Rav

Photo from Rav's Spotify

**Rav** is the Soviet-born founder of EXOCIETY. Currently roaming the United States, Rav makes independent rap music full time.

### Spotify Description

> *I was born in the USSR a few weeks before it was dissolved, so I ended up spending much of my formative years in the post-Soviet Union slums, raised by a single, young mother. Since that corner of the world was suddenly no longer shielded from the outside world of arts and entertainment, my exposure to media consisted of a lot of weird Soviet cartoons, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Sailor Moon.*
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> *In the mid 90s, before I was really exposed to Hip-Hop, I was obsessed with Michael Jackson when it came to music, but I mostly just wanted to be Spiderman or Donatello. I experienced my first dose of Hip-Hop in my pre-teens, having then left my previous environment and travelled the world a little; a friend lent me Midnight Marauders by A Tribe Called Quest on CD. My whole world changed the moment I heard Electric Relaxation - I no longer wanted to be a comic book character, I wanted to be Q-Tip. And so I started rapping.*
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> *These days, I use music as a cathartic release. My goal isn’t to ascertain “universal truths”, to “heal” the world, nor is it to find people that relate. I’m not trying to understand or help anyone else; my approach is entirely selfish. I’m just trying to crack my own code the best I can. If me doing so somehow ends up helping someone else along the way, that's dope as fuck.*
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### Career

Rav found interest in rap music at a young age, beginning by making loops and recording on cassette. Much of his internet footprint began on Newgrounds, dating back as early as 2006 where he would upload his music. After a mutual rivalry mainly founded by their friend groups, Rav ended up talking with and becoming friends with Kill Bill: The Rapper, and they would begin making music together. In 2012 Rav would become one of the founding members of the net label Black Chalk, where he would debut the record label with Hyperkinesis EP, later that year also releasing the first B-Sides and Rarities. By early 2013, Black Chalk died due to shared dissatisfaction with how the label was being run. With continued interest in the idea of a group, Rav decided to form Exordium, the former name for Exociety, where he would try and recruit other like-minded rappers to work with.

In 2013 he would release a second B-Sides and Rarities, as well as be featured on the first ever EXO release, Time Space Capsule by Rekcahdam, one of Rav's online friends who he now describes as being "like a brother". In 2014 he was featured notably in Bill's RAMONA project, spending the summer living with Bill and recording the album. The next year would be featured on Bill's second project RESIN, and in December release BENEATH THE TOXIC JUNGLE, which to this day is considered one of his defining projects. Following this he would continued to be featured on numerous other projects, continuing to release B Sides volumes 3, 4, 5, 5.5, and 6 up through 2017, being featured on Bill's singles collection DROP SEASON the same year.

In 2018 Rav and Bill would appear for the first time as guests on the SuperMegaCast, and after seeing how things were run, felt inspired and invigorated to create the WeDon'tSuck Podcast, which would feature Don, the main channel artist of SuperMega. Bill and Rav in early 2019 would release their first fully co-operative album, NEW MOON, featuring slightly updated versions of previous singles, along with fully new tracks. During this time their channel artist Don would draw the cover art for VESTIGES, Rav's compilation tape of the best of the B-Sides, signaling his decision to end the series, largely in conjunction with him no longer wanting to release music he wasn't proud of, instead wanting to focus his efforts on a debut album, one in the following year would be referenced on the podcast and other social media.

In October 2019 Bill and Rav would once again collaborate on Solar Flare, an album entirely recorded while in LA, shortly after their live show EXOMANIA. Later on, the WeDon'tSuck channel would be rebranded as ChibiChubby, featuring Let's Plays and new channel artist Shark-E. In 2020, similarly to Solar Flare, Rav, Bill, and Scuare, would collaborate on the album SKIN after their EXOASIS show, feeling like they wouldn't easily have a chance to all record together again. During that year Rav would release We Need To Talk, a single he considered may end up on his debut album, and who's original art was drawn by ChibiChubby channel artist Shark-E. Rav was also featured on the track Be, in Potsu's Reaching For a Star. Rav was then featured again on a single by Airospace, Sunshine Etrnl\_We're Better As Friends which was later compiled into Airo's 戦場ヶ原 ひたぎ [vol. IV].

In late November of that year Rav would release his debut album, I'M ON TO ME, discussing a myriad of deeply personal feelings and experiences that happened in the past year, being a release that replaced the album he was originally intending to make that year. Shortly after the release of I'M ON TO ME, due to a controversy surrounding Bill, ChibiChubby would take a hiatus, during this time Rav would focus more strongly on a personal YouTube channel and Twitch streaming. The channel would feature music, launching with the release of Time-Tested, as well as Twitch highlights, and the short lived podcast Ravioli Ravioli. Many unreleased tracks were played on stream when Rav would meet subscriber goals, one track in particular, dubbed "my time", has a notably good reception, with Rav commenting he would consider releasing it, although the track never saw the light of day again during this time. In 2021 Rav would be featured on Hillside during Scuare's new album, Phenomenal.

During 2021 WeDon'tSuck would return for a final episode, during this Bill and Rav expressed difficulty in running the channel, both in the way it restricted their time to work on their real passion of music, along with the strong negative associations that came from being "YouTubers" as well as rappers, the channel was made for fun, and once it became an obligation instead, they both decided it was time to move on, a feeling that grew during their hiatus, when they had an influx of free time to work on music, and a chance to consider if they were interested in working on the channel anymore. Due to this, all videos on the channel outside of music were unlisted, including those on Rav's personal channel, and the podcast was removed from streaming services. The channel was rebranded as the official exociety YouTube channel, which it continues to serve as to this day.

During 2021 Rav would take a break from social media, during this time Potsu would make a tweet revealing that a project was in the works between him and Rav. In August of 2021, Nate Rill would upload B-Sides Volume 9 onto YouTube, this was quickly discovered by fans, and heavily featured previously shown demos and songs played as subscriber rewards on Twitch. After questioning how the clean tracks were collected, Rav revealed he was the uploader using a burner account, choosing to release another B-Sides as a reward to passionate fans during a slower release year for him. The next month he would release his first beat tape SCHOOL OF ERROR which compiled previously unreleased beats, along with those he produced for I'M ON TO ME, and SKIN.

During September of 2021, Rav, Bill, Airo, and Scuare, would all meet up in Washington, being the first time all of them would meet in person at once. The four of them would live in a cabin in the woods for several weeks, releasing only occasional photos and videos of their time together. After returning home, Rav would release the single previously played on Twitch, and compiled in B-Sides 9, my time (an optimistic rebuttal) after heavy fan demand since it's first play, and on November 18th, released the single EXP Share, and announced the Out Of The Woods Tour, EXO's first ever tour which they would embark upon the following year. The same month Bill would announce and release his new album Snowglobe Theory, with Rav being featured on the track DoNotDisturb. A remix of EXP Share was released soon thereafter, and Rav would release the single Ass Backwards on December 15th, featuring Mike Eagle, and being produced by Ant of Atmosphere, something Rav noted was a dream come true after being a fan of Atmosphere for his entire career.

During their 2021 Recap, EXO announced their first ever EXO album, releasing The Lodge, and Victory Lap (Mirror Mode) as singles before the official release of deception falls on March 10th, 2022. Shortly after the album premiere, they would release INTO THE WOODS, a documentary about making the album. The four EXO members featured on the album would later go on the Out Of The Woods Tour, performing many of the album's new tracks along with their previous discography. The tour ran successfully for several months, before all members returned to their homes to continue making music.

During the interim afterwards, Rav's twitter account would be hacked, used as a tool for self-promotion. He would later post a photo of himself with Mitch, seemingly being in the United States to watch the Creator Clash featuring many online content creators, including several friends, as indicated by him posting a photo of himself with Michael Reeves after the match. This was possibly in reference to EXO fans joking that the two look similar, although Rav has previously conveyed discontent with said jokes, feeling it strips them both of their individuality. Dr. Marmal8 would also announce that they were working on a song with Rav, which has yet to be released. Shortly after referencing going through life changes on twitter, Rav would tweet stating he was "based in LA now", having left his previous home of London, something he later revealed to be due him and his partner divorcing, choosing to spend time with friends instead of isolating. During this period Rav would live in the SuperMegaPlex, where friends Matt Watson and Ryan Magee record videos for their channel.

Over the next few months a number of events would occur during Rav's life, he would come out as Non-Binary, go on a long cross-country trip with artist Lex Updog for several months, and finish his album with Potsu. During this trip however both travelers were robbed, losing many personal and professional items, including the album Rav had finished, his music equipment, Lex's clothes, and more. These items were deemed unrecoverable and they later did a 24 hour Twitch stream designed to raise money to recoup their losses. Rav eventually announced he had settled in Minneapolis to finish his album, after completing his album with potsu, he once again moved back to Los Angeles to fully settle, before again changing his mind and leaving, instead making a temporary move with Bill, releasing his next full length album LEAP. The album was formerly announced with the release of the single My Bag, during said release Rav also revealed the existence of another secret mixtape, causing fans to discover the ninth B-Sides. LEAP was a project defined by Rav's ever changing experiences. It included unfinished songs who's final versions had been stolen, new tracks created after the robbery, and tries to catalog Rav's ever changing psyche, and hope to take a "leap" of faith and move towards a better future. Rav would also announce the Short King Tour, his first headlining tour across the United States.