The Pursuit of Rap Stardom

The modern underground music scene is filled with a plethora of talented artists, all with the same goal of making it big. Joey Garcia (aka Joey G.) is a 20-year-old Massachusetts born rapper with talent sky-high, and dreams of hip-hop stardom.

“I started rapping when I was 12, but I really didn’t know what I was doing,” Garcia explained.

It was when he moved to New York, at the age of 13, that new inspirations manifested. Living in a city with a rich history of Hip-Hop artists such as Jay-Z, Public Enemy, and A Tribe Called Quest, sparked his passion for rapping to a new level.

However, it was at the age of 15 that everything changed for him.

“I really considered myself being formed (at 15). That’s when the songs started to make sense,” Garcia said. “Because that’s when my sister passed away. When I needed an escape, and I was going through the grieving, rapping was all I had and it never stopped.”

Like a phoenix rises from a flame, Garcia found himself with a new escape, and passion through his art that he never felt before.

Besides taking influence from the passing of his sister, Garcia finds influence in all forms of music, situations, and walks of life. With producer FrankeL, who sees the same talent in Garcia as many of his fans, his music started taking new shape and maturing to become something that has more than a surplus of potential.

“I like good music. It doesn’t necessarily have to be Hip-Hop, it could be hardcore rock, reggae, house music, all that stuff.” Garcia said. “My producer makes a lot of good beats.”

Garcia’s music can be accurately described as a perfect blend between raw lyrical hip-hop mixed with a down-to-earth soft side with a 21st century electronic vibe.

“I like to consider myself an experimental rapper,” Garcia said. “But I rap about whatever I’m feeling at the time. I could be on the subway listening to my iPod and look outside and see the city as I’m going over the bridge and be inspired by that. I’m not really a big club artist; I like my stuff to be about life, or stories from my life. I speak from the heart.”

With a clear mind and confidence in his sound and music, Garcia is also currently facing a tough life choice. In June ’10, he graduated from Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, New York, and is contemplating a move down to Orlando, Florida to live near his producer and pursue his rap career there or to stay in the Big Apple with his family and try to make it in the most artistically saturated city in America.

“I have no idea,” Garcia said. “I can’t go down there broke, and struggling, it’ll be too crazy.”

At 20 years old, it’s safe to say that the decisions Garcia makes today are going to affect his dreams of rap stardom.

“I want to make it, man. I want to be known, I want my face to be out there, I want to be flooding the Internet,” Garcia said. “I’m hoping that I can be able to express myself from the heart and at the same time, be able combine my music with the commercial sound.”

Garcia, still an underground artist, finds difficulty in relating to today’s popular artists. He has a general distaste for the modern Hip-Hop.

“I hate the radio,” Garcia said. “I dislike the fact that a lot of rapper’s don’t really put enough emphasis and thought into their lyrics. You really don’t need to be talented this day-in-age. You just need a catchy phrase or dance, and that’s really what I don’t like about the radio.”

With an attitude separating him from the modern rap artists, Garcia recognizes the struggle he faces with the passion and heart he puts into his music as opposed to the more polished safe sound of contemporary popular hip-hop.

“There are a lot of artists out there that actually sit down in the studio and write songs that have a lot of meaning,” Garcia said. “But you never hear that from the artists on the radio.”

However, with the changing music scene, new light may shine upon the talented artists of the world such as Garcia. With new sources of communication and the rising fads of social networking, underground music is becoming more accessible than ever, creating newer easier ways for local talent to make a name for themselves.

“Between MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, there are a lot of people who have used the Internet to help them out,” Garcia said. “I feel like the underground scene is getting better.”

You can listen to some of Joey’s tracks here: http://www.myspace.com/joeygakalisten