Q&A With Rising Hip Hop Artist George Khouri
Hey George Khouri! Please tell us how long have you been making music? Most importantly, how did you come up with your rap name?
I had several rap names throughout my career. I started making music in high school when I was battle rapping in the cafeteria during lunch time. I circled back to my government name because I wanted to be as true to myself and authentic as possible. I try to incorporate the same philosophy in my tracks…so “George Khouri” it is!
What separates you from all the other rappers in your city?
I think my writing is what separates me the most from rappers in any city. I emphasize world play and lyricism in all of my verses.
I’m a writer at my core. I even wrote a TV Series called “Black Coffee” that you can stream now.
In a few words, how would you describe your sound?
Bold, smooth, and powerful!
How are you coping with this whole Covid 19 situation? Has it delayed any new music production by any chance?
The COVID 19 situation actually lit a fire for my music career. I decided to build a full on music studio at my place and hit the ground running from there. Banging’ out tracks!
Tell us about your Hip Hop and/or music influences?
Tupac is an obvious one for me…also J. Cole and Wiz Khalifa. I love J. Cole’s story telling and Wiz’s commanding energy in his verses.
Please breakdown the creative process of your new single “Changes” Pt. 2.
I saw everything that was going on in the news recently and I was like, “man…Pac already talked about this almost 25 years ago in Changes.”
So, I decided to write “Changes Pt. 2” as a tribute to Pac and to shine the same light on the same social issues he rapped about.
How long have you been a 2Pac fan?
I’ve been a Tupac fan since I took a closer listen to his greatest hits album. I played It on repeat for a few weeks. Man…Pac was the KING of expression with words!
We have to ask, with all this social discourse and revolt, protesting and rioting, exposed police brutality toward blacks and BLM, how do you feel about this? We would love your perspective on the climate we are living in right now.
I made a song called “Been Here Before” which shows exactly how I feel about everything going on. The video for it features footage from the Hollywood peaceful protests. The fact is we’ve been here before- way too many times. I am hopeful that the change we’ve always needed is finally happening.
You can watch the Been Here Before Music Video here: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CCCBf8dhcjQ/?igshid=3d2o69g67f4g
If it came down to 1 ALBUM only, what underground Hip Hop album would you consider THE BEST OF ALL TIME!!!???……One 1 album you can choose.
You can never argue against Illmatic. The fact that Nas was 19 when he made it makes it even more phenomenal. As the GOAT Jay Z himself said, “I had the Illmatic on bootleg
The sh*t was so ahead, thought we was all dead.”
Here it is! Our most popular question! What is your definition of “underground hip hop”?
I personally associate underground hip hop with realness. That real rap with a purpose! Maybe I could define underground hip hop by simply saying “Mos Def and Talib Kweli”….those guys are super enlightened haha.
Where can people find you on the web? Drop all the vital links.
Find me at www.instagram.com/mrgeorgekhouri
You can also stream all my music on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3yWUfBRA0azZ0YFTaikyRh?si=c7vx23WiToKqNuzqeIcGvw
