By Odeisel

Queens has a long history in Hip-Hop and while it may not have started there, pioneers like Run DMC and LL Cool J certainly pushed the music from the parks to your TV set. Generations followed from Tribe, to G-unit and all points in between. A newcomer, Gist the Essence attempts to carve out a space at the table with everyman rhymes and a sensibility that avoids the fake gangster tales but isn’t afraid to relate the surrounding community, both good and bad. Planet Ill sat down with the Rutgers University educated rapper to discuss life, legends and his ambition to earn his seat at the table of Queen’s finest.

Planet Ill: Gist. That’s an interesting name. how did you develop it?

Gist: It’s a name that came along when I was in High School, rhyming and it stuck with me along the way people wanted to call me that, instead of my real name so  I just stuck with it. I attached “The Essence” to it when I put out my first CD. Looking up what gist meant and it meant the essence or the central idea; you get the gist of something. So Gist The Essence sounded right so I made it work.

Planet Ill: There’s a lot of MC’s and rappers coming out of Queens. What makes you different from them?

Gist: I want to be a part of the history, you know? A lot of great MC’s from Nas, Run DMC, LL Cool J. Queens always has an ill sound. I remember Snoop Dogg talking about how ill a Queens rapper usually is, so I just hope I can bring that out. What makes me stand out is that I’m very much my own person. You hear the music you gone hear me and the life of a person growing up in queens. If you know anything about Queens it’s kinda hard to read. You can bein front of houses and think you’re in a good situation, but it’ll be a whole ‘nother situation. You can’t judge the book by its cover.

So you can look and may not tell necessarily what you gone get until you hear it so you gotta listen to the music and understand it and really feel me as an artist. And I think that’s the same truth of all artists. You could have thought Nas was just another “shoot ‘em  up” dude from Queensbridge but you know he’s a bigger artist than that altogether so I hope to bring ya’ll the same thing.

Planet Ill: In your rhymes you use a lot of pop culture references and things in the now. Do you think that will date your rhymes?

Gist: It could. But you know I also talk about a lot of things from my youth. I watched too much TV which was a problem and I watch re-runs on Nick At Night so sometimes I get caught talking about that so I think it makes people appreciate how real that is, that their living the same life you are; seeing the same thing you’re seeing. I’m not worried about it dating.

Planet Ill: Living in Queens, what are some of the things you saw growing up that filter into your rhymes?

Gist: I’m from Queen’s Village, they call it Shadyville Queens, that’s on the north side of Queens. I’ve seen it all. I got friends that are locked up. Friends that are passed away. Still have friends that do what they need to do to get money. It’s a very real environment. I don’t live that life, I chose to live another path but I’m around it. You’ll hear that in my music. SO those are the things that you’ll hear but it’ll be a story reflecting those lifestyles and what happened or what is going to happen or what I hope doesn’t happen. All of that just makes ME. I write what I see, I write what I experience you know? It’s storytelling.

Planet Ill: What do you think about people that say that they’ve outgrown rap? How does that make you feel as someone whose profession it is to rap?

Gist: I don’t know if you can outgrow rap ‘cause rap is still music. Rap gets all of the flack. It’s not real music, they have so many bad things to say but truth be told, I don’t think it’s something you can outgrow, especially if you’re part of Hip-Hop culture. It grows with you. You still got Masta Ace performing, you still got these artists that should have been long gone, as people would say, but we still appreciate them and the fans still appreciate them. I don’t think it’s something you ever outgrow it you feel it, you latch on to an artist and you follow and you roll with them. I been a Nas fan for as long as I can remember. I don’t care what he does he drops another album, I’m going to pick it up. I been a Jay-Z fan for how long and I look forward to his next work so I don’t think it’s something you can outgrow if you’re a part of Hip-Hop culture. If you’re a fickle fan or you just like the top 40 hits that you hear, then my all means [outgrow it]. But if you live this culture, dress the culture, you ain’t gone outgrow it.

Planet Ill: What do you take form someone like Snoop or LL who have been able to adapt through different time streams and eras in the music but still find a way to be relevant in some way in pop culture?

Gist: I think it’s a great thing. Life’s all about growing. You don’t want to be stuck. Just look at it this way if you’re growing up, who wants to be a teenager their whole life? You just grow up and find new things. I think Jay-Z does it, honestly the best because you would have thought that he’d be gone. But he keeps reinventing himself. I think that’s what’s supposed to happen. You can’t afford to be stuck in your ways the whole time you gotta grow and be willing to try new things if you want to stay in the business. Because it is a business these people gotta feed they families.

It’s like if you had some kind of technology. Imagine if you was still trying to sell beepers. It was cool in the 90’s but you’d be looking real crazy if you had a beeper store right now. You gotta elevate somehow. I think that’s all they doing, reinventing their business and staying current.

Planet Ill: tell us about the first time you were in a real studio.

Gist: It was kinda crazy because I was recording in my college dorm room at Rutger’s University off a computer mic and we took pantyhose and a hanger and made a pop guard, it was really home grown. So when you go into a real studio, all this big space, you putting on these headphones, we were dealing with these little buds you put in your ear. It was kinda crazy but soon as you get used to it, it wasn’t much of an issue at all.

Planet Ill: Have you ever been recognized on the street by a fan?

Gist: Yeah and it probably bugged me out the most. I was in Atlanta, actually. I was on Rap City when they had “Spit Your Game.” I was in Atlanta, just talking to somebody and I pulled out a CD and gave him a CD and he was like, “Yo I knew i knew you! You was on Rap City last week!” It bugged me out and my people were going crazy like, “Yeah, my man!” I didn’t even know what to do next, like you want another CD to give to your friends? It was cool. I was just happy that I connected. I know I made a fan that day if I hadn’t already with Rap City.

Planet Ill: Is that a scary thing, people knowing you that you don’t know?

Gist: Not really. It’s cool, it’s kinda humbling because you meet people who appreciate what you do. I’m a firm believer in my music. People don’t just like the music ‘cause it’s cool and you might have seen me on TV, a lot of people that get the music they connect to it. They don’t just say, “Oh I know you,” it’s usually accompanied by some encouraging words so it’s kinda humbling that people are relating to the music and taking it home. I love it, it lets me know I’m being successful with the mission.

Planet Ill: What’s the top 5 Queens records of all time? I’ll give you 7 and make it easy on you.

Gist: I gotta go It Was Written, definitely. It Was Written is probably my most favorite of them all. Illmatic. My favorite Mobb Deep album was Murda Muzick. A lot of people would say The Infamous or Hell On Earth but I think Murda Muzick was my favorite out of those. Mama Said Knock You Out. Low End Theory. The Lost Tapes. Oh, I’m bugging, Get Rich Or Die Trying. I’m a Fif fan.

Planet Ill: that’s 7 you want to go to 10?

Gist: Be honest with you, in my life, Hunger For More, Lloyd Banks. A lotta people might feel some kinda way behind that but Lloyd Banks Hunger For More came out at a time where I could relate to everything he was saying, it was a really good album. We can stop there cause I’mma get myself in trouble

Planet Ill: You already in trouble you got a Run DMC shirt on homeboy! A Barack shirt [ed-note Run DC shirt] but still.

Gist: It’s funny we were just in Hollis today, too. Met DMC and was talking to him for a minute which is probably one of the most surreal moments of my life.

Planet Ill: As a competitor and as a fan how do you reconcile those feelings [talking to former heroes]?

Gist: It’s definitely a humbling moment you know? If someone would have told me ten years ago that I would meet a lot of these people that I idolized at the time, I’d probably be like, Nah you buggin’. I don’t see how that could happen.” I kind of look at it as a passing of the torch, really. They’re great artists and they inspire me, you’ll hear it in my music, the influences are there and I’d never deny that. To meet them or to get to know them or hear words from them is always a great thing.

Planet Ill: Describe your sound.

Gist: My sound is almost like your little brother telling you his story. Almost like somebody you cool with. A regular dude you got love for. There’s always that one dude on the block that’s his own person and everybody love shim. The gangsters love him, the regular people love him because he’s just him. And that’s me; you hear that in the music. I don’t portray my lifestyle to be something that it’s not. I’m somebody that’s not ashamed of what I was so it’s just me. It’s you if you could rap, I’ll put it like that.

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