Words by Hiphop Juxx
Queens rapper Scott G and long time collaborator IaMuzik, from the NY producer duo IAmT2, connect for a piece of brilliant and grimy art on the emcee messiah’s debut album I Am Gesus. The long adored, but almost extinct, classic Queens sound is evident throughout the entire project. From the song titles (where more than a few tracks are a nod to fellow Queens GOAT Nasty Nas), as well as the gritty and raw sound, and lastly, heard through G’s cadence and wordplay.
Scott G: “I was born in Trinidad but I was raised in Queens, I spent many years living in Lefrak City. So the Queens sound is something that was instilled in me since a kid. Growing up in Queens in the 90s was an experience I wouldn’t change for anything. Growing up, my favorite rappers were Biggie, Nas, Method Man, Mobb deep, CNN, Big Pun, 50 Cent, Alchemist, Havoc, Kanye West, 9th Wonder, Timbaland, Easy Mo Bee and DJ Premier. (They all) really set the tone for me as both a fan and an emcee.”
This writer had been a fan of Scott G’s music since 2018 when he dropped the raw EP God. Even back then he was already working on his debut album. But life literally was throwing him fireballs as he was shot numerous times back in February 2018. That wasn’t enough to hold the aspiring rapper down though. As soon as he was psychically able, he went straight to the studio and recorded the album Look At God. The 10 track joint was done in just 1 day. The cover, a picture of Scott hospitalized, as well as the content on it told the story of his shooting.
Scott G: “I felt like I needed to tell that story, so a week after being shot I got into the studio and recorded Look At God in one day. Getting shot in the face multiple times, my necc (sic) and my arm isn’t as glamorous as a lot of these rappers make it seem. And (I) most likely won’t rap about it again in my upcoming projects. I’m happy to be alive and I’m looking forward to moving on instead of looking at the past.”
The strong relationship between rapper and beatsmith goes all the way back to Scott G’s debut album, so it seemed like a no-brainer for Scott to call in help from IaMuzik and have him produce the entire debut album.
Scott G: “I knew IaMuzik for many years. We connected over our love for sneakers at first. But we really became close over our love of music. He produced a few songs on my very first project Yesterdaze Legend in 2011. In 2016 we spoke about doing a project together and one day it just came to me; I texted him “IAMT2 x Scott Gesus = I Am Gesus” at like 1am and it was on from there. This entire project has been a family affair, aside from rap thats my brother so we work really well together.
It’s clear from the jump that Scott G means business, and he wants the entire world to know about The Queens Gesus. The 2 artists, besides being long time friends, work very well together, with the dark Gotham-style boom bap fitting “hand in glove,” or more so, “gun in hand,” with Scott’s grimey street fables.
Scott G: “We made the entire project in the studio together, we cooked that project as a group. We really put our all into I Am Gesus. We wanted to make sure we could really get the world to listen with this album”
Both artists physically in studio cooking together is a rare thing in these file-sharing times. Other than the main two, the album features the overly popular Griselda crew members Conway who spits a sublime verse on the eerie “Shootouts On The Deegan” and Benny who ends up on an extremely entertaining track, the album closer “V2s & V12s“, a track that is also featured on the aforementioned I Am God. Fellow Queens spitter Flee Lord jumps on the hype track “Lord Gesus,” while Madhattan and Fast-life both drop by as well on “86 Mets” & “The World Is Ours” respectively.
All in all I Am Gesus upholds those same dark and eeire sounds that really got me hooked the first time I heard him on the before mentioned God EP, but this doesn’t mean that Scott G hasn’t evolved. On the contrary it’s quite evident that he has been working hard on honing his craft to give to us his own Illmatic.
Cop I am Gesus here:
Deeply Rooted HipHop 