G-side is one of the hardest working groups in hip-hop as evidenced from their travels from Alabama to the Netherlands. If you haven’t peeped the DEHH web review, you can catch it here. As they were on their way to a show to promote their new album “Island“, I decided to give them a call and talk about the “Island” album and touring with them.
ChicanGeorge (CG): In your words, can you define “Island“?
Clova (CL): It’s where we came from. We’re trying to expose the world to where we came from. It’s about our living, what we are doing and the type atmosphere that we are on.
ST 2 Lettaz (ST): It’s like he said. We don’t really allow outside cultures and outside influences to come in and change what to do. We are on our own island. We tailor-made the game to fit us.
CG: What are some pros and cons about being a “Island“?
ST: The pros are you set your own rules. You also set your own pace. You are your own boss. You make your own way of doing things.
CL: The cons are more responsibility. You’re in charge of everything, so you have to do everything.
CG: As you said, I can see you guys do everything. You guys even set up your own tours. How important is touring to you and how much has it helped you?
CL: It’s helped us out a lot! By being on the road, it made us better artists, better performers and better everything.
ST: It gave us more content to talk about, besides all the things in that go on in the hood everyday. It also is motivation for us to keep pushing.
CG: You guys are from Huntsville, Alabama and have a unique sound. “Island” itself has a unique sound and production. You even have Stalley on the album. You’ve also done tracks with Black Cobain and Freddie Gibbs and you’ve also been compared to Outkast. Do you consider yourselves hip hop or southern hip hop?
ST: We consider ourselves Huntsville hip hop. All that other stuff doesn’t concern us.
CG: Well, let’s talk a little about the album. I want to talk about a track that a found interesting. What was the inspiration behind “Rabbits“?
ST: Well, “It’s no fun when the rabbit got the gun“. It’s about the place we were in. It seemed like we were the rabbits with the guns. We turned the tables against us and the world and us against the industry.
CG: Since you said the table has turned, let’s talk about you guys being indie. G-side is doing great in the independent lane but do you want to get a major deal though?
CL: Even when you’re in college, you play to go to the league. It’s all about the contract. It’s all about what is going to fit us.
CG: Do you feel that you would need to move out of Alabama or keep the “Island” approach to advance now?
CL: We would probably stay with the island. It fits us best. We couldn’t go to Atlanta to fit in. We have to be by ourself and stand out.
ST: That’s what why we do grind so hard. We worked hard for the past couple of years to do music in Huntsville and bring people to us. It’s crazy how they sent cameras down here to Huntsville and Athens just to see what we are doing.
CG: That’s good inspiration. Let’s talk about another track on the album. Speak on “24/8″.
ST: It’s about a constant grind. If you’re trying to break into the music game, it is a constant grind and hustle. Sometimes, you just want to ask God for another day or some more time, so I can enjoy the fruits of my labor.
CL: Plus, if you’re a grinder, you know sometimes you can run out of time. If you could get a couple of more hours or days, there is so much more you can do.
CG: Like I said earlier, you had Stalley on “Gettin it“. How did that collab come about?
ST: Our publicist is good friends with Stalley’s publicist. They hooked up after there was a Spin article that mentioned both of us. After the article, they hooked us up. He came to Huntsville and kicked it with us and we did the track.
CL: We went through a lot of tracks and it turned out pretty dope.
CG: On “Cinematic“, you guys paint some vivid pictures. Do you think that the track was influenced through your touring?
CL: We were trying to get our level up on performing. We wanted to have a song where we could act a fool on.
ST: It’s a song that we can have fun with. Now a days, the cameras are always in our faces. Rappers got to be actors now. You got to be on your P’s and Q’s. You need to always look nice for the pictures and watch what you do.
CG: I understand you just dropped the new album but what are some future plans for G-side?
ST: We are going to get back on tour and get back on the road. We’re going to try to get back overseas. We will have a new project coming out next year. We haven’t set a date, but we have some records already done.  We’re going to be dropping other artist’s projects from Slow Motion Sounds –Kristmas, Slash, Bentley, Joi Tiffany and PH. We got a lot of work to do.
CG: I know you guys are on a way to a show, so before I let you go, any shout outs?
ST: Shout out to all the g’s that rock with us. Slow Mo till the world blow!