Who Am I – Genra (Produced by Smartface)

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I go to work just to see it close / First in and last out as my story goes

In honor of the 49ers unexpected Super Bowl season, it’s time we gave some love to underdogs from the Bay. Born and raised in the Bay Area, California, I was exposed to almost every genre of music at a young age. Diversity was the selling point of growing up in Berkeley, and now, decades later, you can still hear the melting pot influences in the musical output from that region. 

Genra, an Oakland, California emcee, chose the perfect moniker for a Bay Area artist. And on his track, “Who Am I”, you can hear the jazz and soul samples lacing the old school feel of this hip-hop head nodder. Genra and the Bay can't take all the credit, as the sounds come courtesy of Swedish producer Smartface. Yes, Swedish, as in Ludwig Göransson, another Swedish producer, best known as the right hand of Childish Gambino (winning Grammys for “This Is America’’) and Ryan Coogler (winning Oscars for “Black Panther”). Point is, hip-hop has officially reached Sweden, and just Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo in the NBA, international talent is looking eye to eye with their American counterparts.

My mind is like a sponge that’s cleaned too many messes / I’m not out for fun but financial protection

Lyrically, Genra goes introspective, sharing how chasing the dream of making a living by making music is elusive, but attainable. Even as an artist, there’s a level of giving in; if it doesn’t make dollars, it doesn’t make sense:

Sometimes I want to write conceptual / But then I think about the fans that reacted to my band playing numbers at the festivals

Ultimately, it’s all about the balance we strike between doing what we love and doing what we have to do to thrive. Finding purpose and perspective:

I got no need for a mansion / I got need for a platform that does more for artists than upvote and clap for em

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You can learn more about Genra here:

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About the Curator - Ben Young:

Ben Young lives a life of polarity. He has split his life between the coasts: half his life on the West (California) and half on the East (Georgia and Virginia). He has pursued careers in the art world (film school graduate) and the corporate world (executive with Fortune 500 companies). And he is Biracial, the personification of being two things at once.

Ben’s musical influences were formed by music loving parents, raised in a world of John Coltrane and John Lennon, James Taylor and James Ingram, Huey Lewis and the News and Prince and the Revolution. Saxophones, electric guitars, synthesizers, and breakbeats filled the air Ben breathed from birth. And being born one year after the birth of Hip Hop, Ben has been joined at the hip with the genre his entire life.