GI (Ireland) – Smack Haze /// UndergroundHipHopBLOG.com

GI started emceeing at a young age picking up an interest and hobby in buying c.d’s and learning the words to recite. Once learning the flow and use of poetic styles within he to his own route and to write his own lyrics and was recommended to join the Finglas Youth Resource Centre where a group was made for local Hip Hop artists to come and learn writing techniques and challenges but also to make their own music. Here he learned how to use Propellerhead Reason 3 and Recycle and from then hasn’t stopped making beats. This created some opportunities for him performing in Whelans at 15 for Spunout.ie and took part in a documentary called “Dare 2 Dream” which has been distributed all over schools in Ireland. At this time GI was approached by a play director Ray Yeates, who had an idea that he wanted to put to put to action where he combined 2 completely opposite Irish Cultures and developed them as one, the farfetched idea involved elderly and young people from Donegal that are fluent in Irish and sing stories acapella in the Irish Language called Sean Os and combined it with Dublin hip hop, this is called Hip Nos. The Hip Nos crew performed in the Barrow Street Lane Theatre, New York, Vicar Street, Dublin and also in South Africa in 2010. Through this project G.I got to meet some of the martyrs of Irish Hip Hop such as Urban Intelligence members Lunitic, 4Real and Dj Moschops and developed a bond with the members. When returned from New York, GI hit the studio with Lunitic and also introduced Costello to him and they connected on the same level. From here, Lunitic welcomed GI and Costello to his Independent Label called WorkinClass Records. They decided to make a group together and to release an album, Street Literature – Products of The Environment but during the making of the album Lunitic fell ill and passed away on the 22nd of June 2009. This held the artists back as they were mourning the loss of their very good friend, and main influence. In 2010 G.I met up with Cabra born artist Lethal Dialect who instantly clicked with G.I and his beats and they began to make the critically acclaimed LD50 Series, G.I producing 3/4 of the first album, his first release as a producer. The Street Literature album wasn’t released until July 2011 briefly after Street Literature supported Wu Tang Clang at Tripod. Since then G.I has produced and featured on LD50 Part I & II, Costello’s Debut album Illosophical, produced on Cyrus Malachi’s Isis Papers Volume 3 and is currently working his own debut solo album UnderWorld, 4Reals Debut Album Armageddon, Lethal Dialects 3rd album LD50 Magnum Opus and various other projects.