Ghais Guevara – Goyard Ibn Said
Ghais makes his debut on Fat Possum Records with Goyard Ibn Said, following two self released mixtapes. The album is a concept record, with Goyard the fictional anti-hero.
Guests include ELUCID, Yoko McThuggin and McKinley Dixon.
The listener submits to an anthological gaze into the desires and downfalls of a successful rapper and the exploitation of the Black experience. Act 1 highlights the glory and spoils of mainstream hip-hop stardom, while Act 2 takes a surprise turn and focuses on the tragic experiences faced in order to achieve that success. The unrelenting pressures and tragedies never stop: poverty, crime, death, success, fame, fortune, Goyard is shattered, broken, suffering a mental collapse. Perhaps the greatest contradiction arrives towards the end of the album where we find Goyard mustering the courage to get up and try once again, maybe now ready to impart hard won wisdom for the next generation, this tragic cycle ending with him. Maybe not.
