
One of his brothers was killed three years ago, a younger brother is serving 10 years in prison.
New Orleans Artist GMB Flash says he considers himself lucky to have avoided some of the worst that others where he lives have gone through, and he wants the world to know what it’s like on some of the meanest streets in America.
“Started rapping as a way to push my brother’s dream forward, keep it going after he got killed three years ago,” GMB Flash said. “He was a rapper. Hey, that’s New Orleans man.”
Flash’s latest album, Reincarnated, came out just a few days ago and it details life on the streets of the Ninth Ward in New Orleans, a place where pizza delivery shuts down at 4 p.m. because it’s so dangerous and the police avoid if they can.
Flash said his is a story of survival and his music puts the on display for everyone. And he hopes telling that story can lift his community up out of some of the worst it’s going through now.
“Where I live right now, I can’t order pizza after 4 o’clock,” Flash said. “They shut all deliveries down of pizza pretty much everywhere. They know come in here after that point in time, things get dangerous which is an issue. That’s about the summary of New Orleans, absolute hell. My whole point is to use what I know moves my area as a stepping stone to bring everybody together and try to squash it all together. Squash it in one fell swoop.”
Flash said Reincarnated includes songs the tell the story about what he’s been doing and what life is like where he grew up and still lives.
“The first song on my album is called Working and it lets you know immediately what I’ve been doing, how I’ve been doing it, the fact that I haven’t slowed down,” he said. Even if you haven’t seen me, I’m still working, I just haven’t put anything out yet.
“Reincarnated is a nine-song album. I had a song on there called Go Ask the Streets which is just a compilation of me going and checking up on what we really do around the hood, around the city. I’ve got a song on there called the Matrix that’s basically saying I always felt like I was being watched or the entertainment industry make me feel like I always have to watch what I say things of that sort.”
Flash says his music is not only the truth, it’s also about life, and there’s something for everyone in his story.
“I really feel as if my music is the ultimate book,” he said. “I’m saying lines and some people may say it didn’t happen like that, but that motion of how we’re putting stuff out, that’s how things happen here. I’m just trying to categorize it for my fanbase and for the world to see.”
You can see GMB Flash on YouTube