Jah Freedom says he can hear one producer coming before the beat even settles in.
I can hear a GU$ beat from a mile away.Jah Freedom
That’s high praise from the man behind Beat Freaq. But ask GU$ where that sound comes from, and he goes back a lot further than any beat battle.
01G U, Dollar Sign
The name started simple: Gus, with a dollar sign standing in for the S. When he wrote it in graffiti, he separated the letters, and his bro OG Jak read it out: “G U DoLLaR sign”. Over time the sign dropped off when people said it out loud, and the homies just called him G U.
The internet added its own version. Some people read it as “Goo Dollar,” and his bro Geechi Suede asked if it was cool to just call him Goo.
“It was hilarious but at times, some still say that.”
02In the Bloodline
GU$ grew up hearing music made from scratch. His father plays trumpet and has always written and composed original tunes. GU$ remembers waking up to him running scales on Saturday mornings. A record his father’s band, Mel-O-Madnezz, put out when GU$ was a year old was later sampled by Big Duke for a song by Xzibit and Royce Da 5′9″, as GU$ tells it.
“I say all that to say making original music is in the bloodline.”
He tried saxophone at 10, found his passion on the drums, and got serious enough that his father bought him a drum set for his 12th birthday. In high school he joined every band elective available. At home, his education went deeper: Sly and the Family Stone, James Brown, Earth, Wind & Fire, Kool & the Gang, Stevie Wonder.
“I remember my Dad playing Pigmeat Markham recordings and telling me that rap existed before Hip Hop. That always stuck with me.”
He started sampling to build a catalog quickly. What got attention faster, though, was his original composition: the bass lines and drum fills he kept playing on top of his samples, until he realized he could stack and edit sound from scratch.
His goal for the listener is all three tenses at once.
When you press play to my music, it should make you feel the past and see the future while you hear the present in a sonically plush delivery!GU$
03Melody First
Most beatmakers start with the drums. GU$ goes the other way. His ideas start with melody, whether from a sample or something in his head, and most of the time he lays it to a click before anything else. As a drummer, he knows the drums will come.
Jah hears that background in the music. In his account, GU$ blends live instrumentation and samples so seamlessly that sometimes you can’t tell which is which, and most of the time it’s GU$ playing.
And how does GU$ know a beat is done?
“I know when the beat is complete by the overwhelming feeling to let someone hear it!”
He keeps it lean on purpose. Something simple can be enough to put words to.
“Creating space for creativity is the art of great song composition.”
04How Beat Freaq Found Him
GU$ first heard Jah Freedom’s production on songs by Kil Ripkin. Around the same time, his bro Sega was throwing events for beatmakers, and Sega asked GU$ to battle Wiz. GU$ hesitated for a few weeks, but the two ended up treating it as a celebration of both their sounds. After that, Sega suggested they team up against some producers from South Carolina at Jah Freedom’s Beat Freaq.
“I was actually ready to unleash the hounds at this point so I agreed.”
Beat Freaq battles run in timed rounds, and GU$ recalls a sample challenge where the artist to flip is chosen for you. One of those challenges was Roy Ayers. Later, GU$’s Roy Ayers flip was playing at a sound check when Kool Kim heard it and asked for the email. Kim recorded the song, “Vibes n Violence,” and traveled back to Charlotte to shoot the video within a few weeks.
“Powerful music connection right there that I owe ultimately to Jah Freedom, Malik Cruz and Roy Ayers.”
Jah tells the same story from his side: GU$ flipped a well-known sample so completely that you’d never know where it came from. For GU$, Beat Freaq became more than a place to compete. It gave him a community of creators that he says he had rarely found outside the bands he played drums for.
“I’ve made real connections with various communities through this event based platform and some I can truly call friends.”
Jah sees the same generosity coming back the other way. Between making music for artists, playing with bands, and playing at church, GU$ still shows up for the Beat Freaq mission and for other people.
“He’s always willing to lend a helping hand.”
05When the Cipher Started
Getting to know Kool Kim led GU$ to Beats & Bars Barbecue. When April came around, Beat Freaq gave him time to play some beats for what he calls Kim’s friends and family. In his words, it was not your ordinary barbecue crowd.
A couple of producers had earlier slots. But when the full cipher kicked off, GU$ was the one ready to plug in.
Lucky me, those friends of Kool Kim got up 1 by 1 to rock the beats, back to back. It was surreal.GU$
Around it, he remembers every other element of Hip Hop happening across the property at the same time.
And as for the next one?
“Of course I want to be at the next one.”
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