Allow Him to Introduce Himself, His Name is BackRoad Gee.
“I’m an artist, I’m everything. I’m not just a Drill rapper”.
A man with a few words, BackRoad Gee recently linked up with Ambush Buzzworl and Pa Salieu for the remix of his January street hit, Party Popper. He also recently went viral after dropping a snippet of his forthcoming track with Pa Salieu. The rapper is mostly known for producing Drill, but in this interview he made sure to let us know he is much more than a Drill rapper. BRG is determined to show us the range of different genres he can produce that go beyond Drill, and we gladly pass it on. Music sounds so much better when you get to know the person producing it, so I was very excited to speak with the Drill artist I’d only known from the internet.
I want to get to know you as the artist. What separates the artist from the actual person?
BRG: The energy, so as an artist I have a lot of energy. People like to see me, I’m always loud and that you get me? But for me as a person, I’m kind of reserved. I’m not that loud.
Why the name?
BRG: My bredrins kind of gave me that name. It comes from me disliking the meaning of the main road, you know what I mean? I was always on the back roads and side roads, so I just thought of something else. It just comes like that.
What made you want to start music?
BRG: It was actually my good friend that was basically like ‘you can rap still, you can rap’. My other friend just told me one day, ‘you’re good you should get a track and get in the studio and start recording’.
Who do you look up to in the scene?
BRG: Basically, I look up to people from my country [Congo]. Big ups to America, UK, France, Africa, everywhere. I’m not really boxed into one sound, I just like everything. I listen to artists you wouldn’t think I’d listen to. If I had to look up to someone it would be Burna Boy. You can’t really box him in as a UK artist. I’m not trying to be boxed in as a UK artist, you know what I’m trying to say? So yeah, I’d definitely say Burna Boy.
Would you say Congo is one of the influences of your music as well, would you expand over there?
BRG: One hundred percent. I’ve got a lot of things coming, so like what people are seeing now, that’s just like for now innit. I’m just gonna unravel everything.
“I’m not trying to be boxed in as a UK artist”
Where do you see yourself in five years with your music? Do you want people to know you as a certain kind of artist?
BRG: They’ll expect me to be an artist, they won’t just box me into one sound. People will be like, rah this guy can actually do anything and everything. Yeah, that’s literally what it’s going to be. I’m an artist, I’m everything. I’m not just a Drill rapper.
Who do you want to work with in the UK specifically right now, and why?
BRG: I wouldn’t mind working with anyone, but right now it’s very hard to find someone that can match my energy on a track. So it kind of makes it harder for me sometimes.
What’s your process making music, when you go to the studio what’s your type of routine?
BRG: It’s not always the same method, you know what I’m saying? So I’d call one of my producers and we’d book a session. I don’t come with a beat; I like to make the beat on the spot. So, I like to make my little melodies see what I’m gonna chuck on and whatnot. That’s how it comes out. Sometimes I write, and sometimes I don’t write - the message changes all the time.
When will you drop the My Family track? All jokes aside, when are we getting it because it’s fire.
BRG: That one there will shutdown. It’s coming, I’m telling you one thing that one is coming soon, trust me.
It seems like you and Pa Salieu have a good connection when making music together, it makes sense.
BRG: Yeah, that’s my bro.
You’re gonna drop a project this June, so if we’re still on lockdown is it still gonna go through, or are you gonna do something different? What’s your next step?
BRG: The show must go on, one hundred percent. Cause that one there even when you’re on lockdown, you’re gonna be breaking the law, running out of windows, out of the yard.
There is more than what the eye can see when it comes to BackRoad Gee; an introvert at heart, an extrovert in the studio. He expressed his range of sounds and explores all of his options, despite knowing the audience already classes him as a Drill rapper. And it’s no wonder, because with just under 100,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, it’s clear that BRG has found his niche in the Drill scene. Keep watching though, he’s about to surprise us all.
Check out BackRoad Gee to see what the hype is about:
Written by Minou Itseli