Toronto, Canada artist GBM1011 takes no days off promoting love, peace, and positive virtues in his latest visual for “Initiated”! Below is his interview where he talks about what led him to create music, how drill rap inspired him, transitioning to UK drill & more! (Artist Submitted)
Thizzler: Where are you from? How was your upbringing?
GBM1011: I am from the west-end of Downtown Toronto, Canada, in a neighborhood called Bloorcourt. My friends and I have given the neighborhood the name of Nest Side (or the Nest) which is meant to represent both wings of the area (Bloorcourt & Bloordale) along with the idea that this area has been the nesting ground for our growth into the world. I am biased when I say this, but these two areas are the best neighborhoods in the entire city given the level of diversity from a small business and demographic standpoint, we have a medium-sized shopping mall, lots of green space and public parks, tons of elementary schools, and easy access to the subway system which runs along Bloor Street. In addition to that, Nest Side was ranked the fastest growing area in Canada for up and coming artists according to Complex Canada. Being a mainly middle class neighborhood, I was fortunate enough to grow up as an only child with two loving parents and amazing support from everyone in the community. I identify as a white hetero-sexual male, which I recognize as factors that contributed to my positive experience growing up in a world divided on “race”, income, and gender. Given the diversity which a middle class neighborhood in Toronto affords, I was immersed in all cultures of the world; including that of Jamaica, India, Portugal, Tibet and Ethiopia just to name a few. Both of my parents were professional musicians; my father being an esteemed flutist from eastern Europe and my mother being an opera singer. I didn’t fall far from the musical tree, but my obsession with rap at an early age was definitely a surprise considering their areas of expertise. I enjoyed playing and refereeing Football (otherwise known as Soccer) for the majority of my life and played the Piano for several years, reaching Grade 8 of The Royal Conservatory of Music. Recently, I graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and minors in Sociology and Professional Communications. My education at this institution has played a key role in my desire to make socially and spiritually conscious music that the mainstream entertainment industry can enjoy
T: How did you begin making music?
GBM1011: From a young age, I consumed rap content endlessly, including listening to BET legends like Jibbs and Charmillionaire. I would say I listened to rap passively for the majority of my life butreally took interest as a rap enthusiast in 2015 when I started listening to Drill rap. It all started in “Chiraq” with legends like Lil Jojo, LA Capone, Chief Keef, RondoNumbaNine, and King Lil Jay. I then transitioned my attention to UK Drill and became obsessed with the narratives playing out between rival street gangs over there, especially those in West and South London. During all this time, I was very connected to the Toronto rap scene and was very proud of our standout 2016-2018 period when the city started to make headway in the rap world. I mention all this because I have always been into street culture as an observer. I have appropriated many of the cultural elements/characteristics found in street culture into my own being as a way of finding my own identity in the world. I used this fascination in the streets to specialize in the sociological study of Western Street Gang Culture while completing my sociology minor at TMU. Everyone who knows me knows that I have a very intimate and spiritual connection to the “streets”. When I was 19, I began to experience Drug-Induced Psychosis, which led me down a very miserable path of mental health “issues”. With the support of many positive forces, I was able to awaken to the spiritual side of existence and began to explore my creative potential. One of my greatest discoveries was that during all the years I had spent listening to rap, I had subconsciously developed my own ability to write poetry in the form of rap. It was all just a matter of putting the pen to the paper, literally. At first, rap was really just a form of therapy to make sense of my mental health “troubles”, but once I started to see my genuine rap potential, I never stopped. My education in Business had inspired me to tap into the Marketing side of rap early on. Blessed to have had my parents pay for university, I was able to find work and save up all my pennies for the moment when I graduate. I am grateful to now have the opportunity to invest in my dreams of being a musical artist and invest in the niche market of Spiritual Drill rap before it becomes mainstream.
T: How did you get your rap name?
GBM1011: The GBM in GBM1011 stands for Ginger Bread Man. This was my original rap name before I decided to tie my spirituality into my rap, which is represented by 1011. The connection between Ginger Bread Man and my own image as a ”redhead”, or a “ginger”. The name was acquired almost instantly when I started rapping and was not hard for people to adopt considering that everyone on the block knows me as that ginger. To keep things short, people just call me Ginger Bread.
T: How would you describe your musical style?
GBM1011: Much of my rap style is inspired by UK and NY Drill flow, which is very fast paced and well aligned with the instrumental, seeing little to no pauses between verses. Even when there are pauses in such fast paced songs, filling that empty space with a stutter, ad lib, or a swarm effect keeps the flow going. I have really been into the NY Drill type beat recently but like to switch it up with the occasional West Coast LA, Miss the Rage, and Emotional Trap type beats. I like to incorporate slang from all regions of street culture that have made an impact in my life, including that of “Chiraq”, LA, London, NY, and of course, my beautiful kingdom here in Toronto. A lot of people say that Toronto does not have its own cultural slang and that it has appropriated slang from other cultures. I agree with this statement, but it cannot be ignored that Toronto is a pot of many cultures that blend and mix into one, which explains why we see many different cultures manifesting themselves into “Toronto slang”. As Noah Shebib (otherwise known as OVO 40) said in a documentary, only in Toronto will you see a Vietnamese boy speaking Jamaican Patois.
T: Tell me about “Initiated”.
GBM1011: Can’t say too much other than I have been Initiated into a higher state of vibration. I guess one lucky podcast show will host the space where I can talk about what I have been initiated into, openly.
T: What inspired this new single?
GBM1011: It’s hard to talk about matters that should never be written in text before they are spoken verbally, but I am sure we are all aware that there has been a subtle resurgence of the new-age spiritual community in the mainstream. Being a part of this community, I am simply discussing my lived experiences of being in the state of vibration that I have attained and the intense thrill of living a spiritual life in the concrete jungles of our western metropoli. For the record, I do not subscribe to definitions surrounding horoscopes and astrological signs as they are currently being used as a mechanism for division.
T: How is it different from previous drops?
GBM1011: Well, I guess I can say that everything I discuss in the song is what I learned during my recent Initiation into the higher state of vibration that I achieved
T: Is it part of a project? If so, can you tell me more about that?
GBM1011: Initiated is part of The Arrival Campaign. The Arrival is the title of my 2023 project which is a collection of music videos, marketing initiates, and a year-end album that is meant to tout the horn of my arrival into the world of creative stars here on Earth.
T: What message do you want fans to walk away with after listening to “Initiated”?
GBM1011: Initiated, by nature, is a diss-track to my inner and outer demons. Even though our society may be fed narratives/perspectives on what is happening in our inner and outer world, I am sure that we all know that there are several layers above and below the ones we are consciously aware of in the physical, mental, and spiritual realms of our consciousness. It must be understood that the internal and external worlds of our life are made sense of by the mind, making one’s state of mind the most important aspect of their life. I want anyone listening to this track to know that their perspectives on mental health can be understood in levels of awareness, and not solely on the level which is fed by the mainstream. I do believe in a mainstream perspective, but this should not be the basis of all problem -solving initiatives presented in our daily tasks, especially when there are many forces that seek to exploit our lack of awareness rather than promote a greater level of awareness. Many mental health “issues” can be managed by shifting into higher perspectives of such “issues” and, in the process of doing so, realizing that our issues are really opportunities to dominate and conquer the dark forces present in our internal and external environment. I want the business and political worlds to know that I carry many keys into our age of awakening, and I want the social world to know that “we’ve arrived.”
T: What’s next?
GBM1011: The moment when life becomes incredibly complex as a result of my dream achieving. It is the hard work that I have put into my dream achieving, however, that has prepared me for that moment when everything shifts. U & Me music video dropping on March 19th though!
T: Is there anything else you want to say?
GBM1011: To all the eyes who may be reading these thoughts of mine as they manifest themselves into digital text, I put it on my inner child that I enter into the world of entertainment with the biggest heart for all living beings and the most open mind for all perspectives. I seek nothing more than to trigger the establishment of positive virtues in our global youth culture, those which uplift communities and empower individuals. I have no doubt that everything I have experienced, from the day I was born to the day this article is released, has set me up for the moment when I am tasked with inspiring the youth of our world and leading the generations to come. I am not here to change the world, I am simply here to lead by example, inspire individuals to make shifts in their own lives, and dedicate each and every last breath I have to our divine mother who has graced us the human body to experience creation.