We caught up with the brilliant and insightful GB The G1ft a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi GB , thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I’ve been learning about music and arts since before I can remember. My dad was in a marching band and a church drummer, so rhythm & percussion was always a focal point when it came to music at home. On the other hand, my mom was very astute and gave me book reports to do outside of school work which taught me descriptive language. Starting music at a young age and gaining experience in all aspects came from my perseverance and hunger for knowledge. I needed beats and engineering; so I made beats and engineered etc. I feel like any process worth going through shouldn’t automatically be fast & easy. It takes time to develop fully and properly, so I wouldn’t change a thing about my natural journey. I will say that taking on more administrative roles earlier on would have saved a lot of time and opened doors for me. I’ve learned that the business side is just as important, if not more essential than the creative side of the industry.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is gB the G1ft. I’m an artist, model, & entrepreneur. I was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri and started composing music at the age of 9 at a performing arts school. Now I own a production company (iLLeagle Sound) and co-own JuNoMar Multimedia. So on top of my own music I provide creative direction and curation/marketing services for brands and corporate entities. JuNoMar works in all creative mediums including art/design, sculpture, music, fashion, and film. My unorthodox song structure & quality production are what set me apart from today’s sound. My upcoming project, “Top Flite” will be my biggest release to date, so I’m proud and excited about the material I have to offer this time around.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My creative mission has always been transcendence through self expression and discovery. So, basically finding yourself and a greater purpose through your natural thoughts and experiences. I tend to focus on self determination and independent thought with the overlooked youth coming of age today. I’m committed to creating the soundtrack for a young generation of counter cultural neo-adults and push boundaries by creating art in new mediums.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
The way in which I grew my audience was definitely organic and I had to be open and honest with them before my uniqueness shined through. I did this by starting a family YouTube channel to help with emotional & spiritual growth in hopes of inspiring/motivating others & showing my life from a personal/relatable scope. It called “1212 Flix” and includes a vlog, cooking show, reactions, and behind the scenes doc. Instead of crashing them with my creative content, I sprinkled in personal topics and situations that showed my human nature. When I began to focus on self-care things changed for the better and my audience got engaged into all parts of my brand.
Contact Info:
- Website: theg1ft.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/theg1ft
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/gbtheg1ft
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/gbtheg1ft
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC8Dcx72wC29q0P_QivIxrog
- Other: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-g1ft/1458003503 https://soundcloud.com/gbtheg1ft
Image Credits
Photos by: B. Tierra for JuNoMar Clothing by: Divine Perception