gundei(pronounced gandhi)

www.gundei.com

GunDei

Born Garner Remy, Gundei grew up in Port au Prince, Haiti during the Baby Doc era in the 80’s. Despite the clichés about Haiti, Gundei was nurtured by church going parents, one an accountant and the other a psychologist. Gundei learned his English by devouring the encyclopedias his mother brought back from her professional foreign trips.

Though education set the Remys apart, the family lived in the poor areas where unrest was the order of the day. Gundei remembers when leaving elementary school in the afternoon meant dodging the spray of random gunfire. When integrity put the Remys at risk the family fled Haiti in search of something better.

Life in North America was a culture -shock for Gundei. For all the violence of life back home it was in the US that Gundei first flirted with crime. The Miami Beach High school he was enrolled in did little to hold his attention; Gundei was soon lured by the easy money of the streets.

Gundei was lured by something else; the eighties’ hip hop music that permeated life in the hood. The beats and clever word play awakened the poet in him. The one-time innocent youngster spent endless school days playing hookie, freestyling with friends.

A school teacher confronted the hard-head one day saying, “if you can rap what you learned, I will pass you!’ Finally challenged, Gundei delivered a complete synopsis of his Heath class in freestyle form. Gundei had graduated into a class of his own.

With a new refugee card in hand, Gundei’s father pressed his family north, believing Canada to be beyond the reach of the gang life. Montreal, with its subzero winters delivered a culture shock of its own. Gundei remembers himself as an outsider, wearing his tropical flip flops in the Montreal subways. Needless to say the Montreal girls kept their distance.

Though an immigrant twice–over Gundei could now communicate through his new found love for Hip hop. Incorporating elements from both the church and street life Gundei quickly navigated the new Canadian terrain. In Montreal the budding artist took on the name Gundei. ‘Gun’ symbolizing, man in his rough and uncultured form and ‘dei’ meaning God or Godlike.

Parlaying his experience into several early recordings Gundei turned a passion into a strong foray into the growing urban music industry. His engaging content often delivered in a choir-trained singing voice swiftly put him ahead of the pack. A career began to take shape.

After several 12” releases, compilations appearances and key live performances Garner retreated to record a full length piece. His temporary silence he describes as a necessary pause.

Today the immigrant youth-turned Hip Hop artist emerges offering us his opus, “Ghetto Gospel.” The album is a scripture of his sojourn and a testament of his convictions. Gundei is adamant that it is not a gospel album but a Hip Hop record from a spiritual man. He states with the confidence of an artist with many lives behind him and many more to come, “I am too street for the Church and too church for the street!”