Music Artists You Should Know: Ghais Guevara

With his debut album, Goyard Ibn Said, just around the corner with a Jan. 24 release date via Fat Possum, rapper and producer Ghais Guevara challenges the status quo of hip-hop and music at large on “The Old Guard Is Dead.”

Hailing from Philadelphia, Guevara grew up during an especially tumultuous time for the city’s northside. However, he was able to avoid it all and turn his attention to other pursuits, particularly activism in relation to the Black Liberation Movement—something that informs much of his music.

Goyard Ibn Said, which happens to be one of his monikers, is no different, continuing his brand of what he calls “geopolitical communist rap” by following a fictional rapper whose rise and fall in the mainstream speaks to the sacrifices independent artists have to make to break big.

“Restriction always breeds innovation and this song is an example of that,” Guevara said on the album’s inspiration. “The lack of sample options at my disposal forced me to work with unfamiliar songs, sounds and flows. The result is me and my navy storming the pier, the citizens look[ing] in fear because they know we won’t be leaving.”

Beginning with eerie chants and stirring strings building up suspense, “The Old Guard Is Dead” takes from reality and recontextualizes it within the album’s conceptual narrative.

The production, done by Guevara himself, gets washed in a barrage of trap hi-hats that ring like bullets falling to the ground. From the get-go, Guevara makes his intentions known by repeating “Aim for the moon / Rose from the gallows” at the start, all while to the sound of a victorious beat.

At the same time, he throws in lyrics like “Tryna hit Houston and find me a Whitney / She tryna go Hollywood, wanna be Brittany” that further prove his penmanship. For those unfamiliar with his style, “The Old Guard Is Dead” is more than an appropriate statement piece that reintroduces Guevara as an uncompromising artist while looking back at how far he’s come.

Although it’s easy to label Guevara’s music as simply rap, the wealth of influences and real-life experiences he uses to fuel his music time and time again prove it’s more than that. Whether it’s the 1966 Swedish film Persona or grappling with lower self-esteem “as a result of trauma,” he actively finds ways to avoid classifications and arbitrary categories.

And considering this is his first ever release for Fat Possum, it’s safe to say Guevera is just getting started. But he has an artistic head start that’s uncommon for emerging artists today.

Words: David Sosa

“The Old Guard Is Dead” by Ghais Guevara is out on streaming services. For more on new music and tickets to potential tour dates, follow him on Instagram.

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