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Rheez: Crossing Borders, a New Breed of Maltese HipHop Artist

Independent hip hop artist Rheez

Rheez is an independent hip hop artist looking to put Malta on the map for the rap game.

Even though we live in the digital age, it is not easy for artists looking to make it big. Especially for those who reside in locations where there is a lack of legitimate opportunities.

To overcome the struggles in such locations, there are usually two options:

  1. Make a move towards a major city or country, where there will be more creative scenes. Once you’ve established yourself in the right location you can gain a more in-depth knowledge of your creative craft. Also, you can take advantage of the services and financing opportunities, whilst building that all-important-network on more a more human level.
  2. Stay and hold down the fort by strengthening your base and building a precise plan of action. Regardless of any location, a digital blueprint should be a major part of how to take the market. Use what resources that are available around you. It’s never zero, you just have to work smarter and be more active, especially on the networking front. This should help you to make the necessary forward leaps that are needed.

Introducing Rheez – an artist that falls under the latter. He has chosen to stay in Malta and with his new single “BLANCO“, keep on the fight. We can safely say that Rheez’s efforts will elevate Malta’s rap scene to another level.

Catching up with Rheez 

Rheez
Rheez

Rheez was born in the UK and moved to Malta at an early age. Besides the hardships he has faced, there are no plans to relocate. Much like us here at Underground Sound he’s firmly placed his feet on the island he calls home.

“I’m always going to be here. I represent Malta and the talents it has to offer. I’m also not shy to the fact that I’m half English, and access to UK is a blessing. I definitely feel that my calling is to build the master plan for Maltese artists to achieve their vision”.

Rheez is constantly figuring out the music game and embracing the trial and error that comes along with it. He is self-funded and currently working as a marketing executive to make his plans a reality.

Rheez has a team around him that are based in Holland and the UK. Their main focus is to develop opportunities outside of Malta.

Growing beyond borders

Malta has an immense amount of talent. However, very few, especially in the hip hop scene are making any impact beyond it’s shores. This is down to a few reasons that range from lack of support, and a mental toughness of the individuals that’s required to take on the up’s and downs of the music industry.

Rheez however, is taking this challenge head on. He’s playing the game smart by constantly seeking both personal and artistic growth, through releasing raw and real music alongside high quality media productions.

This realness is shown in his lyrics, where he developed comfort in using his truth to deliver emotion on the stage and in his releases.

He’s pushing boundaries locally and forcing other artists in the scene to step up their game. Most importantly his mindset for growth goes way beyond Maltese borders.

Up until this point the team has created some fantastic campaign results, that have seen Rheez feature in several well established online music magazines.

Major magazine feature

Rheez Pe$0$
Rheez Pe$0$

It was a feature on thisis50.com that resulted in an increase of attention from the US, UK, and Australia. Rheez has now seen over 100,000 streams on Spotify and YouTube from this placement alone.

Now armed with an international target audience, his team will now focus their plans on growth. The plan is to use PR, playlist placement and promotional campaigns within these areas.

“I am going to take this to as far as it can go, and further. As for Malta it is a tough cookie to chew. It’s difficult for an artist here and even more so as a hip hop artist. This this is due to a lack of market”.

Rheez – The game is not based on sympathy

The marketing efforts in Malta have largely been down to Rheez. However, there has been support from his in-house team. These efforts have seen a strong social push alongside local PR and advertising efforts.

Also, a smart move to appear on X Factor Malta gave him the push he needed to further his name and brand to a mass Maltese audience.

“I believe on a local level that the people will resonate and be ready to get behind me. It’s unfortunate that people restrict themselves from backing their boy, but the game isn’t based on sympathy.”

As artists will know, the struggle to make an impact in the ultra-competitive music industry is all too real. The issues range from a lack of identity, self-belief and a lack of funding. These issues can also extend to being around the wrong people.

Although Rheez now has the right team around him, it is something that has taken time to build. He’s stayed true to himself by always speaking his truth at all costs. This truth reflects the shape of the music he releases.

“If you got a vision, make plans. Execute it, If it fails pick yourself back up and try again. Do this music for yourself nobody else. The rest will fall in place.”

Rheez’s latest single release BLANCO

Latest Release BLANCO
Latest Release BLANCO

This week Rheez dropped his latest single titled “BLANCO”. The new track is crammed with lyrical wordplay and a hard hitting UK grime type beat.

Take a page out of our book and keep your eyes on Reeze. #maltaonthemap

Rheez Socials


Written by Ian Hinksman

Ian Hinksman is the Director and Co-Founder of Underground Sound. He leads the organization with over a decade of experience in the music and events industries.

Ian was the Co-Founder of Alternative Obsessions, an event promotion that brought alternative bands to Malta running guerrilla marketing campaigns.

He has managed projects in the media, marketing and real estate sectors and is well-versed in SEO content strategy.

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