Young Gifted

A talented performer with ties to New York . .and a big following in Haiti. Young Gifted is an up and coming rapper who has worked in the clubs of Haiti but still has a mind set that is very ideal for hip hop culture on the East Coast. You can find his soundcloud album (which has 1.5k followers . . .) by clicking "soundcloud"

I met Young gifted on twitter and became good friends with him after conversing and getting to know him. An author could write and entire book about Young Gifted's life . . or even come up with a decent screen play. The script would contain all the adventure, romance and thrills most movies provide. I got a chance to speak with Young Gifted about his life, his music and his plans for the future. . .Here is what he had to say . . . Azur Mag: How did you come up with the name, Young Gifted? Young: Well . . .ahh . .technically . .I had the name YG . . .for like a long time . . .and it wasn't Young Gifted . . .it was . .more pertaining to the street . . .because . .for a while . .I was actually a gang banger . .but . . ahh . . .after some time . .and after having my daughter . ..I can't continue . . to be running around . . .calling myself Young Ganster . . .It wouldn't make sense . . you understand? . . because I'm actually growing . . .So . . the gifted makes more sense . . .That is what I'm trying to do . . .that's what I had . . I never knew I had . . .It was like a gift that I discovered . . .That's why I stuck with the YG . . . Azur Mag: OK . . .um . . .what is your real name? Young: My real name is Jean Maurice . . .Jean Daniel Maurice . . that's my real name . . . Azur Mag: That's good . .Did you think about rapping while living in the states? Young: Honestly . . I never considered myself a rapper . . .but I grew up around rappers . .all my life. .I was in the studios . . .close friends of mine have been rapping for a long time . . .and I, actually, have a friend of mine who made it in the rap industry .. .so . .I grew up around rap . .but I never . . .myself . . personally considered myself a rapper . . .I was more . . into the streets than anything else . .Rap was more like a dream everybody had . . .I never . .thought about doing that . . .and now . .I never considered myself a rapper . . .until . .I came down here . . actually . . . Azur Mag: Until you got to Haiti and then you became a rapper . . . Young: Actually . . .I decided to rap . . .once I got deported . .I started working . . .and then I met my wife. . .in Haiti . .and then . .um . . .she's a cool lady . .she's a great person . . and then we got married . . .and she heard me freestyling . . .and then she caught me writing . .because I write . . .I do poetry . . .and I do other articles and stuff like that . . .and then she heard me freestyling . .and she said. . .yo . .why don't you just play a song . .. and, actually, just . .do it for real . . .so I said . .ok. . .this was probably a year and a half ago . . .so I wrote a song . . .and then I dropped it . .I recorded it . . .My wife loved it and everybody else . . .loved it . .so . . .It's something that just came to me . . I never thought. .about it . .until . .actually, my wife . . .said . .well yo . . .why don't you do this . . .well you know . .maybe I can . . .I can do it. .I know how to write. . . I've been in a studio since I was like twelve years old. . .I know everything about music . .about hip hop . . .I just never put myself in a position as a rapper until now . . Azur Mag: Ok . . .Let's uh . .switch directions . .a little . .why were you deported . . Young: Well . .I was actually running the streets . . .there's plenty of things that lead to my deportaion . . I had a couple cases . . .I got arrested a couple times . . and then. .that was it . .I pretty much had to go . .and then I got arrested . . .for my last case . . it was actually ugly . . .and . . I got deported . . I got deported . .because I, . .pretty much, chose to run the streets . .Getting deported was something that was. .. either I would have spent my life in jail . . or . . I would have got deported . . .That's a decision I made when I decided to run the streets . . .That's what happened . . and it is what it is . . .You know . .I just had to move on with it . . .so me getting deported was something that . . .was a decision I made. . .when I chose the street life . . .you know. . . and all of that comes with it . . .So when it comes . . you got to take it. . .and you've got to move on with it and continue to grow . . . Azur Mag: Right . . .Well . . how's life in Haiti, today? Young: Life in haiti . .at first . .when I got here . . .cause I left . . ahh . . .Haiti when I was very young . . .I was like . .probably six or seven years old . . .and . .so. .technically . . I didn't know anything . . .about Haiti . . .so . .when I got to Haiti . .it was very, very difficult to . .adjust to the country . . .but luckily for me I was incarcerated for several years . . .I didn't know I was going to get deported. . . .so . .I prepared myself . .I got into a lot of programs . . .I became a drug counselor . . .I became an HIV AIDs counselor. . .so when I got to Haiti . .I was ready. . .to offer services that . . .were needed in that country . . .so . .I ended up getting a job . .probably a month after the deportation . . .with . . .a organization . ..and . .started working in the prison system . . .and . .I met my wife . . .and we got married . .and . . .I've just been climbing ever since then . . .so . .Haiti was very difficult . .because . .I'm actually from the ghetto part of Haiti . . .so . .any body know about Haiti . .they . . .think we're sort of gangster . . .but I don't condone that type of life style. . So I just keep my head strong . . .got a good job . .and a good wife . . .and life continued . . .now . .I do the rap . . and I'm good at it . . .I've got a lot to say . ..because . .I, really, went through a lot . . .so my rap is really not something that's coming out of somebody elses life . . .or about the movie I saw . .or I head somebody else rap . . and I decided to do the same thing, now . . .I'm actually rapping because I pretty much have no choice . . .My story has to be told . . . Azur Mag: Ok . .so . .you might have answered this, already, but . . .how did you meet your wife? Young: Man . .I actually met my wife while working inside of the prison system. . . .and . .she was working in there, as well . . .it's crazy because . .I was actually her pre-educator . . .there . . it is very easy to get arrested in Haiti . . .by the police . . and you don't have to be innocent or guilty . .understand? You just have to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. So my wife found herself as the victim. . .to where she was incarcerated for a crime she did not commit . . .Later . .they said she did not do it . .and all charges were dropped for that . .but when I met her . . .I was in there with her . . .and . . I saw this lady who was an educator - you're so beautiful . .why are you here. . .and she said . . .don't worry . .she will be out soon. .and sure enough . .she got out soon . .and she calls me . . .We got together . .and . . .it was kind of perfect . . .I think I had to be there . . .you understand what I'm saying . . .so there was no other way for me to live other than the way I'm living now . . .which I kind of love . .so. . .You know .. it 's not a problem . . .every thing worked out at the end of the day . . . Azur Mag: Wow . .so . .let's go over this again . ..Why did your wife support you as a rapper . . .instead of some other career . . .You said . .she was into poetry . . ? Young: My wife, . .technically, . . .is a professional . . .she worked in a lot of political offices and was a customer service manager for a lot of call centers in the Dominican Republic .. .so . . .she's a professional, herself . . . but at the same time . .she's very into the arts, as well. . .and she sees a talent . .and loves music . . .She's very good at judging music . . so when she heard . . me . .well . . . she's actually my manager . .technically . . .It's me and her that's actually doing everything . . .I don't have any out side manager . .there's no body else . . .It's me and her . . .and we put our heads together . . and . . .we put the music out there . . .cause if we get signed or not. . .people will hear Young Gifted . . .You know . . .? Azur Mag: Right . . .um . . .Do you think you'll ever be allowed in the US again? Young: Ahh . .that's not . . .my decision . . . as of this day . . I'm living the life I've got . . .I'm married . . .I can go to a lot of other countries . . .there's Europe . . .I want my music in Europe . . .of course . .I would love to play my music in the United States . .if there's a concert or something for promotion . . but if it's not going to be permitted . .I just won't go . . .It's a big world . . .you know . .The United States is the United States . . .That's where I grew up . .That's where I learned . .that's where I was bread. . .Now . .I can bring that talent and knowledge to the rest of the world. . .The world is a very big place . . .so. . . Azur Mag: What do you record with . . .as far as your . . equipment . . .? Young: Well, actually, in Haiti I use the Mackie Tools . ..and the Dominican Republic I use the mastering in Pro-Tools. . . Azur Mag: So you don't do any home recording . .you go to a studio? Young: I try to get the funds to go to the best studio available to me . . .I just don't want my music to be mediocre .. . you understand? It has to be radio ready . .once it's released . . . Azur Mag: Yeah . . I saw that picture of you . . .in google . . .You were sitting next to a mixing board . . .I believe . . .Is that correct? Young: Exactly . . that's the studio out in the Dominican Republic. . . that I record in . . .That's the majority of the recordings where I work at . . . Azur Mag: How are you promoting yourself on the internet? Young: Well . .right now . .I'm kind of doing it . . .It's just me and my wife .. and we're putting music out there. .. We market it . . .to certain individuals or certain blogs . . .ones like yourself. . .and you know . . .you guys gave me a shot to reach this far . . . so . . I'm providing the music the traditional way . . by contacting the individual directly . . and I let the music speak for itself. . .because I have a lot of music out . . .I have a lot of mix tapes. . .my mix tape is number one . . .I have a couple mix tapes . . .I'd say that New York underground . . .I'm played in New York almost every weekend . . .and there are a lot of radio stations that play my music . . .These are not people I'm paying. . .because you know . .we do have money . ..but . .um . . the money we have down here is not in the dollars . . so we try to do the best we can . . .ourselves. . . before . .I actually start spending money . . . Azur Mag: What about the social networks. . .are they important. . .like twitter .. . Young: Social network . . .is . .my twitter and my soundcloud is the life of my music . . .Without my twitter and my soundcloud. . you would have never found me . . .The fact that I'm like . . .in a whole different country. . .a 3rd world country, at that . .is not as easy . . .for me as it would be for some body else. . . so . .on-line is my life , right now . . .that's my soundcloud . .my twitter . . .that's my main focus . . .That's why I have a lot of on-line networks . .right now. . . I'm trying to get as many people as possible to listen to my music, as I can get. . .to market the music. . .because I can't do it by myself . . .so it's my twitter . . .my soundcloud . .to interact with fans. . . .so that my fans can understand my music . . .so they can appreciate my music . . .and if they like it . . .they can help me market the music. . .Word of mouth. . . Azur Mag: Ok . . .any last words for your viewing audience? . . . Young: Well . .what I'd like to say is. . .any body who actually gets a chance to go on my soundcloud or my twitter. . . It would be an honor for me for you to listen to a track and it would be great for you to leave a comment . .because I really want to know what people have to say . . .about my music. . .I want other people to move and be guided with my music. . .so . .if it's not doing anything . . .for you . .you can leave a good comment or you can leave a bad comment . . .I'm open for any suggestions . .pretty much . . .and . .if you're really into hip hop . . if you really . . .love music . . .I'm definitely an artist you should pay attention to . . . You can find Young Gifted on soundcloud at: soundcloud.com/young-gifted05 and on twitter at: twitter.com/younggifted05

#YoungGifted