Joey Valence & Brae

Joey Valence & Brae formed as an irreverent American rap duo whose music fuses the percussion-driven, sample-heavy approach of the Beastie Boys with rhymes steeped in '90s pop culture and Gen Z attitudes. Their breakthrough arrived in 2021 via the buoyant, throwback-rap anthem "Crank It Up," which caught fire online, and they followed it with their first full-length album, Punk Tactics, in 2023.

Joey Bertolino and Braedan Lugue first connected at Penn State University through a mutual appreciation for classic hip-hop. Although neither had prior stage experience, Bertolino had already spent years creating EDM tracks. From his bedroom studio they produced their debut single, "Crank It Up," which surfaced amid the COVID-19 pandemic and resonated widely as a high-impact, playful ode to nostalgia. Within a year the pair were headlining festival stages and performing on the Ellen Degeneres Show, showcasing their larger-than-life personas to viewers across the country. Additional tracks such as "Double Jump" and "Ready Set" appeared on the 2022 EP The Underground Sound. Audiences continued to embrace the duo’s youthful exuberance and raucous production when Punk Tactics arrived in 2023.