Hard work and perseverance are important characteristics for any rapper to make it in hip-hop. That's what makes Haddy Racks stand out from the rest in 2016. The Bronx native went from local MC to a buzzing artist by outworking the competition and thinking out of the box. After releasing his DJ Kay Slay mixtape Racketeering in January and his debut album, Resume, in June, Racks got creative and released a mixtape through Instagram titled Mixtagram in AugustCreative ideas like this are the reason he'll be a step ahead of the pack.

Now he's already working on his next effort. "I’m currently working on a mixtape titled New York Gritty and that's set to release sometime in October," he says. "Right now I’m in the studio with Vinny Idol. Just staying busy and doing a lot of shows, I’ve been doing shows with Cormega. 2016 has been motivation. I wasn’t able to get a XXL interview a year ago so when I see progress I just want to see how far I can take it."

With momentum on his side, Haddy Racks aims to be the newest New York rapper with a promising career path.

Name: Haddy Racks

Age: 29

Hometown: Bronx, N.Y.

I grew up listening to: “I grew up listening to Biggie Smalls, The LOX, Scarface. Music has always been a part of me. It’s always been in my house. My mother would listen to music. I grew up listening to like LL Cool J. That was my first idol. I would go to school and I would rap a lot of LL rhyme or a lot of Biggie rhymes and people would always be excited when I rap them [lyrics]. I seen the attention and I fell in love with the attention I was getting. I started to write my own lyrics and from there I kept on going."

"What made me take rap really serious is when I was about 19, 20 years old and I hooked up with Buckwild from D.I.T.C. and he told me he liked my music and we started recording. I grew up to listening to records he produced. So once I got his attention and seen the response I got from him I was like maybe I could take this serious and I just kept going from there."

"I think I bring a reality, everyday life to the music world from my perspective. I think I bring a realness to the music industry that people can relate to."

Most people don’t know: “I’m really just a cool guy. A lot of people say I got an aura about me and I’m unapproachable when I’m not. I’m just a humble dude. I’m very open and I’m very loyal. I think when a lot of people listen to the music they think I’m super, mega hard but I’m not. I’m just the coolest guy you’ll ever meet. I just give you my life."

My style’s been compared to: “I get compared to Jadakiss, Nas, Jay Z, DMX but I would describe my sound as a combination of all of that. I’m heavily influenced by the people I named earlier. [My sound] is a golden era 1990s feel with a 2016. All of your favorite lyrical artists, if that makes sense."

My standout records or moments to date have been: “My standout track is ‘Resume.’ It opened up a lot of doors for me and a lot more people was exposed to Haddy Racks. My standout moment was when I got the chance to re-record DMX’s 'Slippin.' I did the remake over it with an actual video and I got to let DMX see the video and rap it to him. For DMX to stop all those people in the club for me and zone out that was amazing."

My goal in hip-hop is: “Just to bring substance back to music. I always thought that music was very diverse and you have your down South music, West Coast music, East Coast music, Midwest music. I feel like it’s not as diverse for me when I was growing up. What I want to bring back into hip-hop is substance music. Everybody is not able to go into the club and buy 500 bottles and drop 20 bands. I want to be the voice of the people who can’t do it. So when I make it, it gives them hope that they can do it. I want to give hope to people who follow Haddy Racks."

I’m gonna be the next: “People already say that I’m going to be the next top 10 dude in New York City or dude on the East Coast."

Follow Haddy Racks on Twitter and SoundCloud.

Standout: "Resume"

"Slick Talk"

Racketeering

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