Gift Raps

Refreshing. Genre-mashing. A few of the words that come to mind after hearing Austin native Gift go in on his new EP The Trip, the first of a two part series that he pieced together solely with producer Peabody. The project boasts versatility and clever word play throughout especially between intro, “No Good,” and the title track “Trip.”

Although it is short, simple and to the point this six track project is a great introduction to the world and has landed him a few different radars over the last few months. With the help of Fouled Out, a very talented band, The Trip comes to life during performances as several genres of music clash in front of you creating a very unique sound. This is a very promising start leading us to believe Gift is definitely one to keep an eye on. - OnSmash

popVLTR: You've been making moves in Austin, how'd you get into music? Gift: Ahhh man, thank you, and thank you for reaching out. You know, funny enough, it started as kind of a challenge to myself. I saw a lot of guys in high school rapping and battling, you know, doing the whole walk around the school handing out CD's thing and people were responding. As a life long rap fan I found myself kind of criticizing them. Then I realized that they were at least trying and I didn't know how to rap at all. So, It was kind of like the Gandhi candy story. I challenged myself to learn. Sort of wish it was more glamorous but it should help with paying off student loans.

popVLTR: Congrats on releasing 'The Trip', who are some of your influences? Gift: I appreciate it. We're excited about having 'THE TRIP' out and receiving the feedback. As far as influences go, of course the standards that we all grew up listening to. The Jay-Zs and Eminems who took it so far and still continue to grow. 50's and 60's era music, you know from the drifters to the temptations, Motown, classical music, especially nocturnes, blues and all of it's off shoots. But, most of my biggest influences today are the guys I work with everyday. The artist and musicians around me, like the 'Modern Intellects or Fouled Out', who show me where I stand as a music maker and that there really is always room for improvement. The push is nice and humbling.

popVLTR: What are some of your proudest moments in music? Gift: Hands down completing 'THE TRIP'. easily. It was my first project so the entire thing was a learning experience. Honestly I had so much fun making it, I forgot we were going to put it out for people to hear.

popVLTR: What cool stuff is on the horizon for you? Gift: I've been getting more and more invites to perform recently. Which is nice because we have been working hard to piece together a live show. Actually, a band and I will be out in Tennessee mid May performing as well as performing at the RAW showcase in Austin with the band I have been spending a lot time with perfecting our performance. The beat maker I worked with on 'THE TRIP', Peabody, and I have started planning our next project out which I'm more than looking forward to. It should be interesting applying what we learned on the last project to this new one. You know, that's probably what excites me most about this whole process, the challenge of growing and getting to the next step. Yeah, the challenge is nice. - PopVulture

This doozy of a project showed up on my Soundcloud stream and I was instantly impressed by the Austin emcee. Off of his recent drop, The Trip, Gift flips the popular Amy Winehouse track into a Hip-Hop track dripping with replayability. Check out No Good, and stream the rest of The Trip on Gift's Soundcloud. Be looking out for Part 2 of The Trip as well. - Skee