Zema: First of all, what are your goals as an artist?
Giano: Well, my answer falls into two categories. For one, I want the music I make to glorify God and that He sees it fit to use the words, lyrics, and concepts all together to do what neither of the three could do in (and of) themselves – the work only God and His majesty can do. For two, I want to sell 10 million records LOL. I want the music I make to resonate with as many people as possible, develop a strong following of solid supporters, travel the world, encourage people through verse, lyric, song, speech, and action, and for the music I make to leave a lasting legacy that influences my artist peers as well as aspiring artists. Sade is my favorite artist/band of all time in any genre of music. It would be a joy to be in my 50s and know that the music I made had such an impression on so many people of many generations and cultural perspectives as she and they have had on their fans.
Zema: That’s deep. Jumping right into your new project, it’s the follow up to your last E.P., Volume 1. Why did you decide to expand that concept into a full album? And for those unaware, please tell us the concept.
Giano: B-Sides and Remixes, Volume 2 drops on April 3rd. Initially, this project was supposed to be like Volume 1, a quickie. It was to be nothing more than a few new concepts that I’d put together as a just-until-the-next-album-drops type of release. However, we’ve spent a lot of time fashioning the concept and music of the next album. After hearing how incredible God has crafted it, I knew that Volume 2 had to be bigger in order to serve as a fitting forerunner to the next album. Simultaneously, I noticed a parallel between the concepts of the songs on B-Sides 2 and many of the allusions of the James Joyce classic, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. I read the book back in high school and it always has stuck out to me, thematically, although I never imagined I’d use its themes for a project. Some of the major underlying themes include human self-awareness, the quest for autonomy, and enlightenment. So, the B-Sides 2 album is part conceptual (to A Portrait) and also part testimonial, since I include personal experiences as they relate to the interweaving of Volume 2’s concepts and the book’s themes. So we’ve changed songs, lyrics, everything to craft what I think is a better project than originally conceptualized.
Zema: Oh, okay. That’s definitely something I’d appreciate as a listener. You’ve put out a good amount of music, how would you say this project differs from the others?
Giano: For one, I’ve grown as an artist and a man since my previous releases, which is to be expected. I’m all about lifelong learning. If I’m not doing that, I couldn’t release new albums because I would always be stuck where I was, if that makes any sense. So B-Sides 2 (and the subsequent next album) reflect a portion of what I’m about now.
Zema: You’re right; if you haven’t grown, you should probably put the mic down. Who did this hot cover and what is it communicating?
Giano: Thanks for the compliment. The photographer is Gayla Robinson (GaylaMusic.com). The designer is Nathália Suellen (LadySymphonia.com), who also designed 3 of the 4 covers for the B-Sides 2 singles. I think the meaning can be taken many ways, especially when listening to the album, but mainly I just described a color scheme and she went from there lol.
Zema: You’re welcome. I see why you stuck with her. LOL This is a feature-packed album. Why did you decide to go that route and who are these new faces?
Giano: LOL, well I’ve never had guest emcees on any project of mine before B-Sides 2. That was largely due to my not having established relationships with many of the artists that I enjoy listening to and respect. Additionally, I think having well-placed emcee features can help to bring a song and album concept out that much more. I’ve worked with singers before and just wanted to have a nice contrast of rhyming with singing on this album. From the ground up, the music just screamed out the need and I’m pleased with the results. We had a lot of fun making this album.
There are 4 emcee features: my man Sinuous (SoCal) on “Prelude”, my man Sivion (Dallas) on “Spirit”, and my mans BenEvol (Chicago) and Eric Cross (Milwaukee) on “No More”. The singers: Brenda Bailey, Gayla Robinson, Lyle Simpson, and Calista Thomas are all from VA and appear throughout the album. And I do a little singing on the album as well lol.
Zema: Nice! I didn’t know you could sing. Who are some of the producers on the album and what can we expect sonically from it?
Giano: It may sound cliché, but I think the sound of B-Sides 2 is eclectic. There’s nu skool hip hop, a hint of old school hip hop, a hint of rock, a little neo soul, neo classical, drum and bass, chill out, gospel, and funk. I outsourced several producers on this project, and I am pleased about the result. Some producers that made the album are Symbolyc One (Dallas), Sinuous (SoCal), The Cratez (Göttingen, Germany), Ben B. (London), MAJOR (Prairie View, TX), and Giano lol.
Zema: It doesn’t strike me as cliché at all. A sonically diverse project is always refreshing. As far as content, what topics did you tackle and what inspired you to speak on them?
Giano: People who are familiar with my previous work know that I like to layer my lyrics with duality, weaving many metaphors into a verse or song to convey several thoughts, which convey the concept (e.g., Shai Linne’s “Omnis”). On B-Sides 2 , I continue the same trend. Some of what I talk about are artists being shortsighted in their artistic vision, the plight of talented artists and the temptations thereof, the dangers of getting too caught up with philosophy, religion, and music, and a commentary on what it looks like when we stop looking at the troubles of the world as though we have no part in it.
Zema: Way to hit topics rarely touched on, G! Love it! What do you want us to walk away with after listening to this album?
I hope people are moved musically – that the music tells a story (by itself) apart from the lyrics. I hope the lyrics are thematically dense enough to draw listeners in, but conceptually sparse enough to allow listeners to reflect on their own observations of the same concepts. I like to write in such a manner because the lyrics are meant to be taken in that context. I don’t want to fill in all the blanks. I enjoy the game Sudoku. I’ve gotten so skilled at solving the puzzles that if there are too many numbers already filled in the nine “non-ants”, then I get bored, finish the puzzle quickly and move on. But on the more advanced puzzles, it takes a little while to figure everything out and solve the puzzle because there is a challenge. That’s how I want my music to be for listeners, which goes back to the duality I like to include in my lyrics. And I don’t mean theological depth. I mean everyday concepts that we all ponder.
Zema: I’m geeked! Should be an exhilarating listening experience. Considering that rapping is not really set to be a life-long career path, what do you plan to do once you put the mic down?
Giano: You mean, assuming I don’t sell 10 million records, right? LOL. Well, I don’t make music as a means to any end. I’m not exploiting hip hop music. Some artists do; I do not. I love music cerebrally, socially, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. I love listening to it. I love creating it. And I particularly like hip hop music as my weapon of artistic choice among other genres. I enjoy the fact that music can do things and go places that a human being cannot. So, I don’t know if there will ever come a time when I will “put the mic down”, so to speak. Big Daddy Kane, Ice Cube, De La Soul, KRS One, Boot Camp Clik, Eminem, Outkast, Jay Z, and others keep pushing the envelope on age and success in various forms.
Additionally, I am not doing music as a sole life objective and accomplishment. I’m an engineer by trade, so I have goals there. I’m close to 50% finished with a doctoral degree in organizational leadership, so I have goals there. I have a couple of business ventures that I need to make time to develop a little more, so I have goals there. I currently mentor others and would like to see that capacity and influence increase, God willing. And ultimately, I want to accomplish all of my goals in a reasonable period so that my time, during the middle and latter days of my life, as God grants them to me, are spent with the ones I love.
Zema: Wow! You are definitely on the right track to do just that (spend your middle and latter days with your loved ones). To close, I’d like to ask you something unrelated to the new album. As you know, there was quite a stir when Shai announced he would feature you on his album because you are a Seventh Day Adventist. What do you think of said denominational/theological prejudices?
Giano: In short, I think it’s foolishness. I think human beings waste way too much time arguing over our differences and not enough time looking at how we can benefit one another even amidst our differences. Too many people want to be right. I used to be that way so I understand – wanting to be right rather than understanding principles of righteousness (and believe me, I’m still learning). I think everyone goes through some form of prejudice whether it’s religion, philosophy, or style of music. Having said that, I think discussions over one’s personal preference in denomination are OK as long as people are not trying to undermine or bully someone into changing their perspective. God doesn’t do it and I don’t think we should either.
Prejudice, in my opinion, is the reason why there is less co-laboring in the mission field. It’s the reason the dividing line between the haves and the have-nots still exists. It’s also a means by which I believe we allow the enemy to encourage bigotry and elitism, i.e., “my belief is holier than yours; therefore, you are not saved unless you believe like how I believe.” And the Seventh-day Adventist church (like every denomination) is not without its flaws because churches are comprised of imperfect people. I don’t agree with everything any corporate entity believes in. My girlfriend and I do not agree on everything either.
As a light example, I enjoy watching ‘Lost’ and ‘Once Upon a Time’. She enjoys watching Housewives of Atlanta and True Life. Of course these are not deal breakers by any stretch of imagination, but they represent differences among us that in the grand spiritual scheme of things do not matter. We agree 100% on that which is essential to us (we both like the show Chopped, get it?). She put me on to OWN and I put her on to Burn Notice. She’s not fond of watching “the game” in its entirety and I’m not fond of watching any of the Real Worlds, yet we do what is tolerable until we must excuse ourselves – not out of hatred elitism, but out of respect for the lines which may divide our TV entertainment and enjoyment.
I don’t dismiss her for her entertainment and she doesn’t dismiss me for mine. I believe people come to agreement based on relationships, not arguments. And we change by spending time with people – healthy change. So, I watch Housewives with her and she watches Once Upon a Time with me and we find things that appeal to us in the other’s choice of TV shows that we would never have thought to be appealing prior to our relationship. I hope the anecdote makes sense in relation to the question.
I’ve had a few artists renege on song collaborations with me because of perceptions of my beliefs. I’ve had producers stop working with me because of the Adventist title. I’ve heard from mutual acquaintances that some people have shied away from me at public CHH events because of prejudice. And honestly, I think it’s more because these individuals are afraid of how others would perceive them if they collaborated with me more so than their personal beef with my beliefs. I’ve also had people approach me at events very aggressively, as though I needed to answer to their highness the reasons for my beliefs. That’s why I consider Shai Linne a stand up guy. He and I built a relationship and we have respect for one another. That’s where the collaboration came from, not Reformed theology versus Adventist theology.
I don’t know if this type of prejudice will cease before Jesus comes. It would be nice. But who knows? A simple saying of mine is “God is always on the throne”. We all have flaws. My experiences have taught me a lot about the concept of love and so I’m thankful for that. I’m not the only artist who has these experiences. We’ve seen this with Ambassador and Canton Jones or people’s perceptions of Fonzworth Bentley and Symbolyc One, but my answer is entirely too long lol. Thank you for allowing me to express some of my thoughts.
Zema: No, thank you, G, for your transparency. Make sure you’ve got your seat right here on April 2nd because we will have a listening session of B-Sides and Remixes, Volume 2. And be sure to grab your copy on iTunes and anywhere music is sold on April 3rd.
