George Taylor doesn’t come from hard streets, but he still believes he has a story to tell. His rap, both smooth and provocative, is all about the often-unseen internal struggles common to humanity. His dream song, he says, will be called, “Welcome to Me.” The world, we’re sure, will be happy to meet him.
1. You call yourself a black swan. What’s up with that?
The stereotypical rapper nowadays comes along with certain connotations– using drugs
and the street life. I can’t rap about that kind of stuff. I have a different story. But
everyone has their own individual story to tell. I truly believe that.
2. And what’s your story?
Growing up, there were certain expectations to do well in school, and get a stable job
where you’re working at a Fortune 500 company. My whole youth was sports, sports,
sports, and my parents really pushed me to do well in school. I studied a lot; I was
recruited to Williams for soccer. Freshman year, I took CompSci; that was ugly. I took
Econ. But I was never comfortable with the plan. I always wanted to do something I was
passionate about. Something I wanted to wake up for in the morning.
3. And that was music?
Not for a long time, actually. I used to listen to music all the time with my mom. She was
the first one who played Biggie Smalls for me. And it was crazy, I could listen to a song
twice and know all the words. But for most of my life, music was just something I
consumed.
I used to listen to music all the time with my mom. She was the first one who played Biggie Smalls for me.
4. What changed?
We lived in London when I was in high school, and I did a class report called, “How to
make hip-hop beats.” This involved me going to YouTube and typing in those exact
words and just downloading everything. And literally, with no instruments, just on my
laptop, pressing keys and dragging them all over the place, I made my first beat. I thought
it was the best thing I ever heard. But it was terrible. I mean, really bad.
5. The rest is history?
No, it was back to soccer and the grind of getting into college.
Then last winter, I’d stopped playing soccer, and I was slowly seeing how successful
music is for everyone now, and I was like, “Why not me?” Because when you hear a lot
of these artists, they’re like, “Yeah, I’ve only been rapping for a year,” and then they’re at
millions of followers and millions of plays.
So, I started making music with my friend Adrian – he’s another artist who goes to
Williams, and he was working on a project. I had done free-styles for people all the time,
and he heard about one of them, and he was like, “Yo, come rap on this beat.” That was
the first song I ever made, with Adrian in his dorm room, and again, it was not great. But
it was the beginning.
6. Who’s your favorite artist?
I love Lil Wayne. Frank Sinatra. Led Zeppelin. Lil Dickie. But in terms of pure artistry,
I’d say Jon Bellion. He’s just so honest. He has a song that goes, "Please don't let my soul drown in luxury." You know, I don't have a rags-to-riches kind of story. I know my
perspective is a bit different when it comes to "living the dream." But I just hope
throughout my life, if I ever do reach the success that I hope for, that it doesn't become
something that swallows the kid in me who just wanted to do something he was
passionate about.
7. I-phone background?
It’s the Simpsons version of the famous Nirvana cover with the baby. The way I see it,
we’re all kind of just like kids, drowning, looking for money, doing whatever we can.
8. GMT are your initials, but there are other artists who already go by that name.
GMT means a lot to me, personally, because I’m named after my grandfather who passed
away before I was born. But then I also love the concept of “give me time.” I’m not going
to change it. Hopefully, I’ll just be the GMT that people are looking for.
9. Do you have a song in your head that you’ve got a title for but not the lyrics yet?
I’ve always loved stories of, not revenge, but getting back at the people who doubted you.
And I’ve always seen myself as kind of a figure that people from the outside may think
that I have everything going on for me, but then… it’s like with everyone, no one knows
what’s actually going on inside people’s heads.
10. So what would the song be called?
“Welcome to Me,” I guess.
Check out GMT on Quadio!
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