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Prepare to get “giddy” — THA CAPITAL G’s EP has finally arrived.
When we last caught up with rapper Giddens W. Rateau, he was poised to drop his EP following the release of his boomin’ track “Ernest Baker.” But after a move to West Hollywood, a few things got in the way — two underwhelming recording sessions, a job change, and a new girlfriend, specifically — and the 2016 EP quickly found its due date getting pushed back further and further.
The new timeframe for the album, however, ended up benefitting everyone, specifically with regards to Rateau’s ever-improving vocals. The result is THA CAPITAL G’s EP Giddy, which dropped last Friday (March 30).
“Without question, this EP came out completely different because I waited to release it,” he says. “I spent the last couple of years with these songs in the back of my head. I listened to the demos regularly. My vocal coach/vocal producer, Hannah Avison, is a Berklee College of Music alum. She rehearsed the songs with me before the final recording in December 2017 and she was amazed at how much better I sounded. She could tell I had been practicing throughout the year.”
After recording in both a West Hollywood studio and a bedroom-closet-turned-booth, Rateau settled on a third take of his songs from The Brewery Recording Studio. The result is five killer tracks, from the modern-love-dilemma of “Heart Emoji” to the soaring vibes of ”Boston, Brooklyn, Beverly Hills.”
“Another major factor in the enhanced quality of the songs was working with a great engineer at a great studio,” Rateau explains. “Andrew Krivonos is the head engineer and co-owner of The Brewery Recording Studio. They originally only had one location in Brooklyn, New York. When I saw they opened an L.A. location, I knew I had to record there. They’ve been on my radar since 2011 and have recorded some of my favorite artists. It was one of the best recording experiences I’ve ever had. We had a lot of fun making this. It added to the quality of the songs.”
As for what the future holds for Rateau, he’s firmly planted on the Golden Coast for now, but surprisingly, his community of other Boston-based musicians continues to expand.
“Ironically, I’m meeting more Boston hip-hop acts out here in L.A. than I was back home,” the rapper notes. “I was hanging with people in the indie rock/pop scene back home. I wish I could have been there to witness and contribute to Boston hip-hop’s rapid growth during the past three years. It’s been fun watching Cousin Stizz, Michael Christmas, Latrell James and others garner national and even worldwide attention. I’ll continue to come back for those major [life] events but for now, while I’m finally in a good space creatively, I want to keep the ball rolling. I have music videos coming and my first live show in L.A. will be happening this summer. I don’t want to slow anything down. I want to get to a place in my career where I can be booked to play Boston Calling.”