What is your name and what city do you rep?
My Name is Gage and i rep Silver spring Maryland/Washington DC
Tell us about your latest releases, what inspired you to create them?
My latest releases were the first single from the album I Am Legend which was “Dinner with JAY-Z” which dropped in jan of 2022 then the album called “I Am Legend” which came out march 9th 2022 which are all available on all streaming services. And I was inspired by making an album that sounded like the hip hop albums i use to hear back in the 90’s and early 2000’s i feel like that sound is missing in the game so i’m trying to restore the feeling
What is unique about you and your music?
What’s unique about my music and me is that I don’t curse in any one of my raps. I made 6 albums this way so that puts me in a lane by myself. The GZA and Rakim have cursed on songs so i’m really the only Emcee shout out to will smith tho. I should really be put in the guinness world records as the only emcee who doesn’t curse in his raps and alot of people tell me my style reminds them of the golden era 90s hip-hop and in today’s music climate that by itself is unique because i’m not making party rap songs like most of the artists thats out now
What shaped your music?
my upbringing in my house when i was young my mom used to play the old motown teddy p marvin gaye records and when i grew up i gravitate more towards the street hip hop artists like biggie, jay-z and nas was putting out an i’m also a big 2pac fan so listening to him allowed me to make those heart felt songs the people could related to.
When did you realize you were going to make music professionally?
2002 the year i dropped out of college and decided to pursue music professionally i started going harder in the studio and my first mixtapes were getting good responses from people so i knew then i could do this professionally
What type of music do you listen to?
i listen to everything from luciano pavarotti(opera) to coldplay to R&B to rock to hip-hop
What inspires you to write music?
My inspirations come from many places. It could come from a beat I hear when I go through beats. It could come from a conversation I have with someone, it can come from a movie or something I’m watching or just topics I feel like need more light shed on it. Most of my lyrics come to me when i’m at the beach just vibing with a cigar or in the shower so my inspirations comes from many places
What do you do when you don’t do music (creative or otherwise) and that you are passionate about?
I love movies i’m a big movie guy so when i’m not making music 9 times outta 10 im watching the latest movie thats out or i just watch my favorite movies that i have seen a million times it brings me comfort so i’m definitely watching a movie or reading a book when i’m not making music
Happiness to you is…
having the freedom to do what i want when i want how i want, going to the beach and just listening to the ocean kiss the shores is happiness to me, smoking a phat blunt while i just reflect on life is happiness to me, not having to worry about any bills is happiness to me. Having the creative freedom to make the music i want to make at the pace i want to make it at is happiness to me
What do you wish you were told when you first started making music that you think would help artists just starting out?
Learn the music business before you get into the music business alot of times as artist all we care about is the music which is great but if you don’t learn the music business you can get taken advantage of and end up like one of these artist stuck in a bad deal for most of their careers so definitely read all books that pertain to the music business so you won’t become a victim and also its about who u know so build relationships
Tell us about your upcoming projects…
well i just put out the first single “Dinner with JAY-Z” in jan 2002 then followed that up with “I Am Legend album (Indie AOTY) on march 9th 2022 which was the number one trending hip hop album for two days on audiomack when it dropped and i’m currently working on the new album “The anti-social socialite” which should be out in 2023. I drop new freestyles from time to time so my supporters always have something new and fresh from me but thats getting harder to do with all these DMCA takedowns
Where do we find you music / music projects?
all my music can be found on my
apple music page: https://apple.co/3PkRf0J
Tidal artist page: https://tidal.com/browse/artist/10934072
youtube: https://www.youtube.com/gagemusicx
Audiomack page: https://audiomack.com/gage
or my website solo.to/gage
Any last words for the readers?
Just want to say thank you guys for interviewing me i also want to send a big shout out to missin’ lync and the team at heatrock entertainment, shout out Lenny S from rocnation, jadakiss for being a real one and all the supporters that support my music also a big shout out to my twitter and IG followers getting feedback from the music from them always makes my day so make sure you guys follow me on twitter https://twitter.com/GAGEmusicx and IG https://www.instagram.com/gagemusicx to keep up with anything new i have going on the new album “The anti-social socialite” coming 2023 first single dropping jan 2023