Gat$

Gat$’s new album, By Any Dreams, is jazz-riddled, boom-bap-ingrained and emotionally connected to the thug side of life. Tampa-based emcee Robert Ferdinand provides the right balance of endearing highs and wretched lows for hip-hop lovers who miss the conscious congress of their personal and political self.

DO THIS: GATSBY LP LISTENING PARTY AT CLEAR TRACK STUDIOS 10.29.16

From the finessed instrumentation on “[act won.],”[act too.]” and “[act rite]” to the skit at the end of “[fool’s gold.],” the whole of By Any Dreams makes it difficult for listeners to elude Ferdinand’s social and political references. The record reflects society’s perceptions of black males in America as much as it lifts the veil of ignorance, giving both outsiders and those in the know a true account of the experience of a young black male in America.

Dreams’s third track “[better daze, pt. i & ii]” transitions from jazzy production with a skin-crawling bassline to a soothing ambient soundscape. After leaving space for the listener to personally reflect on the better days of life, the cut calmly, but majestically, disappears. The following song, “[fool’s gold.],” surfaces as trap-soul gospel and reveals a tale of a protagonist influenced by the luxuries of money and power. The song provides a relevant and tragic theme: not all that shines is actually dripping in gold.

The LP’s fifth track, “stolen future,” is a futuristic soul offering which recreates the type of eerie synth samples and tones found on Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). Ferdinand’s raspy, East Coast-style vocals open the track, and the instrumental quickly builds around his relentless, prophet-like lyrical approach. Gat$’s catchy choruses hook listeners with undertones of emotional confusion running throughout the album. Between paper and dream chasing, the future-altering detours on the album leave the protagonist feeling stagnant as a person.

Track nine, “[the connect. (tarantino wrap-up)],” is Gat$ storytelling at its best. Like Craig Mack’s “Flava In Ya Ear,” the bounce on the track trails in direct from ‘94. Moving from paper chasing to skirt chasing, Ferdinand lyrically dances from political to personal ambitions on the cut. Hoping his risky pursuits in courting vixens don’t leave him in a sticky situation, Gat$ inevitably woos a taken romantic interest, but the plot thickens as his rhymes and schemes catch up to each other. In short, he ends up getting closer to karma. While Gat$ strays clear of mumble rap, “[times two]” is where he flirts with the genre while also leveling it up. The 808-heavy track, along with Ferdinand’s versatile vocal style, fills voids listeners feel their favorite emcees in more mumbly genres are creating.

On Dreams, Gat$ has consciously encouraged listeners to question and react rather than be a complacent cog in an unjust society, and the album’s release should be a cause for celebration for those who long for inspiration so intense that it makes them have to acknowledge both the richness in tragedies and the true wealth in knowledge. (Critic’s rating: 4 out of 5 stars)

Get more information about the LP listening party & release via local.cltampa.com. Read more about "No L's" here. - cltampa.com

If you’re a fan of Southern rap, you know famous names like Outkast, T.I., Mystikal, Master P, Lil Wayne, Juvenile, the Geto Boys, Ludacris, and Three 6 Mafia. These are some of the names synonymous with Southern rap and with good reason. Although many love to point out that all of today’s Southern Rappers sound the same ( mumble rap ), it’s just not true. There’s intellect and soul in the next generation’s words, providing fans and hip-hop enthusiasts with a glimpse into the minds, surroundings, and personalities of real people. Real people with real struggles. Tampa’s own, Gat$ represents just that in his new album, By Any Means.

Artist On The Come Up: Mike Mass

By Any Dreams was a product of many sleepless nights of anxiety. The spark came from conversations with my old creative partner Adam and my real life therapist. I wanted to shed a life on black lives, black masculinity, black mental health, and overall just the black experience for young men who get stuck in between the rights and wrongs. Karma is a central theme, and I hope that this album helps young brothers that have felt the same way I have.
– Gat$

Hot or Not? Check out Florida Artist Brilly Asher – ‘Rise’ [VIDEO]

The rap scene in Tampa,fl is on the come-up. There is no stopping or denying it. Over the past couple of years, numerous of local talents have taken to the mic and released quality material. Stream Gat$ new album here and below - blameebro.com

813’s Gat$ (a.k.a Tampa) starts this project with a late eerie tone, a Charles Dickens / Robert Stevenson novel kind of vibe almost, late 1920’s prohibition era type tone. The cover itself compliments this initial thought as it’s a bloody red with black with a prescription paper filled out with Gat$ government name (Robert Ferdinand ) where it connects that the artist has anxiety (among possible other things), a disease plaguing a decent chunk of our youth not many celebrity’s dwell on with the side note “psychiatry referred”. This could mean many things, the conclusion I reached to is that the theoretical doctor (if there is one) would like him evaluated before putting him on anxiety meds, such as xanax & kolonopin that have ruined suburban America and many lifes. Halfway through the tape there’s a flame collab track with SkyXXX of SwampPosse and BizzyCrook many can connect too. Near the end there’s a quite fitting song for the youth, a story as old as time, “If I die this year I ain’t got the buzz to join a club, the pressure be killing niggas”. This is personally my favorite song, the beautiful single art for it completes it (the cover art had a limited T-shirt print run, I was lucky enough to receive one, very cozy juheard). The ending of the tape is quite eerie off rip, as it’s named white lighter, as most of us know white lighters are bad luck, “some days I just want to watch the world burn”.

Editor’s Note : This article was written last year but due to technical difficulties not posted until now. I highly encourage those reading to vote for Gat$ in the Mieux Magazine Awards, where he is nominated for “best collab single”, for the track mentioned earlier with SkyXXX and Bizzy, as he is one of the most slept on and this is more than likely his last project due to health concerns. Hope everything gets better Robert, sincerely Ricky. - raphq.co

It’s a big day for Tampa Bay rapper Gats, as he premieres his second album #HEELtv.

Featuring frequent collaborators Wrathmatics and Santos, Gats amps up his rap skills on his new project, while touching on the highs of his life, struggles, and more. Notable tracks include “12,” where the Tampa rapper speaks on the social injustices of this nation.

#HEELtv starts off by highlighting the good in life (“Everything On Tv”) and begins to take a darker approach as the album progresses, leading up to “Nothing On TV.” Listen to Gats’ new album #HEELtv in its entirety below and let us know your thoughts. - Global Grind

It’s been a long time coming for Gat$ formerly known as Gatsby as he’s been working on his new mixtape #starshipJERICHO for quite some time now. After releasing some strong singles including the Daily Chiefers premiered “Sunday A.M.|P.M.” featuring Shawn Chrys. Check out the project below which is packed with strong production from the likes of Wrathmatics, Santos, Gatsby himself, and more. - Daily Chiefers

A A lot of the highlights of Gatsby’s album “Starship Jericho” treads the line between a ill emcee and a human being. A emcee that feels he is the best on a competitive level ( as he should ) and a human being that’s faced his fair share of pressure, fear and confusion while finding himself as a artist.

Opening up the mixtape ( Undisputed ) with a Chris Jericho sample of him ranting “You people have been lead to believe that mediocrity is excellence. I, Jericho, is excellence”. Hearing that immediately gives me high expectations for this project. Following the sample with an in your face flow laced with a aggressive attitude over dark sounds. Moving on to Liontamer which to me stood out the most because it sounds like its meant to satisfy the day one Hip-Hop Heads. The heads that still love the East Coast late 90‘s early 2000‘s sound. On what sounds like it came straight from the Rocafella/Dipset era, he drops bars for the listeners like “Dreams made this but half the city gon hate it, other half fuck with me nigga. I’m their favorite but if jealousy is love and hate I guess I half made it”. The album then makes a transition to a sunny day in Tampa on “Sunday AM/PM”. A dope feel good track for a bbq with the friends and family that ends with a disgusting switch up on the beat at 2:45.

Signs of a genius start appearing when you reach tracks “8:47“ and “New Millenium”. Two very well put together pieces of art. Coming off as a student of Kanye West, The Roots and Kid Cudi in his production skills; this is a perfect time for this kind of artist to blow up in this particular decade. My favorite track on this album has to be “The Ayatollah”. A nice track for the herb partakers with banging drums, house party vibe and Betty Dawl’s soul floating over the beat. Heading towards the end of the album.a light shines directly on the human side I was speaking of earlier. “Problems Money Cant Buy”, “Restart” and “Trapping Will Kill You”. These tracks touch on a point in his life as a artist struggling to find himself, his journey to ultimately becoming a succesful artist and socal issues. Lines that stood out to me were “ Getting picked on for being skinny shit and talking proper, wish I could just pop up and leave his brains on the locker. blocka blocka but I aint made of Columbine nigga inside I’m dying for a peace of mind”.

Overall this is a great body of work put together by the Bluuzone team. For those that dont know, Bluuzone is a collective of rappers, producers, visual artist and thinkers. Gatsby joined the fold along with the group, West Egg last year.

Listen to his episode of Regarding Tampa

Written by – Gossett Brown - Zero Warning

Robert Ferdinand has never been one to dance around the delicate topics so many others spin their wheels trying to avoid.

The Tampa emcee has been skeptical of Chance the Rapper’s tendency to be be corny as hell, and in August, Ferdinand — better known as Gat$ — tackled black males' mental health and braggadocio on “No L’s.” The track was the anchor on a boom-bap’d, jazzy 2016 LP, By Any Dreams, and now the 28-year has really peeled it back even more as he prepares the release of a new EP, bleed out, you know what you did (due November 11).

A new video, “Patient,” was released to ease fans back into the world of Gat$, and Gat$ has also shared that this next year will also be one he spends looking for something like a miracle.

Last year, Gat$ was officially diagnosed with sickle cell anemia after being misdiagnosed with various other ailments since the age of 12, and he just learned that survival probably means he’ll need a bone marrow transplant.

“I've [come] incredibly close to dying too often in the past year, so I'm going to go full ahead with trying to obtain the procedure,” he wrote on Facebook. “It's scary thinking about trying to find a donor (in case my blood brother isn't a match) and having to go through chemotherapy again, but I feel as this would be the only way to save my life.”

Gat$ told CL that the four-tracks on bleed out, you know what you did mostly chronicle his personal battle with people, being in the hospital and sickly and being black in America.

“It’s mostly about struggle, and what the struggle makes you do,” he said.

Friends have already reached out to see if they can be donors, but he’s opened the call up to anyone who might be interested in helping. He’ll have more specific details about what kind of donor he’s looking for in the coming weeks, but anyone seeking to help can reach out to Gat$ on Facebook. He’ll also chronicle the journey on his website.

“Realistically, I have a year before it would happen, but, I'd be out of commission for at least a year after. It's a solemn thought, but I rather be in a bubble than dead,” he Gat$ wrote. “So with all that being said, let's make this year of art count.” - Creative Loafing Tampa

In December, Gat$ will be in Los Angeles joining the likes of Post Malone, Lil Wayne, Cardi B, Lil Uzi Vert and dozens of hip-hop's other stars for the west coast iteration of the Florida-born Rolling Loud Festival. On Monday, the Tampa rapper and producer (who is apparently an underrated bass guitar god, too) will headline a much more intimate show as part of the now long-running Wine & Rhyme series at Anise in downtown Tampa.

Watch his new video, “Nelly,” above.

Wine & Rhyme w/Gat$/AMiAM/Syd Live/Deezy Wee. Mon. Nov. 5, 9 p.m. No cover (tables available). Anise Global Gastrobar, 777 N Ashley Dr., Tampa. INFO. - CL Tampa

Florida got the juice!

Joey Franchize catches up with Tampa artist, Gat$ to talk about his new project, 2 Live and 2 Robb, his rap influences, being featured on Rolling Loud stages, & more!

Check out the full interview below. - Wild 94.1