R2DaEz

Being the younger cousin to Kurupt exposed a young Travis Mulrain very early to music. Wanting to rap as early as seven, identifying artists by their record label became a thing by the age of 8. By ten years old, Travis had already been writing raps and already knew that he wanted something to do with the recording industry. Growing up in Philadelphia rapping to instrumental tapes, Travis adopted the moniker Rex, and has been known as such ever since.

In 1998 when Kurupt visited Philly to record the “Ask Yourself A Question” music video, Rex was in attendance. His father, who taught Kurupt how to rap, brought him along. At the video shoot, he met Dr. Dre at 12 years old. Although he didn’t get a chance to rap, Rex managed to shake hands and get a picture. This experience only made the music industry all the more obtainable to him.

In 2001 Ez began to structure songs once he met a young Cardiak in middle school. Working on over 200 songs with Cardiak allowed Rex to put together about ten complete projects. Due to a hard drive crash, they had to start from scratch. Rex didn’t allow this to slow up the flow. Fresh out of high school, Cardiak invited Rex to HelloWorld Studios to craft new songs assisted by Willingboro NJ native, Dilemma. Considering this the artist development stage, Rex continued to hone his songwriting skills. This two-year run of sessions turned R2DaEz into a seasoned writer, penning hooks for anyone Cardiak was working with at the time.

In 2008 his first official mixtape sold 10k physical copies in Philly and Jersey alone. Keeping the momentum, Rex dropped a follow-up mixtape in 2010. Working closely with Cardiak took a turn when assisting on tracks like the “On My Way” remix became Lloyd Banks’ “Unexplainable” with Styles P. Seeing the success of “Start It Up” firsthand, R2 decided to take producing more seriously. By 2012 R2 saw his beats reaching artists like Drag-On and Reed Dollaz.

The following year he dove back into battle rapping to gain a name in the rap world on a more direct platform for noticing his wordplay, while pushing his pen on more mixtapes. Putting his all into the push of his projects, he would travel all over with a bookbag of CDs — catching buses and trains to New York, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Rex then dropped a “Who Da Phukk” mixtape series three months in a row, gathering attention for the debut album Cerebro, released August 2015.

Diving so far into perfecting his sound as a producer paid off big in 2017 when R2 got on major albums like Tank’s Savage. Co-producing the record “You Belong to Me” with Cardiak only tightened their bond. That bond led R2DaEz to Hollywood, CA, where they worked on several songs with Tiara Thomas. Hollywood was a pivot in networking — meeting acts like Babyface, Kevin McCall, Lil Debbie and LeftBrain, attending sessions with Hitmaka, and receiving invites to write for multiple projects through Atlantic and Universal. A chain of events allowed Ez to appear on a Netflix series; not long after Magic For Humans aired, many people from back home recognized Rex. With attention back on him as an artist, 2019’s Rose Colored Glasses arrived as a third-eye equivalent to Cerebro’s brain.

Condensed from the biography published on r2daezmusic.com. No claims have been added or strengthened.