Saturday 19 June 2010

The GTW: #dontsmokethecigarette

                                                                                fisttap africasacountry
This is a phreshhh track by GTW (Greater Than Wealth), a Nigerian hiphopper livin' n hustlin' in Chi-Town. He riffs off of the Late Great, Miriam Makeba's 'Pata Pata' - luv it and iHope it goes viral! Correction (see Sonja's comment in the box) : The good folk over at AfricasACountry don't suggest that this track sounds lie 'Ye's 'Blood Diamonds', but instead arguethat his mention of poverty and Africa's mineral wealth does remind one of Blood Diamonds esp because they sound alike. True, dat GTW does sound alot like 'Ye and uses the drums like 'Ye does on 'College Dropout'.
Anyway, here's the link to your free download, in spirit of the World Cup, he's dedicated this to the Naija Soccer Team. The other track 'Runnin' All My Life' doesn't sound quite suited to a house sound, the music's dope, but not for these hiphop bars. Feels to me like somebody needs Pharrel on speed dial to go to work on these bars and give this track the uber trendy feel it sounds like it should be aiming for, but not quite gettin' - but hey, that's my 2cents from the stands up in the nosebleeds...

From his site, Greater Than Wealth:
Music impacted my life around my Freshman year in Highschool. I fell in love with the crazy antics of Eminem and the Soulful delivery of artist like Kanye West and Little Brother. Deep Down I always had a burning passion to come out with songs that people would enjoy and relate to. For the past 2 years I have been scratching clawing, climbing the ladder of musical politics in my city. Trying to get music noticed in Chicago is as easy as crashing an Obama Dinner party. (TRUTHFUL HUMOR). I threw the thought away of trying to impress these Chicago politicians.

...I wanted to come out with a musical project where I can express my thoughts through, singing, rapping or whatever way i can express my thoughts. I wanted to make something that the whole world could relate to. Therefore the phrase Dont Smoke The Cigraette came about for my first solo project. Dont Smoke The Cigarette is a short way of saying “Dont do what everyone else is doing.” This project is filled with my me and friends singing and going on the adventure of musical bliss. I would like to thank everyone who supports me, from the south side of Chicago to the green plains of Berlin. I present to you. #dontsmokethecigarette.

pic by Sadiyya Coates
jacked from GTW.

3 comments:

Sonja said...

Hey KonWomyn,

Re: the Kanye reference, I was basically just pointing to how both Kanye and The GTW are rapping about Africa and poverty (they both mention diamonds, mines and Sierra Leone) and how we're so rich, yet Africans are so poor, and how can we go on living like we do while they live in poverty, etc. It's not that significant but when I first listened to GTW's Pata Pata, it immediately conjured up Diamonds from Sierra Leone for that reason.

I like both songs though, and I'm excited to hear more from The GTW.

Sonja

KonWomyn said...

Wsup Sonja

Thanks for dropping a comment and clarfying what you meant. I guess I misread so I'll correct my post. In that sense, I most def agree with thre are common themes in the music and it doesn't help he sounds like Kanye.

Nah, I'm not feeling the other track, the music's gr8 but like I said some Pharell magic is needed. And yea, I'd most def like to hear more and knowing how big 'Ye's ego is, I'd like to hear what he makes of this cat.

Jay said...

Fanks blud, nice choon. Def-o a Kanye mini-me, sampled the mixtape and nuffin striking. He's different, musically and dats nyc. I was xpectin' more conscious lyrix or summin phresh, but I didn't get that, need a 2nd listen.