RÆL The Artist is a rapper and songwriter in a lane of his own. With an unmatched level of dedication, focus, and awareness of His God-given purpose, you can’t help but be inspired to live life with a higher calling when listening to his music. And he’s just getting started.
Born Israel Oby, and raised with 2 older brothers in the quiet city of Madison, WI, RÆL The Artist always knew that he had a large calling on his life. RÆL excelled in his studies at a young age and was heavily active in the church, being the Pastor’s kid. Despite his parents dreams of him becoming an engineer, and his community’s dreams of him following in his father’s footsteps to become a Pastor, RÆL was always addicted to the idea of using his voice to make an impact, not just to the people within the walls of the church, but to the whole world.
Growing up in a faith-filled home that listened strictly to Christian & gospel music, RÆL discovered Hip-Hop later in life through listening to artists like Lecrae and Trip Lee. But it wasn’t until he discovered artists like Lil Wayne and J. Cole as a pre-teen that he truly fell in love.
Heavily inspired by his oldest brother, musician and producer Isaiah Oby, RÆL began writing rap songs at the age of 12. From performing at talent shows to battling at school dances, RÆL became known as a talented rapper in his local school and neighborhood.
But it wasn’t until 2016, at 17 years old, that RÆL released his first songs. Rapping under his full name, Israel Oby, RÆL released remixes to Young MA’s “Quiet Storm” and “EAT”, as well as a remix to Logic’s “44 Bars” on SoundCloud. These singles generated small buzz in his local community, but because of RÆL’s focus on academics, he never went about promoting or pushing the songs any further.
After rediscovering his faith in his last year of college, RÆL felt compelled to begin taking his music career seriously. He then released three more singles on YouTube, remixes to Drake’s “Pipe Down”, Cordae’s “Super”, and Don Toliver’s “2AM”. And after graduating and working in the corporate world for a year, the burden to go full force at music became so great that he felt he couldn’t waste anymore time in his corporate job.
In November of 2022, RÆL took a three day retreat to fast and pray alone about his future. Upon his return, he put in his notice for leaving his job, and set his sights on what he’s always dreamed of, influencing the world with his voice through music.
In December of 2022, RÆL dropped his first full length project, titled “A Gift To You”, on SoundCloud and YouTube. The 11-track project showcases RÆL’s unique talent as a songwriter, and a lyricist. With songs about everything from his talent, to his love life, to his faith, to his struggles, to his family, RÆL showed that he wasn’t just another local rapper trying to make it. He showed that music is a part of his DNA, and that he is a force to be reckoned with.
In January 2023, RÆL was diagnosed with a curable form of cancer and slowly started to disappear from social media. Upon his return to the public in August 2023, he announced a 3-track EP, titled “I missed this too.”, that showcases the new direction that RÆL is going with his music.
While faith has always been a part of his life, RÆL now sees his music not as an opportunity to show the world who he is, but as an opportunity to show the world who God is. “I missed this too.” represents a transition from RÆL’s music being primarily about him to primarily about God. According to RÆL, you can help someone experience the light and power of the sun by having them look at it through a tinted window, or by having them look at it directly. While the tinted window may make them more comfortable, looking at it directly creates no room for denying its glory and power.
When is comes to inspiring you to pursue excellence, walk in faith, and grow, there’s nobody who does it better than RÆL. His music is created to be hope for the hopeless, inspiration to the uninspired, and to give faith to those who didn’t believe they could have any.
RÆL is on a mission to prove to the world that with God, all things are possible. And that there is no limit to what He will do for those who love Him.
