New York City emcee G.C. aka Godz Chyld recently dropped his new project Don’t Sleep On Me. The album features production from Wu-Tang affiliate Bronze Nazareth and Jordan River Banks (Killah Priest, Tragedy Khadafi). I had the chance to chop it up with G.C. about the new project and his thoughts on the music industry in the digital age. Check it out.
Can you give everyone some background on who G.C. is?
I’m originally from Washington Heights, currently in the Bronx. I’ve been rapping since middle school. I fell in love with hip hop and my journey started with doing my research and listening to golden-era hip hop, and being from NY I automatically related to it. I’ve been putting out projects since 2011. I released Book Of A Scribe which was my first project and it featured a song with Sadat X. Then I released Forever last year with Jordan River Banks and this is my third project, Don’t Sleep On Me.
The “top borough” of New York always shifts – from Bronx, to Brooklyn, to Queens, back to Brooklyn. etc… When do you think the Bronx will be on top again?
I don’t know about any of that really. New York is just ill all around to me. Every borough is fly and unique in its own little way but overall this is NY and we all get each other on a certain level. Obviously someone from Harlem might feel like that’s the best or someone from Brooklyn might feel like Brooklyn is the best borough, but we all ill at the end of the day. I’ve been other places but NY is where it’s at.
Being that Jordan River Banks is from Europe, how did you link up with him?
We linked up through Soundcloud. We were feeling each other’s music and started talking back and forth. Finally we made two songs and those songs came out so ill that we turned that into an EP. We got together for the Forever project. It’s still a crazy project when I listen to it. We got cool and kept in touch since then.
How did you link up with Bronze Nazareth?
That was actually a while ago. I wanted to start dealing with established producers so I started to holla at producers I respected and he was one of the ones who responded. We worked out a deal for a beat. This was years ago though I didn’t record to the beat until this project I just put out. People actually like that song a lot so it turned out good.
How do you feel about the recent trend of artists using “crowd-funding” for their albums instead of going after traditional sales?
I say do whatever you can to get popping. If it works for you. do it. Why not? If that gets you in the position to make the kinda project you think you need to make and it comes out good, who can say anything bad about it? The internet gives people opportunities to reach people in many different ways and I like that. It makes the artists more powerful and the listeners more powerful too.
What are your thoughts on streaming and the way artists are getting paid from that?
I think it’s smart at the end of the day. Too many people are stealing music for free and corporations and businesses are trying to find ways to fill up the holes from leaks and stuff like that, so they try to make money off of whatever they can. That’s more a record label business thing than an artist thing so I guess it’s just business. Finding new ways to make business.
A lot of blogs support up-and-coming hip-hop, but not exactly “underground” hip-hop. What places online are supporting the underground?
I guess we can say you guys are. Other than that I’d have to agree with you. There have been sites who have shown me a lot of love and then others that don’t. It’s a shame because I have really good music. I’m not trying to be stuck in an underground spot. I make good music and that should be what matters. I’m not that average dude asking you to listen to his music. I’m actually talented and polished with my style, plus my sound quality is professional and I’m working with established producers. I’m no joke, don’t sleep.
What artists/producers would you like to work with in the future?
Anyone who’s great. I focus on making great and creative music. There are obviously producers I dream of working with but those are A-list people and right now I’m still fighting on not being slept on. So as soon as I can create a situation for myself where there’s a conversation around my name I’ll start dropping those names because it’ll be more possible. Right now I’m trying to work with anyone who’s dope and creative. Let’s make great music.
Do you have any other projects/features coming soon?
Right now I’m focusing on getting this project and my whole catalog heard and noticed but I have actually already started working on something but it’s in the beginning stages. I’ve got a couple things ready for that. I’m just trying to stay consistent and keep people seeing me but at the same time I have three projects I’ve dropped already and that’s a lot of music for someone to take in so I already have something to bring listeners in.
Thanks again to G.C. for taking the time out to give us some more info. Check out his full catalog and his social networks below:
Bandcamp: https://godzchyld.bandcamp.com/
Twitter: @G_Cee_
YouTube: TheWize1ne
Facebook: Wizeone.Scribez