Drapht

Drapht
Drapht at Metro City Concert Club, Perth, May 2011.
Background information
Birth name	Paul Gary James Ridge
Also known as	Drapht Paul Reid
Born	(1982-09-04) 4 September 1982 (age 34)
Origin	Mount Hawthorn, Western Australia, Australia
Genres	Australian hip hop
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Syllabolix Obese The Ayems
Associated acts	SBX, Bliss n Eso
Website	http://drapht.com.au/

Paul Reid, formerly Paul Gary James Ridge, (born 4 September 1982), better known by the stage name Drapht, is an Australian hip hop artist from Perth. Drapht is a member of the Syllabolix (SBX) crew, a collective that includes fellow Perth-based hip hop artists such as Downsyde.

Drapht grew up in North Perth, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth. His father, Gary Ridge, a jazz drummer introduced Drapht to music from a very young age—he first experienced hip hop at the age of eight. The name "Drapht" is based on a Western Australian Swan Brewery beer, Swan Draught; the company's logo was written on a watch that his father brought home when Drapht was 13 or 14.

Drapht attended Perth Modern School in Subiaco but was not involved in the school's music program. At school he became friends with Damien Allia (aka DJ Armee) who introduced him to hip hop via gigs at the Hyde Park Hotel.

Drapht became a vital part of Perth's hip hop crew, "Syllabolix", at the age of 17.

"I was extremely fortunate. Right place, right time. I was right in the middle of it all, I had access to one of the best producers at the time Dazastah, freestyle sessions at Hunter's and constant schooling from the rest of the MC's within the crew. So I was very blessed with it all." - Drapht

This involvement resulted in his first contributions being recorded and included on Hunter and Dazastah's 2000 debut album, Done DL, only months after he had started seriously writing.

Drapht's first track, "Misunderstood", was released as part of the Culture of Kings - Volume 3 release in 2003.

It was a song I wrote in a span of a day or so, and it was just lying around. So I had the opportunity to put it on Culture of Kings. And then it ended up being the opening track for the release, which was awesome. That definitely helped in the early days of my career."

His debut album, Pale Rider, was released in October 2003, with all production handled by Dazastah (Downsyde), Fdel and Drapht. Special appearances on the album include: Fdel (Invada Records), Downsyde, MC Layla, Hunter, Selekt, Carlsani and Porsah Lane.