#Vador #Compton #undrgrndmagazine
Vador performs "Candy" at the Issue 12 Media Day in Downtown Los Angeles.
Filmed by AJ Brown of Grateful Minds Productions
Written by Addy Gomez Santiago:
Six years ago and fresh out of high school, Edward Bozeman Jr. (aka "Vador") started making music with lifelong friend, Victor Vert. With just a recording software on a computer and Vert’s bedroom as a studio space, the two began learning the x's & o's of the underground hip-hop landscape.
In May 2022, Vert and Bozeman Jr. opened up their very own recording studio as they had first talked about in high school - 2 Chair Recording Studios, located in Culver City, CA.
"It was always our dream to open up a studio together,” Bozeman Jr. said. "One day we saw on instagram the very first studio we ever recorded at was moving to another location, and the owner was looking for someone to take over the space. We reached out ‘cause we had developed a relationship with them over the years we recorded with them, and they ended up giving us the keys.”
Bozeman Jr. is a Los Angeles native and upcoming rapper from Compton, CA, who goes under the name of Vador. Bozeman has been involved with music from his early days in church - he played the drums for his church’s worship band - to even joining a Jazz band.
”I feel like my expertise in drumming definitely comes in handy a lot when it comes to producing and helping structure beats together,” Bozeman Jr. said.
Bozeman Jr. eventually began rapping, joining a rap group with friends called 'Y&S.' A testament to their grind and willingness to network, the group performed for the very first time in 2019 at The Belasco in Downtown Los Angeles - an opening set for 1TakeQuan.
"Those experiences just kind of like, opened my eyes,” Bozeman Jr. said. “Like, this is something I want to do for the rest of my life.”
Vador has been on the solo career route since his first-released solo single, “Ride The Wave,” in 2020. He has a total of eight singles dropped since then, plus an EP, “Shades On In Da Club,” from 2023.
Perhaps his most popular track to date, “In Da Dark,” has reached over 25k streams on Spotify. According to a post on Vador's Instagram, it is one of his most personal songs so far, but felt like, “God placed it on [his] heart to share with others.”
Check out Vador inside UNDRGRND Magazine Issue 12: "It's a Race to the Top" COMING THIS SEPTEMBER!