D.R.A.M. Spreads Positivity Throughout the El Rey Theatre

Joseph Baura

Shelley Marshaun Massenburg-Smith is quite the mouthful, so becoming an artist under the name D.R.A.M. was a necessary move to simplify things. The acronym, which stands for “Dope. Real. Ass. Music.” is as simple as it gets when describing what D.R.A.M. is all about. Getting into music at a very young age through singing in his church, D.R.A.M. always had his ear tuned towards singing with soul, but the influence of Virginia based artists like Pharrell and Clipse who ruled king during his teen years pulled him towards hip–hop. After roughly two years in the music business, D.R.A.M.’s blend of genres and his overwhelmingly positive persona are hard to ignore. With the release of his song “Cha Cha,” which directly inspired Drake’s “Hotline Bling,” his now double platinum song with Lil Yachty, “Broccoli,” and the release of his debut album, 2017 is set up to surely be his breakout year. D.R.A.M took to the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles for an intimate performance to a sold out crowd.

D.R.A.M took to the El Rey stage with a live band behind him, was very welcomed in the very intimate venue. Upon walking on stage, D.R.A.M. was all smiles as he got into his performance, but that’s just an everyday thing for the always positive rapper. Despite only having one album to his name, D.R.A.M. made sure that fans got a healthy dose of soul as he performed songs from his album including “Get It Myself,” and “WiFi,” featuring Erkykah Badu. Fans were buzzing, hoping that Young Thug would perform “Misunderstood” with D.R.A.M., but were not disappointed when D.R.A.M. carried the song all on his own. The biggest reaction from the fans was when D.R.A.M. performed “Broccoli,” by loudly singing along to the song’s chorus as D.R.A.M. laughed while holding the microphone out to the audience.

With all of the positivity floating around the El Rey, it was hard to see D.R.A.M.’s performance end. With the year he has ahead of him, there’s no doubt that D.R.A.M. will be back in LA. sometime soon.

D.R.A.M. brought smiles and positivity to the El Rey Theatre on Feb. 11.