Blood Raw

by Cyril CordorA member of Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy's coke-rap trio U.S.D.A., Panama City, FL, native Blood Raw (b. Bruce Falson) began his rap career while serving a six-year bid in Florida prison during the mid-?90s. There he first developed his rhyme skills and earned the "Blood Raw" moniker (which is local slang for "the truth"). Upon his release in 1998, he relocated to Atlanta to work for his uncle at a local rap hotspot called the Hip-Hop Café. Inspired by the many up-and-coming acts that graced the venue, Blood Raw moved back to Panama City in 1999 to start a rap crew of his own. He eventually crossed paths with Young Jeezy performing at the same show as he in small town Dothan, AL. Deflecting interest from T.I.'s Grand Hustle imprint, Asylum, and other labels, Blood Raw joined Jeezy's U.S.D.A. outfit and signed with the Atlanta rapper's Corporate Thugz Entertainment (CTE) in 2004. Two years prior, the Panama City rapper had found himself in murky water again with the law, facing federal drug-trafficking charges. However, he was acquitted of all counts in 2006, which was just in time to promote the official, U.S.D.A. Def Jam-released mixtape, Cold Summer (2007). He also hit the Southern mixtape scene with a few solo street albums, including the DJ Drama-assisted Indictment Papers and DJ Smallz-helmed The Street Love Blood Raw, in anticipation of his CTE debut.