He may not look like the conventional rapper, but Bryan Rodecker is as committed as they come. With his big ginger beard and his warm personality, the Texan is currently rapping his way across Europe under the stage name of Infidelix, a name that he and his friend came up with “on a hot Texas summer day sitting on my patio drinking ice tea.”
His latest tour has seen him visit more places than ever before, with Spain, Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands already in the past. Even he is surprised at how quickly he’s been able to develop connections, although he believes it’s down to the mystery that surrounds who he is.
“I think it’s different for me because I’m from the states. I can walk into an open mic and captivate the crowd because of my accent,” he said before adding, “People want to know who I am, where I’m from, and what I’m doing in their country.”
Many wonder how a rapper from southern America ended up on a hip-hop conquest across Europe, but as he admits, “Well, it sort of happened unintentionally.” Whilst researching the countries he was visiting initially, he stumbled across cultures he could identify with, “flows that you just don’t hear in America,” and he wanted to meet other emcees like him, or “my brothers from other mothers” as he would say.
What’s incredible is that this trip is not being backed by any label so Bryan is funding it himself and through fan donations. While he has sold CDs, done shows and made music videos, he also revealed that “this entire trip has been spurred on by tiny little miracles”.
“For instance, I thought I was getting close to the end of my trip last week, and then out of the blue, some people I met in Ireland asked to meet me in Amsterdam and explore Europe with them. So like I said, besides donations and CD sales, this trip is happening because the universe wants me to succeed.”
With that, Germany has been made possible and so too Belgium, where he is going “because I was told to eat mussels in Brussels and since I’m a rapper, it just sounds like something I need to do.”
So Infidelix will continue on his journey, but not without a message of hope to others: “I just want people to know that anything is possible. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, you have the ability to accomplish anything you want. Follow your dreams and if you trust yourself, all will work out.”
As he proves himself, “I left my comfort zone with 100 bucks and the will to make my life worthwhile,” before proclaiming, “and so far I have accomplished that.”
Ferdia Fallon Verbruggen
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