could actually do this for real.

2) What was it like creating your latest project?

At this moment in time I’m still in the process of creating my first official debut project so in the meantime I’ve just been releasing singles and building up the demand for a project.

3) What are you trying to achieve with the project?

I want the release of my debut to be a moment that stamps me as an artist in the game, kind of like my coming of age, you know?.. I want to let everybody know that I’ve arrived and I’m not here to play.

4) What are your thoughts on staying independent or signing to a major label?

Right now, it makes the most sense for me to stay indy. As the brand expands and the fan base evolves into something bigger, maybe I can entertain the thought of a major label situation if its in my best interest in some form of a partnership.

The goal is to at some point be one of the biggest artists in hip-hop and I think in order to fully maximize your ceiling your gonna need a machine and that corporate backing. But as of right now its just me and my team RTD (Roll The Dice).

5) How do you feel about the independent hip-hop industry right now?

I feel the independent hip-hop scene is more prominent than its ever been, we are living in a time where the access to make, record, and distribute music is easier than ever. I love it, its very inspiring and refreshing to see a lot of the young talent coming up and seeing them all have a “do it yourself” mentality. I truly tip my hat to all the independent artists because we all have a chip on our shoulder and it makes you appreciate the grind even more.

6) As an independent hip-hop artist grinding it out, what sort of promotion and marketing are you doing to stand out from the rest?

The goal is really to just get on playlists, blog placements, ad campaigns, promoting on facebook groups, getting in touch with instagram influencers for promo, and giveaways. We really just tryna fuck up the internet and attack from all angles, see what works and what doesn’t and we’ll go back to the drawing board if need be.

7) How do you currently make money as an independent artist?

I built and own the studio that I currently work out of and charge other artists hourly to rent it out, I also have merch, and I own my entire catalog when it comes to streaming.

8) How do you feel about hip-hop today?

I love it, it’s the number one genre in the world and it’s still growing by the day. To see how diverse it is now compared to how it was when I was child it speaks to the evolution of it and I think its in a great space.

9) What artists in the game today do you look at for inspiration?

I go to a lot of Jay-Z for inspiration, he motivates me in every aspect. His career trajectory is exactly how I envision it for myself, I hope to one day surpass that.

10) Who are your top 5 rappers dead or alive?

Hov, Nipsey Hussle, Rick Ross, Drake, Dom Kennedy

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Written by Stop The Breaks
Stop The Breaks is an independent music marketing company focused on showcasing independent hip-hop artists. Our goal is to help motivate, inspire and educate independent artists grinding around the world. We provide branding, content marketing, social media, SEO and music promotion services.