G.O.

Get to know G.O. 1. When did you first start rapping? Hmm... I don’t know if it first started in the church or at lunch in high-school. The church I grew up in was very encouraging and supportive of the youth, so I began writing songs to perform on “Youth Sundays” there. When I began high-school I naturally formed friends who weren’t just into hip-hop but rapping themselves, freestyling and writing and comparing rhymes. 2. Who are your musical inspirations? Rappers that influenced me from when I first began rhyming are Jay-Z, Nas, Common, Big Boi, DJ Quik, Daz, Guru... just to name a few. I think you can def hear their influence in my rhymes, but hopefully you can hear a G.O. sound that holds it’s own weight in your ears! 3. What made you want to pursue hip-hop as a career? I guess I’m pursuing it for the main reason anyone would pursue a career in music. I love it! I love Christ and I love hip-hop. I also love people and hope to be blessing to anyone who listens, and not only to those who listen to my music, but all people I know and come in contact with. Whether I grow to make money with my music or not, I’m going to do it and don’t plan on stopping. 4. How would you define your music? Transparent, raw, soulful, underground HIP-HOP! I plan to stay in my lane of hip-hop and grow. Opposite of corny! 5. How'd you come up with your name? It’s pretty much my initials. Gregory Oliver. It’s what people have been calling me since I was a kid so I just stick with it. Plus the 2819 part of it comes from the Bible verse Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” My main goal in my music is to bring those who are lost to Christ and to help build up those in the faith already with personal, transparent, raw, and hard-hitting lyrics. Evangelism and discipleship is personal. 6. What do you think about when you’re performing? I’m mainly thinking, I hope they can understand me clearly and their hearts and minds are being touched. I’m also thinking, I gotta get every hand up and head bopping, and I gotta see smiles of delight on faces. 7. Where would you most like to perform? My favorite places to perform are the intimate settings, where I can really reach out and touch the audience. I’d love to perform at a House of Blues one day though. 8. If you weren't rapping, what would you be doing? Well, I’m also currently an IT professional. I wanna say I can’t wait to be able to only support myself through music, but I don’t if I’d want to stop being an IT geek and growing in my knowledge in the field. 9. Where and how did you grow up? I grew up in the beautiful and ugly city of Compton. I was blessed to be raised by both my parents and raised to love Jesus Christ, something very rare where I grew up. I was raised up along with my 4 siblings whom I’m very close to and love dearly. We were poor just like anyone else in our neighborhood, but I never knew about it, because of how my parents raised us. Struggles with confidence, fear, intimidation, anger, and despair have grown with me through my upbringing and are apparent in my lyrics. Being freed from these chains (not saying that I don’t still struggle in avoiding them), I hope to show everyone else the hope and freedom I found in Christ too. 10. What are some hobbies of yours that you enjoy besides rapping? Definitely watching and playing basketball and tennis. I dare anyone to try to see me on the tennis court! I love to read. I’m always reading one or two books at a time. I like to travel and go sight-seeing. I love to see the small glimpses of the glory of God in all his creation. 11. Do you play any instruments? I’m learning to dabble in the piano and flute abit. You’ll hear abit of it in my music. Hopefully I can step my trumpet game up and I’d love to learn upright bass. 12. If you could dabble in another genre of music, what would it be? Definitely jazz piano. 13. What kind of music do you listen to today? You can catch me vibin’ to anything from classic jazz, to acoustic folk, to soca and reggae, to alternative rock, and most definitely that raw hip-hop! (especially ‘90s hip-hop). I like French and Brazilian music too. Only things you won’t ever find me listening to is pop music and smooth jazz! 14. What genre of music can't you stand to listen to? I hate pop music!! Lol. Pop comes in all genres of music to me and I usually don’t like it. It’s not real enough for me and doesn’t usually do anything for me. Oh, and smooth jazz irritates me. I only listen to pure, classic jazz. 15. What embarrassing songs might I find on your MP3 player? Hahaha. Well... I really dig certain folk/acoustic artists that my wife enjoys, like Ingrid Michaelson. Maybe the fact that I keep Christmas music on my playlist year-round. Also, I really enjoy movie scores. 16. What do you hope to accomplish throughout your career? My main desire is to bring those who are lost to Christ. Also, to give you music to listen to to keep, instruct, encourage, and challenge you in your walk with Christ, until you’re with Him in heaven. I’d love to be able to reach the masses and give them a feel of what the best brand of hip-hop sounds like and feels like, but if I don’t get that large, I hope to be able to reach my specific base of fans and touch them in a level that they’ve never been touched before. I want to make music that will last generations and hip-hop fans will listen to for years to come. Just a follower of Christ and a fan of hip-hop. Hope you dig it... http://beatsrhymesandlove.com