Interview: North London Rapper Cas Ghostman Discusses His New Video "I'm Gone"
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“I feel privileged to grow up in North London especially Camden Town as it is one of the centres for music in the UK, if not the world.”
You have a very distinctive flow which is insinuated with a gruff, almost whispered delivery, which is dope. When did you start rapping and which song in your music catalog would you say represents you the most as an artist?
I grew up listening to 50 Cent and Eminem and as a young child wrote raps on little scraps of paper trying to imitate their styles as they were like my role models. I got really into producing beats in my teens and then started cyphering with my boys on the beats I’d made. I guess I was a bit of a late comer to the rap game in terms of age as I was so caught up in the game and other things. I didn’t really start to take it seriously until I was about 20 and never stepped into a proper recording studio to lay down a track until I was like 22, I am now 26.
If there was one song I would say represents me most as an artist I would say ‘Lotto’ which has a music video on YouTube (Watch HERE). I think the track shows my sense of humour and comments on the things going on at home and abroad which I find fucked up.
Big ups to you on the release of your music video "I'm Gone", which you directed. How did you come up with the idea of shooting it backward in terms of sequences, and was this your first time directing?
Thank you. I wanted to try and do something different with this video whilst trying to still portray what was being said on screen and was thinking how I could achieve that. I’ve directed videos before and each time I try to create an idea or story behind them, sometimes the idea comes across and sometimes not so much, its a lot of trial and error.
In the run up to setting down the idea for this video I was experimenting a lot with slow motion and reverse editing and how you can make the most simple things look cool like washing you face in reverse and slow motion. This experimentation led me onto the idea of starting at the end and finishing at the beginning.
Regarding the “I’m Gone” track itself, who produced it and what was your creative process for its development?
The beat for “I’m Gone” is produced by Jacob Lethal Beats who I have worked with on a number of tracks that are soon to be released. I really liked the trippy vibe on the beat which worked well with the feel of the video. I really tried to listen to the rhythm of the beat and find new and different flows that I could lay down once I had roughly decided what I wanted to say.
From track to track my creative process differs as sometimes it comes straight out of me, other times I have to create a structure to how I want to approach and create a song.
With the "I'm Gone" song and music video now out, what can we expect next musically from you?
Yes, the “I’m Gone” video is out now on YouTube and all major streaming platforms. I had a number of music videos and performances lined up before the lock down struck which all had to be cancelled. I’ve also had to postpone a trip to Colombia which is a bit shit, but I’ve kept my chin up.
I’ve produced and just released my newest lyric video “When It Rains” (Watch HERE) which is out now on YouTube and all streaming platforms (Produced by the Phonix).
At the moment I am sitting on a lot of music which I want to get out there and get videos shot for, so I am really trying to get the ball rolling and smash it. Watch this space.
How would you say that North London has influenced your music? Also, is the hip-hop scene different in North London compared to South London or other parts of the city?
I feel privileged to grow up in North London especially Camden Town as it is one of the centres for music in the UK, if not the world. My mums house is right round the corner from the late Amy Winehouse and I was there with my boys partying with hundreds of others on the night she died with cars blasting her tracks and people dancing on the street.
I think it has influenced my music in the sense of feeling free and encouraged to do it. A lot of my friends I have grown up with are rapping or playing instruments or in the creative game and its sick.
Ahh the North-South divide in London, I think when I was younger there was a definite divided in music as North and South Londoners didn’t consider the others to be real Londoners and ‘about it’. But as times have changed I think there is more of a sense of wanting to push the UK rap scene not only across the pond but also the world and different areas such as Birmingham and Manchester which were areas never taken seriously before have been bigged up and included in the push.