He’s the type of brother you might see on campus and casually walk by, shoot a quick glance and keep it moving. But, Rah’Saan Alexander, also known as Caj, is destined for greatness in the hip-hop industry and putting Tallahassee on the map.
Caj, a member of local rap group Street Team Entertainment, is branching out on a solo project entitled Cajmere Thoughts, which will be released Dec 11. The first single off his solo project entitled “Ride with Us,” can be heard on local radio stations.
According to the senior broadcast student from Brooklyn, N.Y., by way of Georgetown, Guyana, the album is a collection of daily thoughts that sprout in his mind.
He compares his disposition to the illustrious material of cajmere–not too hard and definitely not too soft. Hence the title Cajmere Thoughts.
Caj said he loved the accomplishments he made with Street Team Entertainment, which include having six songs played on local radio stations without obtaining a record deal. But, he felt the need to address some of the rumors and fallacies lingering over his style, music and representation.
“I’ve had to address the ‘where you from issue a lot,” Caj said. “When people hear me rep BK, some people, like the ones who know me from when I lived in Miami, think I’m trying to be something I’m not.”
He said he move to Brooklyn, N.Y. when he was 10 years old and live there during his influential teenage years.
Under the umbrella-like guidance of his two older brothers living in New York, he absorbed the city’s culture and style.
When Caj moved to Miami at the age of 17 years-old, he brought along with him his love for the state he calls home.
“I never really had a chance to be exposed to the southern state of style and never had a chance for it to be instilled in me,” Caj said.
“I was trying to be like my brothers and they never really like the South, so as a younger sibling it didn’t stick. But, I have love for the South, too.”
Caj looks at his album as a welcoming door into his life and hopes people will gain a clearer picture about him.
“I hear a lot of people say that New Yorkers have attitudes, but I think most of them are confusing attitudes for being confident,” Caj said. He said he’s an approachable guy who likes to have fun, but give off a flashy, “bling, bling” vibe.
Every song holds a place in this local star’s humble heart, but there are several songs that touch him more.
For example, Away addresses the issues he had with his father and was cheated the chance to say before his father passed. Caj, who was only 15 years old when his father died of cancer, revealed the emptiness he felt during his teen years.
“Everything about life, I had to learn by myself. Everything from love, sex, and just trying to be a man was done through trial and error,” Caj said.
In the trial and error segments of his life a song entitled Choices was conceived. This song addresses the choice he made to have two abortions by two different girls and how it affected his life.
“I think about how life would have been different and I regret it now,” said Caj. “It’s like a double-edge sword. I would have had two seeds right now, but then I wouldn’t been the chance to do my music.”
Although Caj has not been signed to a contract, he’s received accolades and opportunities most people can only dream about. He was flown all expenses paid to Atlanta for Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def future Star Search and performed for his “Can I live” party and has shared the stage Cam’ron, JT Money, Amil Larieux, Mobb Deep and Donell Jones.