By Carlos Cureno
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer
An artist making noise that people should be paying attention to is Young Gii, a native of The Bahamas. However, he is making his mark here in the United States. Currently, he is promoting his new mixtape, I’m So iLL II.
Young Gii has several singles that have taken over the internet and gone viral. The latest track he is pushing is “More To Life,” which features his longtime friend, The Real. Their video has experienced a great deal of success, since its release.
In our latest On The Rise interview, Young Gii speaks on the success of his music. He also airs out some grievances he has with Don Cannon over the promotion of his mixtape. All in all, he discusses several topics, including his goals and plans for the industry.
Read the entire interview below:
As an independent artist, what have you done to ensure fans get to your music? I have created a numerous amount of outlets to make it easy for fans to get my music.
My website which is a one-stop shot for all of my music, videos and merchandise is being revamped currently due to the fact that we are working on a new project and rebranding.
My YouTube, SoundCloud, ReverbNation along with Worldstarhiphop and other countless blogs/ media outlets around the world are also utilized by my fans.
Why would you say audiences are flocking to your music the way they are? I think my fans are attracted to my sound because of my lyrics, my vast vocabulary, my appearance and the fact I’m from the Bahamas is a breath of fresh air to what most people are used to hearing.
Are you impressed by the success of your mixtape, I Am Young Gii, with Don Cannon? I’m not impressed or even close to happy with that Don Cannon project. My team and I worked very hard on that project and it wasn’t treated like a priority to Cannon and his team. I think it was poorly publicized on his end. I don’t know if it was him or his team but I definitely didn’t receive what was promised in the feature package.
How do you feel about the “More To Life” single taking off the way it did? The more to life record was really intended to be just a freestyle brought to me by my home boy Kyle aka The Real. He recorded his verse to the instrumental and as he was doing so I came up with a melody which helped me come up with words for the hook. Hearing the direction he went made me wanna write a verse about the problem of the era we live in today and the rest is history. The video was even more powerful than the actual record.
Does it ever surprise you to see how far you’ve come with your music releases? I am grateful to still be motivated to be more creative every day. Music is my life and there is nothing I would rather be doing. I’m not surprised because I put so much into this that I feel like it’s only a matter of time that my hard work will pay off. I have come a long way and I still have ways to go.
You already have worked with some major DJs, who are some big name artists you intend to collaborate with? I’m one music lover and a hard worker so with that being said I have a large catalog of songs I haven’t released. I intend to work with hip hop, reggae, pop and even R&B artists. Naming them all that I have songs already prepared for would take forever. I do want to work with Kendrick, J. Cole, and Adele if I could choose first.
With “More To Life” becoming a big hit, do you see yourself inviting some big names on it for a remix? If it does become a big enough record. I would be grateful for Big K.R.I.T. to bless his instrumental along with Common, Lupe Fiasco, J. Cole or Kendrick.
What single do you think will be your next hit? I have very high expectations for my new record “All I Wanted” which was just recently released. Along with every record on my upcoming project All Work No Play.
Can you let people know where they can connect with you on social media? Website (Getting updated with new content. www.iAMYOUNGGii.com. Twitter, @iAMYOUNGGii; Instagram, @iAMYOUNGGii_if; Facebook, iAMYOUNGGii.
Watch “More To Life” by Young Gii ft. The Real below:
Follow Carlos Cureno on Twitter @DjayyCharliee.
