When asked who are some the hardest working Hip Hoppers in Jacksonville "Duval" Florida. One of the names that come to mind would be RAW from No Luv. Growing up near the birthplace of Hip-Hop, in his hometown of Philadelphia, P.A., RAW's love for music and Hip-hop began at an early age. Having many influences, one that stands out is his family. Guided into Hip-hop by his older and younger brothers, they exposed him to the various arts surrounding Hip-Hop. As a change in pace, RAW's family decided to move to Jacksonville, FL. Which helped him uncover the Genre of southern Hip-Hop even more. When asked which is more influential in his music. RAW states "It would be an injustice to try and name all of the artist that have influenced me. I love all regions and all genres." Attributing his skills for versatility, to the appreciation he has for all regions.
One of the first works RAW put out, with his newly formed group "No Luv," was the single "Roll Wit it Stroll Wit it", which instantly became a hot item on the streets. After seeing the reaction from fans, No Luv then decided to provide a full length album "Who 2 Trust" which featured the talent of members Mr. Floyd, B, T. Dirty, and Go. "Who 2 Trust" began getting a buzz immediately, with approximately 2000 albums being sold. Shortly there after, the group had to deal with the loss of their close friend and member Go, whom after his life being taken to soon, became "The Late Great Go". After experiencing the repercussions of the loss of his friend, RAW began pushing the album even harder. "Who 2 Trust" was the last thing Go's voice was on. I wanted the whole world to know how great of a rapper he was. I decided that everyone was going to hear my dawg ride." RAW began pushing "Who 2 Trust" day in and day out. Which is why to this day, he is known as one of the hardest grinders in Duval. "There wasn't a club, or parking lot I didn't walk in without having No Luv CD's in my hand." The end result being close to 20,000 "Who 2 Trust" albums sold to date. RAW continued his momentum with "No Luv", and received the same response with the various projects that followed.
As time moved on, RAW decided that it may be time to pursue a solo career. Still wanting everyone to know that he would always be apart of "No Luv", he birthed the name "RAW from No Luv".
Once solo, RAW's momentum stayed steady with two EP's "Ghetto 2 Ghetto" and "Hate Motivated", as well as a full-length album "This Life I kno". The album sales still continuing as successful as the first, RAW feels like a great deal of he success is due to the realness of his music. " I don't really fabricate anything in my music, sometimes I might change the names, but I am speaking on my life, or one of my peeps lives. These are stories I feel should be told." With the journey into his solo projects, he now has learned the art of producing his own beats, which he feels makes his music 100% better and realer, as he can provide his true feel in his music.
Living up to his title "Grinder of the Year", RAW keeps busy with working on up and coming projects. The first being, a new compilation album "GSB" which features some new and former members of "No Luv", the new RAW from No Luv album, and mixtapes for various artist and DJ's. Aside from his various projects RAW still pushes his album in the streets every day, and works on his website WWW.DUVALCOUNTYLUV.COM, which is an outlet he provided for local "Duval" artists to network, and get feedback on their work. With all of this on his plate, RAW still finds time to provide one of the liveliest, most energetic performances you can come across in Jacksonville. Whether it be getting in the crowd to get people involved, or jumping from one end of the stage to the other, RAW's energy is full blast from the moment he steps on stage, till the moment he steps off. "My voice is damn near gone, and my body is tired, but I will do it every night, and give them even more every time. I want to leave knowing I gave my fans 200%."
Written by A. F. Bradley
