Meet Rory Fresco, an 18-year-old rapper from Kansas City and the latest signee to L.A. Reid's Epic Records. His signing is based off the strength of his two-month-old track "Lowkey," which currently has over 1.7 million plays on Fresco's soundcloud, on which he has five other tracks. Well, that 1.7 million didn't actually come off "strength" alone -- as we reported earlier this year, "Lowkey" was the track that soundcloud, based on some algorithm, selected to play after Kanye West's "Real Friends," which dropped on January 8.
As "Real Friends" has gone on to land on Kanye's latest album, The Life of Pablo, released exclusively on TIDAL, the track is no longer available to stream on soundcloud. Before the album's release, though, millions upon millions listened through "Real Friends" on the online streaming site, and many stuck around for the track that randomly came after: Rory Fresco's "Lowkey."
One doesn't get a deal with L.A. Reid just by getting a million plays on soundcloud, and it turns out most of those who stumbled upon "Lowkey" after "Real Friends" enjoyed what they heard. In many cases, they went on to check out his other tracks, thus furthering his buzz.
Apparently, as relayed by Fresco to Pigeons & Planes, the Kansas City rapper/singer had been trying to set up a showcase for L.A. Reid for "a while" when the Epic Records boss finally agreed to check him out. "Well, he came off his book tour for a day just to see me and I blew him away," said Fresco.
It seems a deal was put forth then and there, and Fresco couldn't help but give the longtime mogul his signature: "I decided to sign because I wanted to get to the next level. My plan was never to be an underground artist. I want to be the biggest in the world."
Fresco's signing has been confirmed by Epic. Watch the "Lowkey" video below.