Birth name Andrew Michael Parks Role Rapper Name Drew Parks | Years active 2001–present Also known as Drew32Drew Parks | |
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Occupation(s) Rapper, record producer, songwriter Labels Quarter to Infinity Entertainment Associated acts B-SmoothDJ SkeeRoyce da 5'9"DJ HeadJon ConnorJay HussleAsanteDJ Mo BeatzPato MargeticShorty da Prince Similar People Profiles | ||
Andrew Michael Parks (born December 3, 1991), known professionally as Drew Parks, is an American rapper, record producer, singer, and songwriter from Metro Detroit, Michigan. Widely reported as an emerging Hip hop artist, Drew Parks began producing, rapping, writing, and recording music at age 10, and first gained national notice in early 2010 when his music video "Beyond Me" was added to FuseTV and Comcast OnDemand. He is also known for performances at various concerts in Michigan and at national events including the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, and the SXSW Music Conference in Austin, Texas. In 2012, Drew Parks was one of 18 artists in the United States selected by Billboard magazine to compete in the 2012 Billboard Music Awards Battle of the Bands competition.
Contents
- Early life
- 2001 07 Early career first recordings
- 2008 10 Who is Drew32 series and early mixtapes
- 2011 13 The BURN Project Label Me and The Batch mixtapes
- 2014 present Name change and notable appearances
- Discography
- References
Several sources have identified Drew Parks as an up-and-coming artist including an August 2011 feature article on MTV Rapfix that indicated "Detroit rapper and producer [Drew Parks] is up next". In a fall 2012 article, Ambassador Magazine called Drew Parks "Detroit's next big thing". Drew Parks' career has been featured on various hip-hop sites and blogs including HipHopDx, AllHipHop, ThisIs50, XXL, Vibe and RapBasement.
Early life
Drew Parks was born Andrew Michael Parks on December 3, 1991, in Royal Oak, Michigan and grew up living in Troy, Michigan. His family is of Greek descent, despite an atypical Greek surname - Drew's grandfather chose to change the family last name from Papistas to Parks to make it easier for Americans to pronounce. Drew Parks attended the Avondale School District in Auburn Hills, Michigan and graduated from Avondale High School. After high school, Drew Parks attended Oakland University, and in 2014 he received his bachelor's degree in marketing from the Oakland University School of Business Administration.
2001-07: Early career, first recordings
Drew Parks began his musical career at age 10, under the moniker Drew32. The stage name Drew32 came from Parks' first basketball jersey number as a child, which he chose because Magic Johnson wore number 32 for the Los Angeles Lakers and because it was Michael Jordan's jersey number 23 in reverse. His first recording (as Drew32) was a song entitled "Pray for Peace (We Need Love)", a song written about the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. "Pray for Peace (We Need Love" was released in 2002, and borrowed the melody from LL Cool J's 1987 single "I Need Love".
In March 2007, Drew Parks released his first album, Awakening, which was released on iTunes. In addition to writing the lyrics, Drew Parks produced 13 of the album's 14 tracks.
In the summer of 2007, Drew Parks performed live for AM910 Radio Disney at the Hart Plaza main stage for the Detroit International Freedom Festival, opening up for Kiki Palmer. In the summer of 2008, Drew Parks performed live in Glyfada, Athens, Greece.
2008-10: "Who is Drew32?" series, and early mixtapes
In early 2009, Drew Parks teamed up with DJ Mo Beatz on two mixtapes, Quarter Till Infinity and Twittermania. Both mixtapes combined Parks' original tracks with other popular songs. The song "Beyond Me", from the Quarter Till Infinity mixtape generated local radio play in Detroit, and the music video for "Beyond Me" received wide play including on FuseTV and Comcast OnDemand, and on the video programming inside Foot Locker and FYE stores nationally.
On December 15, 2009, Parks released the first of his "Who is Drew32?" mixtape series. Who is Drew32? Vol. 1 was followed by Take the World: Who is Drew32? Vol. 2, which was hosted by DJ Pauly D of MTV's hit television series, Jersey Shore.
On October 5, 2010, Drew Parks released the Sunrise on Your Dreams mixtape, which featured the singles "Get it Started" and "The Vibe", as well as a remix to "Monster" by Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Nicki Minaj. Parks' "Monster" remix was released on his iTunes podcast, reaching #1 on the iTunes Music Podcast charts and remaining charted at #1 most streamed and downloaded iTunes Music Podcast throughout October 2010.
2011-13: "The B.U.R.N. Project", "Label Me", and "The Batch" mixtapes
In early 2011, Drew Parks performed in the Fender Lodge at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, and in Austin, Texas at the 2011 SXSW Music Conference.
In October 2011, Drew Parks released The B.U.R.N. Project, a mixtape containing 18 original songs, and featuring the single "Spazz Out" - a collaboration track with Shady Records artist Royce da 5'9". Respect Magazine named Drew Parks "Detroit's Rookie of the Year" for 2011. The B.U.R.N. Project was also recognized by XXL Magazine, and ThisIs50.com. and was the subject of an August 2011 feature article on MTV Rapfix.
In October 2011, Drew Parks performed on J. Cole's Cole World Tour at the Royal Oak Music Theatre. In March 2012, Drew Parks became one of only 18 US artists selected by Billboard magazine to compete in the 2012 Billboard Music Awards Battle of the Bands competition. In April 2012, Drew Parks opened Grizzlypalooza, the spring show at Oakland University, which also featured the Gym Class Heroes, Kirko Bangz, and New Boyz.
On April 30, 2012, Drew Parks released a mixtape entitled Label Me, which was hosted by DJ Skee (of KIIS-FM and Sirius-XM Hip-Hop Nation), which features collaborations with Jon Connor (of Aftermath Entertainment), Shorty da Prince, and Slim the Mobster. Label Me was featured and mentioned on many top hip-hop sites including MTV.com and XXL. Label Me's lead single, "I Am King" (featuring Jon Connor) received airplay on Sirius XM station Shade45. Throughout February 2013, TV network ESPN played two of Drew Parks' songs, "New Level (featuring Shorty da Prince" and "I Am King (featuring Jon Connor), on their sports debate TV show First Take featuring Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith. The music video for "I Am King (featuring Jon Connor)" also received airplay on mtvU and debuted #1 on the MTV.com video charts the week of its release.
In August 2013, Drew Parks shared the stage with DJ Young Guru in a performance at the official Jay Z and Justin Timberlake Legends of the Summer Tour After Party in Detroit.
In August 2013, Drew Parks opened up a show for Kendrick Lamar at The Fillmore Detroit as a part of Bud Light's 50|50|1 concert series.
In November 2013, Drew Parks released The Batch: Volume One Mixtape on popular mixtape website DatPiff. It has achieved Bronze status on the site, indicating over 25,000 downloads. The Batch featured the single "True Colors" which got picked up by MTV On Demand in mid 2014.
2014-present: Name change and notable appearances
Throughout June 2014, ESPN aired two more of Drew Parks' songs, "Best in the World" and "Hello" on their sports debate TV Show First Take featuring Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith.
In June 2014, Drew Parks was one of 32 rappers in the world selected by BBC Radio 1Xtra in London, UK to represent their native country by performing a freestyle video for 1Xtra's coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Drew Parks' represented Greece and his World Cup Freestyle was featured on BBC Radio 1Xtra throughout June and July 2014.
In August 2014, Drew Parks performed alongside DJ Head and B-Smooth at the official Eminem and Rihanna Monster Tour After Party at The Fillmore Detroit which featured performances by Royce Da 5'9" and DJ Alchemist.
In August 2015, Drew Parks published a blog post on his official website that announced and explained him officially changing his musical stage name from Drew32 to Drew Parks. In the personal blog post, he also announced a new mixtape to be released sometime in 2015.
Discography
Albums
Singles
Mixtapes