GypsHop

Formerly working with an independent predominantly male, hip-hop group Fly’N’High, they opened for a variety of acts including KRS-ONE, Slum Village, and The Game. After 3 years within Fly’N’High, the duo decided to rework their creative vision in a new direction, outside of male-dominated boundaries where GypsHop was born.
GypsHop is inspired by the metaphysical influences in time, existence, and truth, which are apparent in their lyrical content and sound.
GypsHop’s latest visual release, ‘Sky Blue,’ is a song of creation and the Duality of a Woman- the balance between her true self and the way she expresses it.Tay’s voice- sharp and strong- the identity a woman shows you. &e’s voice vulnerable, exposed, and hopeful, is the weakness you don’t know beneath the armor. They’re two halves of a complete entity-Tay the ego and &e the soul -restless until they’re made whole.
In the video, as a viewer you’re inclined to take an introspective look at yourself as you try to decode the messages left between the soul and the ego.
Their next video is to be released later this fall followed by their upcoming EP ‘Horizon’. - Niji Magazine

HI girls, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?

– GH: Thank you so much for having us. We’ve been great, busy recording and preparing for the album, staying on the gypsy grind



So tell us more about your sound, in songs like Sky Blue you guys play with different melodies and sounds. How did you come up with it? Tell us more about gypsy hop?

– Tay: I think the hardest question we get on a regular basis is “What kind of music do you do? Who do you sound like?,” We became a duo by playing around with our individual sounds, combining the music we’re both influenced by, and wanting to build a bridge between the gaps of those genres, and create a new one, where I can sing an acoustic ballad then belt out a chorus on a hard beat, and &e can recite spoken word and transition to rapping, all on the same album, or sometimes the same song.

– &e: We came up with and continue to evolve our sound based on the balance that exists between the two of us as artists. We are constantly pushing each other and ourselves to make our music a consistent reflection of the souls we are, as well as allowing our balance in our delivery mirror the balance we’ve always shared in our 8 year friendship. “Gypsy hip hop” Is where our name GypsHop derived from.

For myself Gypsy Hip Hop identifies clearly with who I am- gypsy soul with a heart of hip hop. But for Tay the meaning evolved into more of a metaphoric gypsy of the industry in her ability to adapt to any sound or genre and execute it.



Speaking of this track, can you talk to us more about the backstory behind the single?

– &e: My lyrics were first written as a poem that I wrote a night before a session. I ended up reading the poem to Tay and Don Preach (the producer of Sky Blue) and he insisted that I recite it over the mic and speak it authentically in my spoken word style. From there he built the beat around me. Tay and I then developed the concept pretty naturally when we added a second poem written by Tay as her lyrics- we didn’t try to control the process of Sky Blue what so ever, and it seemed to connect to its own identity before we did.

– Tay : Don Preach, is also very experimental with sounds, and was able to understand the duality of our talents, and then capture that while recording or creating a beat. Sky Blue was created so naturally, without thought or structure… I always warm up on the mic by harmonizing with an underlying instrument in the beat, which is how the vocal accompaniment throughout the rest of the song was created.



I understand there’s also a video, how was the film experience?

– &e: Fantastic. We mainly have worked our visuals through an up and coming visual artist named Mathew Francis aka Matty Icee (@iceematty) of Box 8 studios in Los Angeles, and had Bryan Goonetilleke (another videographer) along for the project as well.

– T: We’ve been blessed with an extremely creative team working beside us since the very beginning built on an unbreakable trust within each of our unique talents, including Matty Icee. He takes any creative direction or vision we have and fully embodies them as well as surpasses our greatest expectations of the end result. Five of us packed up my little Kia Soul, and went on a mini road trip to scout the location that morning, found a little gem up in the mountains of Ojai, and started shooting, then pulled together the rest of the story with scenes we planned out & shot in LA.

– &e: So the experience was natural and comfortable and above all was incredibly fun.



The song comes off your new album Horizon. Can you tell us more about the recording and writing process?

– &e: The song is actually a snippet, or more like a preview of our EP Horizon. The only way to properly grasp our essence through our music is to not own any writing or production process and instead allowing the universe to work through us as a true duality and allow us to create from the deepest parts of our awareness and devotion to our art.

That’s the only way.



What’s the story behind the title?

– &e: Sky Blue was a poem I wrote in reference to a repetitive dream I would experience at the time.

The story would best be told through the lyrics themselves.



Where did you find the inspiration for the songs and lyrics?

Tay: I previously had written my first verse without format or melody, my notes on my phone tend to be my diary in lyric form, whether those be my deepest closeted emotions, or the alter-ego masking them, which was clearly present in writing that. At the time, I had really been struggling with not being respected as a woman in the industry, and wanted our creative and business pursuits seen and heard instead of shoved away by people who were threatened by it.

&e- I think everyone can relate to various astral experiences- including the experience of mutual dreaming or lucid dreaming.

Which is where for myself was the experience that the lyrics derived from, which was a very vulnerable place for me at the time and not a side I enjoyed showing often – and usually even my music, naturally can reside with blocking those feelings or experiences from the person I actually can portray myself to be in the journey of protecting myself and those secret places that we all as women or even humans, try to hide from even ourselves.

We can play one song on the outside daily for our ego to step to, but inside our soul will always play us the truth.



In what way would you say your days in Fly ‘N’High helped you grow as musicians and shape your sound?

&e – In every way. I was a poet above all when I stepped in as the first and only female of the group. They treated it like boot camp for me and were extremely tough on me at times and there is nothing in my career and path that I am more grateful for then Fly’N’High and the blessings and light it shed to my purpose and vision.

Tay: Fly’N’High remains the most imperative part of my development as a musician, and transformation into an artist. I am still heavily influenced by my admiration for the lyricism and delivery of every artist in Fly’N’High, and the knowledge I gained during the process of being the singer of FNH is forever irreplaceable.



Will you be hitting the road this year?

&e: We’ll be focusing on shows in Cali, mainly around LA starting the end of the year. And we will definitely become more nomadic with exposure in 2015



What else is happening next in GypsHop’s world?

Tay: Stay tuned, we won’t leave you hangin. - Vents Magazine

Red roses and blue fingernail polish are the highlights in GypsHop’s latest “Sky Blue” teaser. The rapping/singing duo’s latest track is about the duality of a woman, the balance between her true self and the way she expresses it.

Andi (the MC) and Tay the songstress previous members of Fly’N’High, where they worked with numerous music groups, including KRS-One, Slum Village, and The Game. Three years later, the group decided to creatively change courses, and then GypsHop was born.

Tay’s voice is harsh, bossy, sharp and strong while Andi’s voice is vulnerable, exposed, and hopeful. They’re two halves of a complete entity. And putting these two girls together, creates an awesome song about women’s empowerment.
-Lara Ashley - SoGutsy