Voice of The People

Voice of The People

Connecting Music and Revolution

By

Sengbe Ben Yosef

  This month on the blog we bring you the musical talents of a young man, Qadir Hakim aka Goalden Chyld out of Chi-Town also known as Chicago, the windy city. During my monthly music trolling session on the internet, I came across this young man and his music. The video was titled “Goalden Chyld – It’s Our Time”. The video started out with me interested in the words being said in the form of spoken word poetry, but as the video ended I heard some really great music and I wanted to hear more. First, let me say I do have a slight bias towards any kind of music that speaks truth to power. I call that kind of music Rebel Music. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a great deal of respect for an artist who are not afraid to take a stand in their music and say something meaningful to the people.

  Okay, enough about me and my views on music. Let’s talk about the artist we are here to celebrate. The artist is Goalden Chyld or G.C. for short. I sent an email to the young man to see if I could acquire an interview for the blog. He was delighted to hear that I was interested in his music and sent back a response that same day.  Many times people say artists are not talking about anything in their music today, but again I have discovered another example of them not knowing where to look for “Rebel Music”. This artist is one of many like him who take the time to create music that says something and music that we can recognize as true works of art. Goalden Chyld is an artist that possesses a great deal of lyrical skill and creativity. Not only is he saying something meaningful in his music, but he is making it enjoyable to listen to as well. Because as we all know everyone hates to be preached to especially when the preacher is boring as hell.

 

  Now the moment you have been reading for; ladies and gents I give present to you Goalden Chyld! Our subject got his start in music at the young age of eight when his father local Chicago rapper Hashim Hakim gave him a rap verse to memorize. Later his dad took him to the studio to record the verse. From then on G.C. loved making music. I asked G.C. what influenced his music and he said: The message in my music is heavily influenced by Minister Louis Farrakhan. Now I can understand why his music is so fiery. Then I asked if he had any family members that were into music other than his dad. He said his mother Chandra Hakim grew up singing in the church choir. Goalden Chyld has a rich family history in music and that is evident when you listen to his music.

G.C. said growing up listening to the garbage on the radio inspired him to take a more activist approach to making music. He says he could make some of the trash he heard on the radio, but that’s not his way. He said it was always in him to make music and he has wanted to do it since he was a young child. I asked what else G.C. did besides music. He said, “I'm a youth mentor and an activist”. Based on that we can see Goalden Chyld is not just talking when he makes music; he is being true to the spirit of his art. He is striving to be a walking example of his music. I asked if he played any instruments and he said he was a novice piano player. We already know that G.C.’s dad introduced him to Hip Hop and his mom gave him an understanding of singing but when I asked who his teachers were, when it came to music he said: “I’m currently teaching myself the science of making music”.

 

Moving on, I asked about the first song of his that I had ever listened too. The song is called POWER” and it is the feature song of this interview. When I heard the track I want to smash up something. The beat is dope and the lyrical context is like Public Enemy on steroids. Please tell me you know the rap group Public Enemy. If you don’t know who the rap group Public Enemy is you need your Hip Hop pass revoked. But enough about that let’s find out about G.C.’s track “Power”. I asked: what does it take to make a track like that come to life in the mind of an artist. Goalden Chyld said: “I decided to write this song when I thought about how great we are as a people and because our power as a people are truly great beyond measures”. He went on to say: “However, I know that our true power is being slept on in the world because we're so divided and disconnected, which in my opinion is no coincidence”. G.C. says: This is all by design to ensure that we never tap into that power and that power he referring to is “Black Power”. He said: Now getting back to your question; what it takes to make a song like this is true love, dedication, and research of once self and his or her people!

  After understanding the track “Power”, I wanted to hear from G.C.’s point of view what he feels his music is about. To that Goalden Chyld said:  "My music is about freeing the minds of my oppressed brothers and sisters and the black family as a whole". "It’s about getting us to love and understand one another while at the same time getting us to come to the realization that our true power is in our unity". I asked what got him fired up musically. G.C. says: "When I ponder on my people’s condition and think about the fact that we're products of a crooked system, then problems my people face become my song topics". I said to Golden Chyld: what makes your music different. G.C. says: "I do more than state the problems in the black community I also try to give them a sense of hope by offering what I believe is a reasonable solution". "Also, I have been blessed with the abilities to sing, rap, and do poetry with a strong message, proficiently, so my music is a unique combination of the three". 

  I asked Goalden Chyld what kind of music he listen to outside of Hip Hop. Also, what made him choose Hip Hop. G.C. said he listens to Jazz, R&B, Country, Rock, Neo-Soul you name it! I love what each genre uniquely brings to the table and they all add to my creativity. As for choosing Hip Hop he says:  I chose hip hop because that’s closest to heart and I felt that Hip Hop was one of the easiest and smartest ways to get the message across to my people, the youth in particular. I asked if he was into any artist in his genre and he said there are some. He named a few and why he liked their music. He said: J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar; I like them for their courageous ability to provide a message in their music while being in an industry heavily consumed with foolishness. He said some others were Lauren hill "The miseducation of Lauren hill." Kanye West and Jay-Z "Watch the throne". Andre 3000 and Tupac, just to name a few artists and projects he really enjoyed.

  We talked about performing on stage and G.C. shared his first time on stage. He said the first time was in Colorado when he was 14 or 15 years old. He said: I performed the first verse I ever recorded which was the same verse I recorded when I was eight years old. The titled of the track was "dear dad". I asked if he liked performing for his fans. He said: I love it I feel free it's an escape also I don't refer to my people as fans they're family. I wanted to know about a memorable moment in music for him and G.C. talked about when he performed for Minister Louis Farrakhan and when he performed for Russel Simmons former C.E.O. of Def Jam Records. But most of all he was proud when he finished recording "Stand for Justice or Else". He said: That was the best feeling because I knew this was the beginning of me helping change the world.

  I wanted to know if he ever got nervous on stage and he said: "I'm always nervous before performing, just not as nervous which is humbling because I always turn to God and pray to overcome". He says "it’s natural to be nervous and in time your will build confidence". He says it help to stay ready. G.C. says he practices at one or two days a week and he memorizes his work to stay prepared for anything. Being an artist myself I asked Goalden Chyld how he kept things balanced in his everyday life. He responded with this:  "It's very difficult but the love for the art keeps me going". "You've gotta be 1. prayerful 2. self-motivated and a disciplined person to be an indie artist and not to mention being a revolutionary artist". G.C. wants his fans (Family) to know this about his music. That it's 100% real and from the heart, it's not for money but for freedom justice and equality and that he makes music to change Hip Hop and the world forever. 

  The last thing I asked is what he thought about the state of music today and he had these words to say on the subject. "It's sad because the devil is at work and he's working harder than ever but his time is up". "It won’t not long before music goes back to what it should be which in my opinion is a tool for the revolutionary free minds of the people". Goalden Chyld says going forward he will be making more music and videos and doing his best to change up Hip Hop and the world. He also wants his music to send the message to his people that it’s time to wake up rise up because we have a kingdom to build. I believe him and take at his word and I also believe artist Like Goalden Chyld need our support just as much as we need him to combat this overflow of foolishness in today’s music. Please get out and support this artist because as I say we need him. Below check out the links for the G.C.'s music movement and do your part to keep Rebel Music alive. 

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