About Draztik

Thursday, 17 May 2007

Draztik - Twitter Updates! follow me on Twitter Follow me on Twitter Now! BIOGRAPHY Dave Balsher aka “Draztik” was born in Francistown, Botswana. Draztik grew up in Northern California and spent his early years being inspired by the sounds of Bob Marley,  Marvin Gaye, Earth Wind And Fire, Bobby Womack, Brenda Fassie, Ojays, Sam Cooke to name a few Draztik’s music career began when he moved back to Botswana and met up with musicians IQ and Slim. He later travelled to South Africa and formed Cashless Society together with fellow musicians Snaz, X Amount, Black Intellect. By 1998 Draztik decided to start his own record label (Unreleased Records). The Cashless Society single “Blaze the Breaks” was to later release through independent distribution through Fondle’em Records in New York and also in South Africa. Whilst travelling between South Africa and Botswana, Draztik went on to work for the Botswana national radio station - (RB2). He put together the first official hip hop radio show which was sponsored by the leading Cellular network – Mascom. It ran every Wednesday for 2 years. The show which was co-produced/presented by Slim, was developed to entertain, educate and address many issues within hiphop including giving artists a platform for local music. In the same year Draztik promoted the first international hip hop act Dead Prez, who at the time were one of the biggest artists under Sony’s independent label (Loud Records), with 2 million copies of their debut album sold. They performed in Botswana as part of their African tour. The show was later featured in an article in the one of the biggest international music magazines -“Source Magazine”.   In 2003 Draztik went back into studio to lay down the ground work to a full length album by Cashless Society. The album was later distributed through Sony/BMG records. The album featured the hit singles "Hottentot Hop Bantu 1,2" and "Taxi Wars". Cashless Society highlights went as far being featured on Black Entertainment (BET) website. In 2005 Cashless Society fell apart, Draztik met up with Young Nations to produce the “Nations Uprising” album and which we licensed through Gallo Record Company. The album was produced by alongside Grammy nominee “Megahertz”. The first single "Zwakala Emzansi" featured Ray Phiri which embodied an old classic Stimela song Called "Zwakala- Come to me". Draztik also produced music for Zuluboy’s debut album, the single “Love is Faded” was became a top 40 hit on Metro FM and was on high rotation across South African radio stations.   In the same year Draztik was asked to be a part of the first South African Hiphop Summit, which hosted many international acts, representatives in the recording industry and media. He sat on the panel for some of the Hiphop workshops that were held throughout the week. In 2008 Draztik went on to produce the first and only hiphop commercial ever on CNN International for their program “Inside Africa”, it featured Young Nations and Snaz from Cashless Society. The commercial went on to air internationally across all CNN and Turner Broadcasting Network. In the same year Draztik Signed Imbube to Unreleased Records and produced Imbube’s “Hip Hop” Theatre album which included the chart topping single “Ama Vuvuzela (remix)”, which features HHP, Young Nations, F-eezy and El Nino. The song is currently endorsed by SAFA for promoting the national soccer team “Bafana Bafana” in south Africa. Current Production credits includes Young Nations “U.nited S.tates Of A.frica” and F-eezy “Skelem 4 $ale”. Draztik’s production credits span over various albums, soundtracks, radio & Tv commercials, with the following production for - Prokid, HHP, Zuluboy, Imbube, F-eezy, Young Nations,  Cashless Society, Flabba from Skwatta Kamp, Maggz, Whosane – Pangaea, Channel O shows: Amplified & Call In, Yizo-Yizo 3 TV Show, Music for CNN “Inside Africa” Commercial, City of Johannesburg 2013 Corporate Video, Imbizo Street Mixtapes Vol 1, Nokia Hype Sessions Mix CD Vol 1, 16,17.  Draztik Productions on Myspace In 2003 I went back into studio to lay down the ground work to "African Raw Material Vol 1" the first full length album for Cashless Society. The album to be later distributed through Sony/BMG records. The album featured the hits "Hottentot Hop Bantu 1,2" , "Taxi Wars", "Summer Craze", and "831" and "Words 4 Real" all except Taxi Wars and 831 were produced by myself. In 2004 I won the Producer of the Year award at the Botswana Hiphop Music  Awards. I Also took second place on Africas Gateway .com "Hiphop Indaba" Producer of the Year awards. In 2005 when Cashless Society fell apart, I hooked up with Young Nations to produce the ?Nations Uprising? album and have it licensed through Gallo Record Company. The album is produced by alongside Megahertz. The first single "Zwakala Emzansi" features Ray Phiri which embodies an old classic Stimela song Called "Zwakala- Come to me". It was an idea I had for many years to feature our own legendary musicians, it?s was a breakthrough in South African hiphop, because unlike most music hiphop samples, we managed to get Ray Phiri to replay the parts of the classic song that I would use to produce the record. In 2006 I was also involved in the first South African Hiphop Summit, which hosted many international acts, representatives in the record label industry and media. I sat on the panel for some of the Hiphop workshops that were held throughout the week. My production credits from South Africa to Botswana include the following albums and soundtracks: Cashless Society Young Nations Prokid Zuluboy Flabba (Skwatta Kamp) Yizo-Yizo 3 TV Show SilverTab Harambe Dope Sessions Music for CNN ?Inside Africa? Television Commercial Music for Castle Lager "Bafana Bafana 2010 Promo" Radio Commercial Imbizo Street Mixtapes Vol1  Nokia Hype Sessions Mix CD Vol 1 Nokia Hype Sessions Mix CD Vol 15 Maggz Snaz D Apollo Diablo Zues Stagga Orakle City of Johannesburg 2013 Corporate Video I have performed and shared the stage with many industry acts including and not limited to: Dead Prez Gangstarr Blackalious DJ Bobbito Mr Len Skwatta Kamp Prokid HHP Read more Add comment (0) Hits: 1594