Ghais Guevara shares new single The Old Guard Is Dead, taken from his up coming debut LP Goyard Ibn Said, which will be released January 24th via Fat Possum.
On the new single, The Old Guard Is Dead, Ghais Guevara offers:
“Restriction always breeds innovation and this song is an example of that. 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 in fear because they know we won’t be leaving.”
‘GOYARD IBN SAID’ tracklist:
1. Introduction to Act 1
2. The Old Guard Is Dead
3. Leprosy
4. 3400
5. I Gazed Upon The Trap With Ambition
6. Monta Ellis
7. Yamean
8. Camera Shy
9. Introduction to Act 2
10. Bystander Effect
11. 4L
12. The Apple That Scarcely Fell
13. Branded
14. Critical Acclaim
15. Shaitan’s Spiderweb
16. You Can Skip This Part
To ask Ghais Guevara, Goyard Ibn Said is a concept record with Goyard acting as our fictional anti-hero. 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.