They’ve been around for quite long and have produced dozens of hit songs in their more than 25 years appearance on the hip hop music scene. Yet, all their beats and sounds seem to have been launched just yesterday. Young Gifted are always ready to test the limits of the hip-hop genre in the most creative ways.
In their new single “Get_Em!” the group explores into the mindset of the streets and the cipher language of the hood through its code phrase “play to keep.” The song tells the story at a chanting cadence.
Of course, Young Gifted are true representatives of hardcore rap music, no doubt about that. However, they often bring together tunes, rhythms and wording of the early days and Gangsta rap, with influences of the new school and the second wave, along with a modern contemporary tone, in their own completely original style. Because of this, their music could form a subcategory in hip hop on its own right, without this statement being much of an exaggeration.
On the other hand, Young Gifted stubbornly refuse to increase the tempo of their songs or tweak and soften their music using too much sampling, engineering and bouncing beats – as a good number of first-rank hip-hop musicians actually do. They keep their songs pure.
The band originates from New Brunswick, New Jersey. Even though they carry in their blood the sounds and images of their born place and the experiences of the challenging life there, their songs speak to a much wider audience mostly at the east coast, but also elsewhere, in US and abroad. “Get_Em!” is not to be an exception.
Early in the year, they launched “Sick Enuff,” which followed “Murda 1,” the first single of the band. Both singles were on the playlist of top mixshows in the country and were hailed by the group’s fanatic followers.
Young Gifted has been featured on numerous magazines, including Hip Hop Weekly and XXL, and was also profiled by InflexWeTrust.com, MTV.com/artists and TheSource.com. Songs of Young Gifted can be found online, some of them free to download and share.
© 2015, Julie Aly. All rights reserved.
