Name: Astro (The Astronomical Kid/Brian Bradley)
Locality: Brooklyn, NY, USA
Crayon color: Aqua Green—being cool + having money flow simultaneously.
The Story: 15-year-old Astro grew up in Brownsville, BK, listening to KRS-1, A Tribe Called Quest, and Rakim. It was at that time, through his early years of rapping, that he cultivated his sound. Through the mixtapes Birth of Astro, The Chosen One, and The Chosen One: Reloaded (hosted by Hot 97) Astro gained fans, especially for the single “Stop Looking At My Mom!”
Astro was featured in NY Daily News and CW11 in October 2010 before making it on 106 & Park’s “Music Matters” feature on BET the next March. He performed his hit song “Stop Looking At My Mom” there, to a screaming crowd, only to get bigger when he auditioned for the X-Factor.
Bradley auditioned on the US version of X-Factor in April of 2011, and when the show went live last September, everyone was hit with the brunt of “Stop Looking At My Mom!” An instant hit, Astro had strong performances throughout the season, to songs that he would rewrite the lyrics to. Yes, he writes his own rhymes (!).
Astro placed 7th in the competition, but it wasn’t long before mentor L.A. Reid scooped The Astronomical Kid, along with other mentees Marcus Canty and Chris Rene, to spots on the Epic Records imprint. The Kid is already in the studio working with Boi-1-da.
Just recently, Astro has released two mixtapes, LΦSER, where he raps and produces, and a set of beats entitled Masterminds that he produced along with his bud Laron Wages (Astro plays the role of the artist maven Basquiat, while Laron plays the role of creative artist Keith Haring).
What does The Astronomical Kid have to say about all of this? “2011 was Dope, but 2012 is gonna be Epic!”
Coloring Outside The Lines: It becomes redundant to jump on every young rapper that hits the scene. Right? In this case, wrong. Astro has an energy, a performing force, the power to move. He has the confidence of someone twice his age, and hasn’t resorted to rapping about vanities or bragging about luxuries to do so. Besides the fact that he always gives quite the concrete answers in his interviews, his music reflects the same. The potential of this kid is astronomical!
Think: Mixtapes/Albums as chapters in the book entitled, “My Career”- gets better with each page, the entire audience actually waving their hands from side to side on command, not trying too hard, rapper bravado (n). blustering swaggering conduct (MW).
Propers: WPIX ; Daily News; BET; Astro Official Website; Astro Twitter
