Gee-mann is here to bring nothing but good energy into the rap game. Originally hailing from Columbus Ohio, but relocating to Long Beach, California two years ago on his 22nd birthday, Gee-Mann states, “You know where the set at, we chillin’.”
Beyond the music, it’s Gee-Mann’s super outgoing personality that he’s proud of most. He explains, “I like to have fun. I like to be creative. I like to move around and be outside a lot. I’m a people person, so I’m good at getting along with everybody. But you disrespect me, then I’m a whole other person.”
It’s a respect thing for Gee-Mann, and he shows everybody the same respect he wants. No matter who you are, you can count on Gee-Mann to bring nothing short of positivity and good vibrations. He also won’t hesitate in introducing himself, humbly reminding audiences that no one is better than the other on this earth.
AllHipHop spoke with Gee-Mann in downtown Los Angeles, who literally just got out of jail. Read below as we discuss his background, new single “S.A.B.,” what sets him apart, and more!
AllHipHop: How you doing?
Gee-Mann: Sorry for looking rough, I just got out of jail this morning. It’s rough.
AllHipHop: What were you there for?
Gee-Mann: I got caught with another gun. It happens.
AllHipHop: How long were you there for?
Gee-Mann: Just since 11pm, then I got out around 12pm. Took a good nap. How everything happened, trust me last night was funny as hell. I was just in there like, f###. F### it. [laughs]
AllHipHop: How was it growing up in Columbus?
Gee-Mann: It was cool. I love everybody out there. I just had to migrate, get up out of there and elevate. I love Columbus, growing up out there was cool. It was a little rough here and there, I went to behavior school all the way until high school. But other than that, it was cool. Finally getting into regular school, public school, it was hard. But I had to get into that too, just like everybody gotta get into new s###. Get the hang of stuff.
AllHipHop: What made you move to Long Beach? Because Long Beach is a vibe.
Gee-Mann: Yeah, it’s definitely a vibe out there. I stay downtown. I’ll be in the downtown area or on the beach over there when I go, or I’ll be on the north side for the most part. The people over there, they were f###### more I guess when I came out here. They were messing me way more, way harder than anybody in LA. So I just stayed kicking it in Long Beach more than LA. It’s who took me in under the wing, that’s all.
To even come out there, I just had to get out of Ohio. It was rough. Plus, it was time for something new. I couldn’t stay in the same spot the whole time. I had to elevate and get a different scenery.
AllHipHop: When did you fall in love with music?
Gee-Mann: I was always in the music, for real for real. Music is sometimes what kept me out of trouble, just listening to music sometimes and not exploding. Or I’d help out my stepdad. When he was in the studio recording, I’d help him with the production part on the beats. Because he likes to write music without the beats, then he’ll put the beats after. I’d help him like, nah, the beat should go like this. Boom boom boom.
He’d always tell me, “hey when you get older, you’re going to do something in this music s###.” I’m like, man, that’s not for me. I’m not doing none of this music s###, I’ma just help you out. He’s like, “nah, you’re going to do something in his music s###. I’m like alright, whatever. My big brother also did music. I was watching him do music videos, in the studio with him listening to him record, helping them sometimes give a couple of lyrics here and there. When I got kicked out of college, I ended up starting to make music and finding a different outlet other than sports and having a good time.
AllHipHop: When did you get kicked out of college?
Gee-Mann: My freshman year, as soon as I got there really. I didn’t even get to play football or nothing, I was selling drugs out the dorm. I got caught up, then I got kicked out. I wasn’t tripping for real for real. I didn’t really want to sit around the college dorms and not make no money. Be bored, just going to practice. F### it, I was outside.
AllHipHop: What’s the inspiration behind your name?
Gee-Mann: I got my name from the big homie over in Long Beach in the set. We were saying a bunch of different names: Gee Nasty, Gee Naughty. We were saying random s###. We were smoking the blunt, out of nowhere he looked at me and said “Gee-Mann.” I’m like oh s###, hold on. Gee-Mann? Yeah I f### with that.” He said, “yeah, we about to call you Gee-Mann. F### that, you Gee-Mann now.” Everybody just kicked. Somebody seen me: nah that’s Gee-Mann right there.” It just stuck. Now, it’s just natural. When somebody say it, it’s natural. It got a kick to it.
AllHipHop: You just released “SAB,” can you touch on that.
Gee-Mann: Hell yeah, “Stupid Ass B####.” I just released that with my big brother Cuzz Duff. He’s the one I was telling you that got me into this music stuff too, so I had to record a few songs with him honestly. But that’s one of the ones that was one of my favorites, so he had to drop that one ASAP. [snaps] We got it out quick.
AllHipHop: What inspired this one?
Gee-Mann: I don’t know. We inspire each other to just go crazy, make a lot of music together or apart, whatever. I call him like, what you got new going on? You got some new s###, send it to me. He’ll call me out of nowhere, “you got some s### going on? Send it to me.” He’ll send me open tracks and say “hey, I want you to hop on this. Hey, I got a slot on this for you. See if you can vibe out on this.” Or I’ll send him something or something open. So really one time, I sent him an open track. When I sent him that track, he was f###### with it and said, “oh nah, I’m about to throw some on this. Don’t give it to nobody else, I want to throw something on this.”
AllHipHop: What is it you want fans to get from your music, your story?
Gee-Mann: I want them to really get the whole view of my life. They could be able to get a bunch of different viewpoints on the pain side, on the female side, on the drug side, the gang side. I like to say everything in my music. Not say too much, but say what I need to to catch people’s attention. That’s all.
AllHipHop: What makes you different from other artists, would you say?
Gee-Mann: Everything about me, honestly, because I’m Gee-Mann. My personality, how I walk, talk, everything. I don’t sound like nobody else. I don’t try and steal nobody’s sound, nobody’s look. I don’t try to mimic nobody’s style. I just try and be me, make my own music, my own lyrics. I never used a songwriter.
For the first time, I just did a week ago in the studio. I’m debating on dropping that song because some of the lyrics aren’t even mine. But on all the other tracks, I write all my own lyrics. I don’t really like to get too much input on my music because I like my stuff to sound how I want it to sound, not how nobody else wants it to sound.
AllHipHop: 3 things you need in the studio at all times?
Gee-Mann: I always need a vibe in there with me, some kind of female or some kind of drug. We gotta have good energy at all times. If I got a Negative Nancy in the studio with me, I’m getting them out of there ASAP. Really I need my female, I need my drugs, and I need good energy around me at all times.
AllHipHop: You still in the streets?
Gee-Mann: We be outside. I just got out of jail this morning, so I had to hurry up and catch up to y’all and make this interview.
AllHipHop: How’s the independent grind?
Gee-Mann: It’s definitely a struggle. On the promotions side, marketing side, PR side. You definitely gotta find the right outlets and the right sources, make sure you got the right connections because this s### is definitely hard. It’s not easy, but it just takes one song. I’ma keep going, make sure I get that one song here soon.
AllHipHop: What can we expect next?
Gee-Mann: I can’t really tell you what’s up next to come, because I want everything to just be a surprise when I drop it. But what’s coming next is definitely going to shock some other people, give some people a sound that they haven’t heard from me before on the other tracks. They’re going to really start to catch on and vibe out to my s###.
AllHipHop: Do you have any goals for yourself?
Gee-Mann: I got a lot of goals. Really the main one is to make sure at the end of the day, I can feed everybody that fed me and got me to where I’m at right now. I can look out for everybody that looked out for me and got me to where I’m at, kept me on my feet and out of trouble. I want to be able to feed everybody, and I want to be able to eat good too.
AllHipHop: Anything else you want to let us know?
Gee-Mann: Thank you for having me. It’s a lot more to come. We shoot them videos after videos, record music after music. I’m about to drop here soon, so keep up with the page. Stay tuned, we got some crazy s### on the way.