Most musicians start at a young age, but not many of them can say they started back when they were only 13.      

Sophomore Flaviu D. realized his talent in being able to string words together that rhyme and flow when he was in the seventh grade. Influenced by Eminem, Tupac, and Nas, he has been rapping ever since.      

His reason for taking influence from those artists was simple.      

“These rappers actually rapped about life, instead of all that trash on the radio about swagger and cars and girls and money and whatnot,” he said. “Then when I noticed them rapping about their situations, I asked myself, ‘Why not me? Why don’t I do that?’”      

Flaviu doesn’t rap every day, only when he “gets that vibe” to rap.      

“Sometimes it’s every day, sometimes it’s once a week,” he said. “It just comes and goes.”      

Having already competed in two talent shows, Flaviu recently competed in Houston’s Next Great Rap Star competition. Although, at 16 he was actually ineligible to win the competition because the minimum age was 18.      

“I just got in there to be heard,” he said.      

Although Flaviu did not win the competition, he received a lot of praise and views for his  YouTube video entry.        

Flaviu advises any aspiring rapper to keep trying, to think outside of the box, and to use their circumstances to their advantage.      

“When a rapper is happy, he’ll be okay, and when he’s mad, he’ll do great,” Flaviu said, “but when a rapper’s sad, that’s when his best material comes out of him. But he needs confidence, even when he’s sad, or he won’t write anything.”      

He hopes to pursue a future in the rap industry.      

“Why not make a revolution? Why not revive this hip-hop and even combine it with other genres and be like a revolutionary figure in music?”