F  L  A  U  N  T

 [Drei Ros](https://www.instagram.com/dreiros/?hl=en) is a gem in the music industry, not only creating music with substance but standing up for what’s right. Hailing from Eastern Europe, the international recording artist prides himself in his ability to touch the masses from all walks of life, no matter where you are on the planet. When it comes to being an immigrant, he lets you know you’re not alone. Moving to the States at a very young age, Drei has been rapping and singing for the past decade — most recently producing for other artists and even getting into management. Carving out his own distinct lane, his unique sound transcends genres and defies boundaries. Being bilingual himself, he switches off between rapping in both English and Romanian. In any case, Drei is proud to be growing. His most powerful song to date arrives in the form of “Excuse My Accent,” featuring black Artist Rob Young and Puerto Rican artist Sharlene. The record serves as a dramatic rally cry for human rights, while shedding light on the immigrant experience in the States. Truth, struggle, and hope are the takeaways, with goals of uplifting one another. Flaunt caught up with Drei via Instagram Live, who had his producer and friends over on this fine Saturday in the valley. Read below as we discuss his roots in Romania, building his international fanbase, vision with “Excuse My Accent,” studio essentials, and more!  **Talk about being Romanian and your roots back home.** I grew up there. Even at an early age, I was a big fan of hip-hop and R&B. When I got the chance to move here with my family, I was 16 and really embraced the culture. Started by burning CDs and giving them to my friends. Back then, music was released on Tuesday, not Friday. I used to always download all the new music and burn it for my friends. I played basketball, my teammates asked “where’s the new music at?” Stared rapping in 2004, my dad was sick. He had liver cancer, so I went back to Romania with him because he wanted to die back home. In the studio in my hometown for the first time, I recorded my first rap verse in Romania and fell in love with it.  In 2009, I was living in Seattle and created a group called BOSS, Building Our Success Story. Me and two guys, one from Seattle and one from Inglewood. They said “you can't be rapping in Romanian, you gotta start rapping in English.” At first, I’m like “you guys do English, I’ll do Romanian.” \[laughs\] I started working on my English rap and slowly got better. Everybody’s talking about my accent: “yo, you have a strong accent.” One day on the phone, my partner RobYoung said “you should do a song called ‘Excuse My Accent’, tell people to accept you for who you really are. Don't judge me because of my accent.” It’s bigger than me. It’s about everybody because everybody has an accent nowadays. Everybody comes from a different place. **“Excuse My Accent” is such a powerful record, talk about getting RobYoung who’s black, and Sharlene who’s Puerto Rican.** We tried to make it about everybody. I’m Eastern European, Rob’s African American, Sharlene’s Latina. We wanted to make it an anthem to bring everybody together no matter where you’re from. I’m working on an international remix for “Excuse My Accent” with people from all over the world rapping in their own language, it’s going to be crazy. I already got a verse from my friend A.Y. from Tanzania, he’s rapping in Swahili. I got a verse from my friend Skull from Korea. My friend Sicario is doing a verse in German. That will continue the legacy of “Excuse My Accent.”  **Are you rapping in English or Romanian?** I’ll rap in Romanian on that one, because we’re trying to have everybody rapping in their own language. I’m a little nervous because I haven’t rapped in Romanian in a minute. I’ll put a lot of thought in the lyrics, I’ll make it work.  **Was it hard when you first tried to rap in English?** It was really hard for me. Romanian language, I’m having trouble pronouncing the “th” words. Like “something,” you have to stick the tongue out. I have a very good sound engineer, he helps me a lot with my pronunciation. You want to make the songs perfect, you know? **Can you explain the visual, what was your vision?** When I finished the song, I contacted my friend Richard Stan who lives in Romania. I said “hey Richard, I really want to put a visual behind this record. Do you have any ideas?” He heard it like “yo this song is crazy, let me think of something.” Two weeks later, he hit me back with the whole concept. “Drei, you think you could make this happen?” I thought “man this is going to be very expensive. All the actors, etc. **And you’re independent right?** I’m independent, I do everything with my team, I don't have a big label behind, I did everything out of my own pocket. I saw the vision, he’s describing everything with the frozen scenes.  I said “man, let’s make this happen.” He came to LA. My friend Tian Liu (amazing producer and director) from China helped me cast all the actors. We casted over a thousand actors, took the best 60. The location’s so expensive, I was negotiating with them like “please stay two more hours.” \[laughs\] It was intense, a big crew. The biggest project I did to date, it was exciting. I hope people get the chance to see it, make them want to share and show it to their friends.  **What’s one thing you want people to take away from the video?** We try to show stuff behind the scenes in the United States for the past few decades. The same things happening now, were happening 10, 20, 30 years ago. To show the different scenarios, to show we’re all vulnerable. We have to stick together and help each other to change the world for a better place. African Americans, Latinos, everybody’s going through things. There’s division between all of us, but we’re all going through similar things. Only together we can really make a change. Put those things in the past and move towards the future, a better world for us and our kids. The next generation. People don’t talk about this, but it’s been happening for so long. Be positive, move on and make this a better place.  **A lot of artists strive for that crossover success. How did you manage to find such a big international fanbase?** At first, I was chasing it too, I wanted to make the best songs. Always thinking radio, what can I do to get as much success as possible. I went back to my roots: rapping and doing what I like. Follow your heart and do music from your heart, people will relate and feel it. If you’re trying to do things that are forced, nobody’s going to connect to it. It doesn’t matter who’s on the record with you, how much money you spent on the video. It’s all about connecting directly to your audience, make them feel like they know you and like the message and vibe of the song.   **3 things you need in the studio?** I don’t drink, I don’t smoke. I need my engineer because he’s the best. I need my producer and that’s it, I’m good. I’m an organic artist, I don’t need anything to get me going.  **Who are you into in the US?** I really want to do a song with Drake one day, I heard this new kid Fivio \[Foriegn\] from New York, I want to do a song with him. I told my producer who knows him, “let’s get him on a record before he blows up.” So many talented people. I listen to a lot of Latin music too. I heard the new Nas, he’s dope. I have a secret project with him, tryna put something big together. I’ma turn into DJ Khaled on that one. \[laughs\] I’m waiting for vocals from Buju Banton, then I want to show it to Nas after. They both respect each other a lot but a legend won’t reach out to another legend to work. I’ma be the middle guy who reaches out to both of them. **How are you so tapped in in all these international markets?** The US market is so competitive. It’s hard to break in on the major scale so I always look to diversify, to build bridges between different genres and different countries. On my next singles, I’m getting big artists from the States and the Latin market or Europe. I like combining different artists on tracks, I enjoy doing that. I’m very likable so people build a strong relationship with me. It’s very easy to make it happen, I have the networking talent I guess.  **You’re one degree of separation away from everyone you want to work with.**  Definitely. It’s all about your reputation, always doing good business. Always doing the right thing so the door stays open. Since I moved to LA, my thing’s to develop strong relationships and don’t look for quickies. That doesn’t last. It’s all about being loyal and doing good business, it’s a matter of time until you end up in the same room with the right people.  **What do you do for fun?** I like to workout, I try to workout 5 times a week. I like to play basketball, go to the beach, hiking, healthy stuff. I like to travel a lot, but we’re stuck. I wanted to go to Europe but they told me I have to stay 14 days in quarantine when I get there, so I’m chillin’. Most of the countries have this law in place where you have to be for 14 days.  **Craziest place you’ve been?** Guatemala. I had a song over there on the radio, they asked if I wanted to come for a promo tour. I went to the countryside, it was intense. Very underdeveloped. Radio stations only had the poster with the logo, and an old computer. Iit was a nice experience. I liked it but it was much different than I expected. Good vibes, it was nice.  **How many languages can you speak?** I speak Romainain and I’m working on my Spanish. I understand a lot. I know a lot of words but still struggling trying to put sentences together. I did French in school for seven years, I know “bonjour” and that’s it. I’m not a language person. I’m trying my best but some people have a talent for it. They can learn languages so easily but it takes me a while. **One thing fans may not know about you?** Sometimes they might think I’m a little more gangster but I’m a really nice guy. If you get to know me, I’m a nice guy, I’m not that gangster. \[laughs\] **Goals for yourself?** I want to promote “Excuse My Accent” and build a media company, continue to release good music. When things get back to normal, start touring and promoting. Slowly build my production and management company, find talented people and help them move faster than I did. Show them the shortcuts. I’ll always be involved in music, I have such a big passion. Keep spreading positive vibes.