Hip hop musician, producer and studio owner G’sta, the New Orleans music legend, sifts through the layers of his life and music, culminating in how he builds his own success in Las Vegas with collaboration, corporate savvy and a new brand vision for his future self.
G’sta peels back the layers of being a successful hip hop musician, producer and studio owner. A hip hop baby, Sean Self, known as G’sta, began writing and performing as a child in the 7th Ward of New Orleans, hitting his stride in the late 1990s.
This year, G'sta celebrates 20 years of owning his own studio, So Stimulus Entertainment. He recently released “Classic Status” to celebrate hip hop’s 50th anniversary. Along the way, he and his family escaped Hurricane Katrina, he hit rock bottom and faced deep depression over a failed music contract, and he reclaimed his self-esteem, rising to the top in Las Vegas, where he owns a home and lives with the love of his life.
G’sta talks openly about embracing his corporate self while fueling the creativity that has never left him, fusing the two with a new vision of licensing the personal brand he has created.
G'sta's collaborators and shoutouts (a selection, in no particular order):
DJ Blaknificent, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Money Shot Chris, L.A. Create, Dizzy Wright, Carl Marshall, Travis Snow, Korg USA, Robert King at Red Giant Rights Group, Popeye Calliope, Master P, No Limit Records, Jay-Z, Nas, Ice Cube, Doug E. Fresh, The Outlaw, Big Boy's Neighborhood, Derek McLeod, Horacio Sigler, Geneus Branding, among many others
Places mentioned:
New Orleans, Louisiana; Atlanta, Georgia; Houston, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada; Jamaica; Natchez, Mississippi, Birmingham, Alabama; Shreveport, Louisiana
"Classic Status" copyright (c) So Stimulus Entertainment. Used by permission.
"Classic Status" official video featuring D.J. Blacknificent - on WorldStar:
https://worldstarhiphop.com/videos/wshhY8H86Qah9KG6Cywt/gsta-classic-status-feat-d-j-blaknificent-so-stimulus-entertainment-sponsored
G'sta on SoundCloud:
https://soundcloud.com/gsta-g
G'sta on Instagram, @gsta_g
https://www.instagram.com/gsta_g
Sean G'sta Self on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/sean.gsta.self/
G'sta on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/7GstaG
Everything G'sta, on the So Stimulus Entertainment website:
https://sostimulusent.com/
--------- EPISODE CHAPTERS ---------
(0:00:04) - Life Transitions and Travel Experiences
(0:14:58) - Music, Careers, and Collaborations
(0:26:46) - Navigating Creativity in Traditional Job
(0:38:52) - Importance of Life Coaching and Growth
(0:51:08) - Maintaining Health and Creativity
(0:55:54) - Creative Album Production in Studio
--------- EPISODE CHAPTERS WITH SHORT KEY POINTS ---------
(0:00:04) - Life Transitions and Travel Experiences
Sean G'sta's journey from New Orleans to Las Vegas, including travel, relocation, cultural experiences and resilience.
(0:14:58) - Music, Careers and Collaborations
Multifaceted artist's journey from music to insurance and IT, reigniting passion for music through album covers and celebrating hip-hop's 50th anniversary.
(0:26:46) - Navigating Creativity in Traditional Job
Nature's balance between a day job and creative career, using collaborations, licensing, and mentorship to inspire the next generation.
(0:38:52) - Importance of Life Coaching and Growth
Timing, personal growth and supportive individuals are crucial in achieving goals.
(0:51:08) - Maintaining Health and Creativity
Overcoming challenges of MS while pursuing music career, maintaining positivity, adapting lifestyle, staying in good shape and connecting with fans.
(0:55:54) - Creative Album Production in Studio
Excitement for new album, creative process, #IWin, gratitude for support and inspiration, artist-audience mutual appreciation.
[Note: this transcript is unedited. Apologies for the typos.]
Christi: [00:00:00] Welcome to Moving Along. My guest today is Sean G'sta Self, hip hop artist and co founder of So Stimulus Entertainment with DJ Blaknificent. G'sta lives in Las Vegas, having grown up in New Orleans, and it is his journey, musical and in life, that we're going to talk about today.
Christi: His most recent cut is Classic Status on the So Stimulus label .
(Music, "Classic Status")
Christi: Welcome, G'sta. It's great to have you here. You grew up in New Orleans in the Seventh Ward and you said it was like one big ghetto. We all learned to survive. When you were growing up, what did travel and moving mean to you?
G-sta: When I was growing up, what did traveling and moving around mean to me? Well, it meant a lot because at the time we lived in New Orleans and we went to the outskirts of New Orleans where my parents was from like [00:01:00] Greensburg, Louisiana, Amite, Louisiana, where I also had cousins and relatives and aunties and stuff like that.
G-sta: Where my grassroots was, my grandparents, great grandparents and stuff like that. Baton Rouge of course didn't really travel a lot outside the state of Louisiana when I was growing up, but I did travel to Mississippi. I moved to Mississippi with my mother when I was 10 years old, and I did not fit in. And I think it was in Woodville, Mississippi, kind of by Natchez, Mississippi.
G-sta: I did not like Mississippi didn't do good. You know, wasn't, didn't really transition well in the school system out there. So that was all I can remember. I was about 10 years old when that happened.
Christi: Did you learn to ride horses?
G-sta: No, I did not learn how to ride any horses or anything like that. My grandfather had a horse in Louisiana, Shannon. That was the horse name. He used to let us ride a horse when I was a little, little boy, but no, to answer your question, I'm not, I'm not able to, I wasn't riding [00:02:00] horses like that.
G-sta: I did ride some horses in Jamaica and that was a great experience.
Christi: I saw that you went to Jamaica. Was that part of your engagement?
G-sta: So in 2022, I celebrated my 43rd birthday in Jamaica. Me and my fiancé, now my fiancé, at the time she was my girlfriend, we both had wound up getting our passports in the height of the pandemic in 2020, like 20, yeah, 2020. So we decided to go out of the States to Jamaica for the first time and I actually surprised her with an engagement when we was in Jamaica right on the White River and had a really, really spiritual, great time in Jamaica.
G-sta: The people was great. The hospitality was amazing. We went to a few excursions, went and visited Bob Marley, his, his village where he was from his, his whole thing. We walked around his tombstone. You know, saw where his parents was buried, where his parents was resting and [00:03:00] it was a spiritual thing and it was amazing.
G-sta: But yes, I proposed to my girl in Jamaica and that was a great experience. COVID, COVID wasn't a big factor, well it was at the time, but you know, we, we got through it. We got through it and it wasn't nothing that was hindering us from moving around during COVID. So we was pretty protected.
(Music, "Classic Status")
Christi: In fact G'sta did get COVID and he was pretty sick for a time, staying in Texas. I asked him if Houston was where he went during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. But at the time G'sta still was living in Atlanta and he got an SOS from his mom.
G-sta: So, so basically what happened was my mom, she was on a road. She had her significant other at the time. He was a truck drop, but what happened? He got sick on the road. This was like a middle of the week.
G-sta: 2005. He got sick in the road and he broke down. He had to go to hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, which is only like an hour and a half, two hours away [00:04:00] from Atlanta, Georgia for where I was at. So she called me and was like, Hey, can you come stop in Alabama and grab the stuff out the truck and bring it to the house in New Orleans?
G-sta: So I'm like, okay. Cause I still had the key to the house and everything. So me and my, one of my best friends, we drove down. To because he was living in Atlanta too, but he was from my neighborhood we wind up going down to Birmingham, stop and get the stuff. And then we wind up going to New Orleans and I stayed there.
G-sta: I got there like a Tuesday night, Wednesday morning, something like that. And then my mom and them came home that Friday from being discharged from a hospital in Alabama. And what happened was. That Friday came. Now they got energy swarming in the air like they got a hurricane that's happening right now.
G-sta: So the hurricane was making its way to Biloxi, Mississippi at the time. And man, Saturday came and mind you, Saturday was a beautiful day in New Orleans, right? It was a beautiful day. The sun was out, but you see everybody [00:05:00] boarding up their windows and everything. So I'm looking and I'm kind of doing some things to my car, getting my car ready because I'm planning on going back to home to Atlanta the next day.
G-sta: However, that changed. So I wind up staying out that Saturday night, that Sunday morning. My mom called me like five in the morning, six in the morning. It was like, hey, we I think we're going to need to get out of here because the storm is coming. Mind you, we never run from hurricane. We never really ran from hurricanes.
G-sta: We would get our pantry, our essentials and kind of ride it out, man. So we left. We wound up leaving New Orleans and I didn't lose anything, but it's probably some, some, some underclothes and some, some basketball shorts that I had in the hamper to wash from my mama house. But other than that, you know, all my stuff was gone and it was already in Atlanta.
G-sta: So we, instead of going east, we went west. We came, we went west towards Texas, which is where my uncle was located at. My uncle had a big house in Texas, so we went to Texas. And [00:06:00] it was one of the most hectic. Days ever that I can remember because trying to get from New Orleans, usually it's New Orleans to Texas. It's like a five hour ride. We had to go around because it was so much traffic and everything which is every gas was people was running out of gas. Gas stations are running out of gas. It took us 24 hours to get to Texas from New Orleans that day. And usually that's a five hour ride. So When I got to Texas, we good thing I was there because first of all, I had another transportation and you know, I had my car there and I was able to, my whole family, my sisters, my nieces, everybody, we all kind of just caravan and kind of got on the road and head to Texas. So we got to Texas and I was so exhausted, Ms. Christi, I was very exhausted. I just kind of, made me a little pallet on my uncle's floor and crashed out cause I was exhausted. I woke up about three o'clock the next day, right?
G-sta: Which is [00:07:00] the same morning, a few hours later. And I'm looking at the TV I'm wiping my eyes and they got this national news. It's like breaking news on all the, channels that New Orleans was 80 percent underwater. and it was crazy. I still have my New Orleans
G-sta: number to this day that I had back then. and the numbers that we was trying to call each other, nobody could get in contact with each other via phone. We didn't have no social media at the time. You know, phones wasn't as advanced as it was. I had more of a high tech phone at that, but I have one of the Microsoft Windows phones and stuff. the technology didn't, and that was probably the best of the technology you could get. But we've only text message. I was getting text messages from family and friends that was in the Super Dome that was caught up in that madness. And it was just a horrific moment. So I had to kind of leave. because mind you, I was touring really heavy at this time when Katrina happened. And, you know, I was running with Bone Thugs N Harmony, very heavy [00:08:00] at the time. We was traveling and I think we had just got off a tour before I even came down to New Orleans. for my mom, before I got that call. And it was I'm very happy that she called me, right? Because if I would have been stuck in Georgia with that going on, because mind you, my mom's house was eight feet underwater.
G-sta: you know, my family and everybody lost everything. My sisters and them, they lost everything. Everybody lost everything. You know, they had to completely start over from scratch. And, that was, a really bad thing. I had to leave my car in Texas. And I think Lazy Bone got me a flight to fly back to Atlanta.
G-sta: Once I got to Atlanta, that's when I really realized how serious and detrimental this was because everybody was just reaching out to me. And, I got a lot of support when I got back to Georgia. due to the situation and what I had to give to my family and stuff. And it was very horrific.
G-sta: And that was one heck of a situation, you know? to get through at the time. The holidays was very dim, I think I went back to Texas for Thanksgiving, But I missed Christmas and Christmas was very, [00:09:00] very. it was rough without being around your family, you know, and knowing everybody don't have what they had prior to, so that was a very horrific time, to get by.
G-sta: I was semi quote unquote blessed a little bit because I had already moved out in New Orleans. At that moment, I was stationed in Georgia and I didn't lose everything like far as my studio equipment and all that kind of stuff. I kind of had it already set, but I was there to help be assistant to my family by having the upper, you know, not losing everything, being able to give them, what I had, to try to get through to things kicked in for them with a assistance and stuff like that. So it was rough. It was rough, very rough.
Christi (3): Did your mom come with you back to Atlanta?
G-sta: she stayed in Texas. Everybody stayed in Texas. No, nobody came back to Atlanta with me, nobody They stayed in Texas and they're still in Texas to this day.
Christi: Are they?
G’sta: Yes. I actually, I actually moved to Texas. Two years after [00:10:00] Katrina. And I moved there because at the time I was in the middle of a record deal that I did not accept. it would have been one of them situations that, you know, this conversation would probably be a little bit different because I'd probably be having accolades, But I didn't take the oath. I didn't take the oath. I ran away from it and I preserved my life and I preserved my band, my sanity and all of those good things because That's like, to me, and I, when I look at it in hindsight now, it's like taking the shortcut. And I'm not trying to take the shortcut to be famous or get any type of, of riches. And, I'd rather work for mine. Let me work for mine and just pay me what you owe me and we good.
Christi: Yeah. So You had already started SoStimulus by
G-sta: Oh yeah, SoStimulus has been established since 2000.
Christi: You were pretty young
G’sta: Yeah, I was 20, 19, 20 years old when I started. Yup. I was, you know, I started out in the music business as a kid, you know, I was one of them fortunate kids [00:11:00] had an uncle that was in the music business. Shout out to my uncle Carl Marshall. He's more like my father. He's my mentor. And he made sure that, hey man, if you're going to hang around me, you're going to get serious about this music. And I had a choice. And in other words, you know the saying in life I chose is the life that chose me as my situation when music with a music business that is.
Christi: so you had an opportunity somewhere in there. when you were moving from Atlanta to Texas, and then you decided not to take it and you stayed with what you had
G-sta: Absolutely. I stayed independent. Yes.
Christi: Stayed independent and any regrets.
G’sta: At first I did. I went through a depression with that. You know, if you want to talk technically, you want to get down deep into some really horrific, conversation as far as you know, mental health and stuff. Yeah. I went through a lot behind it because I felt like, first of all, I had the aim to be a burden, you know, to help my family out. You know, [00:12:00] I felt like, if I would have took that deal by me not taking that deal, I let my family down because I moved away from New Orleans early on to go accomplish this goal that I was highly active in. And I was very adamant about what I was trying to do. Working for that opportunity and working for that shot, going out here in this world and connecting the dots with the people that I need to connect the dots with in that that successfully active doing a thing in it. and I didn't take my opportunity. That bothered me for a minute, but when it all kind of fizzled down, and as time progressed on, you know, I had to realize that the Most High had a different path for me, you know what I mean? at the end of the day, it all comes full circle, and you have to understand. That what everything, everybody that smiled at you ain't happy to see, you know what I'm saying? I had to really, I had to really wrap my mind and [00:13:00] come to grips with that reality. and the record business is, it's not so holy you know what I'm saying? It's not so holy and I'm a I'm a more of a righteous guy and I stand on honor, you know, and I just can't do nothing to shortcut compromise myself. won't be able to live with that.
Christi: I have a note here. That says hitting bottom. What did that mean to you? And you've just said part of it, but you said, I almost walked away from this thing. And then you said I
Christi: had to remain honorable to myself. is that, what during this time period of, depression and moving to Texas?
G’sta: yes, good question. Good question. if You're dedicated to something You're so passionate about it. I think all of us, all of the greats, I'm including myself in the greats. When you speak of people like Jay Z and Nas and Ice Cube and all of [00:14:00] them, I think everybody thought about quitting at some point, more than twice. more than five times. Okay, that particular moment when I'm referring to in that with that statement is when I actually was able to obtain another career outside of music, like I'm a successful insurance specialist. I'm into the IT world scrum master now, so I'm able to. Thank You Thank you I'm excited about it to insurance been really good to me these last 10 years I've been. You know, that's another thing that I found in Texas. I was able to get introduced, even though I was still doing my music thing out there at the time and, you know, making some runs and still active. and I wound up hooking up with my good brother,
G’sta: Travis Snow, shout out to Travis Snow, he really helped me put my, SoStimulus brand. All the way back together. It's like I met him, when I got to Texas, I had to get a job and wind up [00:15:00] working through a temp service at ConocoPhillips, and I wind up meeting Trav there and me and him just instantly clicked. And when I got with him, he did like the album covers and all of these great, great creative things because he was working in a department at ConocoPhillips where they was doing like this, the multimedia stuff at the time. This was 09. '08, something like that. And he really helped me. I just brought everything I had to him because he really was inspired about doing the music thing too. But he wasn't an artist. He was more like wanted to focus on like the graphics and the branding side of things. So when me and him hooked up, I just brought everything I had to him and put it on this floor in his office. And he helped me literally. single handedly put it all back together. So what you see now in the websites and just, my whole brand is incredible. He's an incredible guy. We became best friends. He's my brother, you know, and he's from Portland, Oregon and he really helped me put my thing back together. You know what I'm saying? So I really appreciate God putting him [00:16:00] in my path. but yeah, this, this thing has been going on for a long time and been quitting. Then ran across my mind several times because once I, especially once I found my other careers, I started making myself a good living with that. And it's like, what
G’sta: I need this stress, what I need to stress in the music business for, but at the same time. I can't quit it because this is me. I have to do music. I have to create. I never stopped creating. Even when I say I'm not going to do it, I still was creating. You know what I'm saying? It ain't, like, I'm, that was just that I wasn't trying to get out there and put myself out there in the forefront anymore and stuff Like that because I, had a hell of a run with that. and I think we all be faced with giving this thing up a few times, especially if you, you have more passion, you're passion driven. With the craft of it because if you look at it, you know, it's not always fair and that's what makes me want to be like that's what made me weary.
Christi: When did you start writing? [00:17:00] How old were you
G’sta: in elementary school. Elementary.
Christi: You're a born artist.
G’sta: Yeah, I wrote my whole class. I remember when he was in elementary school and they had this project in. We had to do this thing about, like, we just celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day. and and you know, we had to do this thing about Martin Luther King. and we all had to come up with a rap. So I wrote my whole, like, four or five raps. And I put my part together. I put the whole song together. And I said, you rap it like this, and you rap it like that, and you rap it like that. And I always was rapping in elementary school. I always knew how to rap. I just had a thing for rapping because I grew up as a hip hop baby. So I grew up in the era with La-Di-Da-Di and all that stuff was, you know, my sister, shout out to my older sister, Delona. She, the one who was responsible for my rap fetish. My hip hop fetish. This is my sister.
Christi: [00:18:00] Classic Status is actually, it's got the logo for the 50 years of hip hop at the end. And it's a total, I mean, it seems to me, a bow to the legends of hip hop.
G’sta: Absolutely. Absolutely. Definitely. Classic Status is one of them records. And actually that was an intro for my album at the time. I recorded Classic Status in 2014.
Christi: 10 years ago.
G’sta: nine years ago. because it came out last year. one thing about records and one thing about music is all about the timing. Of things I did it actually for intro
G’sta: for my actual album Classic Status now that I done resurface now I'm going to actually put it out now because this album is supposed to came out back in 2012 to be honest, with you because I did a series of mixtapes right. And, the first mixtape came
G’sta: out in 2010, it was called The Walking Classic. And I had to be, that's volume one, and I
G’sta: did it dedicated to the [00:19:00] 80s era of hip hop. So, I got relationships with Doug E. Fresh. Shout out to Doug E. Fresh. Shout out to Bone Thugs-N- Harmony. Shout out to, The Outlaw.
G’sta: All of these guys, I called them and said, Hey, I need you to do a drop, especially Doug E., cause it was part of his era. And I'm like, Doug E., I need you to do it. He was So excited
G’sta: about it. He's like, really, man, you're doing what? No doubt. So he did it and sent it
G’sta: to me and I was able to put it on the tape and open up the whole thing, let him do the introduction. And that took off. I've gained a lot of fans with that You know what I mean?
G’sta: And then I wound up doing a volume two that was dedicated to the nineties era. Then I wound up doing a volume three, which was more of a current. Walking Classic with the stuff that was going on at that particular time, which was like 2013 or something like that. So. Those three tapes was the trilogy to create the Classic Status the album, and that song was going to be the main song for the introduction. But fast forward, 2023 is the hip hop 50th anniversary. [00:20:00] Y'all celebrating 50 years of hip hop. Bing! I got this record in my vault. This record gotta come out now. Got it, put it out, it out there to the DJs. So much shout out to all of the, they could see this video interview with me and you, I want to say this on camera. Thank you, all the DJs from across the world that supported that record. you are a big reason why this record has the numbers and the ammunition that it has now. and the smoke that it has now. We had a million and point five views on WorldStarHipHop. That was happening in like 10, 12 days. We're approaching a million views on YouTube right now with the video. And please shout out also to my, guy, Money Shot Chris and his team, L. A. Create. They the ones came up with the visuals for the video. I met Chris. Out and about at my fiance birthday, celebrating, and we was at a comedy show and Kristen Bonnalie was filming a comedy show for Big Boy's [00:21:00] Neighborhood and shout out the Big Boy's Neighborhood. And I just pulled him to the side of Hey. I had just put this record out I need a video and then we connect from there and we created magic. So that's my guys. So, And everything turned out to be just perfect with it We had over 100, 000 streams on Spotify for that one song. You know,
Christi: I saw that.
G’sta: yeah, we doing amazing numbers, man. I'm very,
Christi: like you
G’sta: I love it. I love it that because I'm a likable guy.
G’sta: Why not?
Christi: You are
G’sta: I'm gonna be cool. You know, I'm trying to share some hope.
Christi: it's up to a million five on the, is it World, Worldstar?
G’sta: Yeah,
Christi: it's a million five. it's really amazing.
G’sta: That's a short period of time.
Christi: it strikes me that from talking about from the time when you first started writing till now, it's, you're a collaborative person, aren't You you collaborate.
G’sta: Yes, I am. I work with so many people in this business and so many big records and [00:22:00] all kinds of stuff. And it's all love. It's all respect. I never had no issues with anybody. and they all love my vibe, you know, so I I just know in this business, you have to make your own, you have to make your own, you have to make your own way. I know that. you know, nobody's going to give you X, Y, and Z until you actually make a way to show them that you're self worthy or even having an opportunity to do X, Y, and Z. So, I'm just more of an independent thinker. You know what I'm saying? like I said, I don't want the shortcut. I want to, I want to work for mine. I want to work for it and I want to be the best at what I'm doing and show improvement, you know, and you can see that you can see the value in that. We got something, got something, special.
Christi: and getting back up from hitting bottom, right? what did that take? I mean, did your music change? what happened?
G’sta: It took, a lot of, a lot of self searching, soul searching. So I must say, took sacrifice. Because [00:23:00] I had to do things that I wasn't used to doing like other, like, for instance, like jumping out of music and going into another, another world and insurance corporate America. that was different. It was very different. I remember, make you laugh.
G’sta: The first test I took for my first license and insurance was property and casualty. You know, I failed that I failed that test seven times before I passed it.
Christi: Ouch.
G’sta: and I had to spend 66 dollars every time I took it. But guess what I passed it. I eventually passed. I had to stop and go on tour to get away from it for a minute. I wind up going on tour. I was working with State Farm at the time and I wind up going on tour and everything. And we wind up, you know, going out there and I wind up coming back and I wind up passing the test. And then I wind up going back and want to get the other one, which was the life accident and health. And then I kind of got the cobwebs off me with the testing thing, right? the testing anxiety. and I passed that in [00:24:00] two tries. And then I waited a little while longer, somebody came up to me, a little birdie came out, you know, I was at a lunch break, I was working with Allstate at this time and trying to find a transition with this and a little birdie came, hey, you know, I had my Allstate shirt on, I was at work, it was like, hey, you work for Allstate, huh? You know, they're always, looking for a good adjuster, what is that. man, try such and such, such and such, he gave me some information, went and did my research, jumped on that passed that, in two tries. Got the adjuster the license and when I got the adjuster license, you're talking about Hurricane Katrina, working storms. I'm working storms now.
Christi: Oh my God. So you're giving back in another way, aren't
G’sta: Getting paid a lot of money doing it.
Christi: Huh. It's
G’sta: Because I'm an independent contractor. So I learned a business with that. And yeah, it was good. I worked my way up in that and became management and supervisor, team lead and stuff and found myself in another layer. To kind of get [00:25:00] me into the I. T. world of facilitating stuff and facilitating projects and claims. It's all the same. I could do it. and I'm great leader. I had a team of 16 people that I was over, you know, just facilitating and, you know, they all respected me and love my position and they love what I brought to, the table as a leader. And that made me. Realize, You know, wow, I'm a really born leader with this stuff. I don't know, if, I don't know if music had a lot to do with that just with the whole aura of being a musician, because that's like me performing in the
G’sta: front thousands of people and then commanding them to do it. And all of 'em will throw their hands up. I tell 'em, throw your hands up, everybody. Throw your hands up. Make Some noise. They're gonna do it, you know
Christi: it's the charisma, it's the charisma.
G’sta: Yeah. It works. It, it, it is perfectly great for me. I loved it.
(Music, "Classic Status")
Christi: You're working in a pretty traditional conservative day job, And so does that [00:26:00] fuel the creative impetus or do you feel like you have to keep them separate
G’sta: You know what? That's a, that's another great question you asked. Awesome question. This is how I channel my creativeness with my day to day activities as far as the corporate side of the world. I channel that into facilitating my projects to the team. Able to have different meetings with different individuals with different directions creatively. It's based around music, but like right now I'm more into imagery. Like, like my imaging stuff. You know I just did what I just did my photo shoot, even with the trailer we just released. That's part of a collaboration I'm doing with one of my good friends in Atlanta, Georgia. Shout out to Horacio Sigler with Geneus.
G’sta: It's clothing line. That's his clothes. So I'm kind of doing a lot of cross promoting there. I actually had a meeting with him about this this [00:27:00] morning. It's crazy. We talked about it. So I'm kind of channeling that with that. Even with the voiceover and stuff, you know, I have experience with one of my good friends, Derek, Derek McLeod, shout out to Derek McLeod.
G’sta: He's one introduced me to the voiceover world. Doing voiceovers and stuff. So I'm channeling that and, you know, doing different things that's even like inside music, but outside of music that you could use for corporate America, you could use to sell product in all different other kinds of things, Basically, I'm kind of grooming myself to do endorsements. Like I did an endorsement with Korg USA, you know, shout out to Korg USA. They ones who sponsor the keyboards and the studio equipment and the hardware that we use as musicians, you know, so I'm just kind of putting myself in a frame to be more of a marketing guy. I want to be a marketing one stop shop.
Christi: you would license your work to corporations or would you create for them? You'd be part of.
G’sta: either way, I'm fine with either way.
Christi: Wow,
G’sta: Either [00:28:00] way, that'll be great actually, I got something in place right now with this company called Red Giant, you know Rob King, shout out to Rob King, man. He gave me the situation where we got this mechanical license So like, if they want to use some of Classic Status or the Insurrection album that I'm working on. I sent them that either be on like TV commercials, TV, movies, short films, whatever, the license is out to him like that.
Christi: It seems to me that you you see opportunities and you take them and that when you went to Texas, that was something that was very hard for you to say, no, I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. What you call the easy thing,
G’sta: Right.
Christi: You're going to be true. You're going to honor yourself, but that led you to a hard place from which. You have built this incredible, it's a business, it's a brand, right? it's an expansion of your artistic, who you are,
G’sta: Absolutely. [00:29:00] Absolutely. Absolutely. I want to be, I want to open up a business in the insurance world. I want to do like a firm. I want to open up a firm actually wrapped my mind around that a couple of years ago. I was like, Maybe I could get some investors to invest with me to open up an insurance business and firm. I actually got approached by Farmers to open up my own office So I had these opportunities coming to me, but I was, I didn't never really entertain them as of yet because I feel like there's something else that I need to do before I sit there.
G’sta: You know what I mean? But really I'm trying to just do is open up job opportunities for minorities and people that Don't really know if there is other avenues that you can make a profitable, successful living, and be productive out here, so that's my main thing trying to open up a great opportunities like, it was that for me, you know, I never forget the people that say, Hey, man, I'm gonna give you this opportunity, man, but it probably gave me some [00:30:00] restrictions, like, but you got to do it this way.
G’sta: And when I over exceeded it, then, I over exceeded the expectations and it was just open sesame, and they respected me. They had to respect me for it. and it was good. It's all good, you know, because you get a little bit from here and you get a little bit from there and you create your own snowman, and that's just how that go.
Christi: are you mentoring? You're working with younger people?
G’sta: I have through the course of the years one of my guys that I mentored was Dizzy Wright. He's a big, big, big artist right now. Shout out to Dizzy Wright. he wrote his first round, and he, took his career to great heights, you know, he's worldwide, internationally known, you know, he did, he's been doing this thing, and a lot of other guys that I used, you know, you know, back home, my brother Seven, shout out to Seven, he had his label, he was starting, he had his son, you know, a few kids, they was out to projects, you know what I'm saying, and they didn't really have. too much of a direction. They were just surrounded by a lot of drugs and violence at the time. And, no sense of hope and just death. And [00:31:00] now kids losing their lives at their age and stuff. They, some of, some of them got killed. Some of them did time in jail, you know, for back then to now, you know, and, just trying to work.
G’sta: But at the same time, I had to say, I have to get me together so I can be a greater mentor because them kids, they gonna be looking at me like, but you can tell me you broke. You ain't got nothing to show for it, you know what I mean? So let me get myself together so I can come back to them and be like, Hey man, this is how this go.
G’sta: And they be all ears and yes, sir. You know what I'm saying? This is how it go. But they see that now and I got a few kids on my radars that I've been touched with that I'll do and I'm going to go back and reach out to and help out, you know, but I tell them I give them a game. I give them advice and I give them. pointers along the way of my journey. So they can see, do you see what I'm doing? Just follow suit and watch how I'm doing it. You know, do it better than me, this younger generation. They got way more access to stuff than I had when I was in my twenties. Like [00:32:00] social media, the internet, the iPhone, stuff like that. I didn't have this stuff growing up.
Christi: how did you avoid all those pitfalls of, what did you say about New Orleans, the Seventh Ward, like one big ghetto, we learned to survive. You also, at that time, said that all of your friends from then were still alive. Now, that was before the pandemic, and I don't know about now.
G’sta: Yeah. A lot of my neighborhood homies, we still touch to this day. So we all got to get on a Facebook. Messenger and kind of FaceTime each other. Even through the pandemic, we was all in touch, you know. It'd be about 12 of us on there. Many is all the way to capacity, you know, and we just love and embrace each other because we all spread it out.
G’sta: I'm in Vegas. They all across the country. Some of them still at home. You know, but I lost a lot of like my homie Popeye shout out to Popeye Cali rest in peace to Popeye. He passed away in 2022 good rather than my he was my good. He was from different sections in New Orleans. He was [00:33:00] from uptown Calliope Projects.
G’sta: He was with Master P, you know, No Limit Records. He was signed to Master P and P'eye was my brother. we had been working for years. we started out back in, well, I was already going they, they came to our studio because we had the Cornerstone Studio in New Orleans at the time. So everybody came to ours, my uncle's studio and did their records.
G’sta: And I was there, I was there as a kid and I kind of got groomed into the whole nature of the recording industry and how records is done. They all came and we all just kind of bonded. They loved it when I was doing it, respecting my talent. I was the go to guy when they needed something really, really done right.
G’sta: And, you know, and he, he, it was a hurting devastation of time with him because he was very close, very close, very
Christi: he die of COVID?
G’sta: No, he didn't die of COVID. I think he was more of a heart failure type thing. And he just had made 40.
Christi: Oh, wow.
G’sta: So he was [00:34:00] young, you know, yeah, he was younger than me. So he's like my little brother, but he was a, he was a, he was his own man.
G’sta: He was a giant, you know, he, he stood up so much and he had this thing going on. And he was just, it was just a hard, it was a hard loss right there. Oh yeah. But for as far as my, my immediate circle, and I say that probably wasn't my immediate circle, but like all my friends I grew up with, we pretty much still around, you know, we just lost, we lost a few along the way, but you know. The majority of us, we still
Christi: You survived.
G’sta: yeah, we survive,
Christi: And I would say you're thriving.
G’sta: Yeah, I am. They, they all kind of, you know, they all super proud of me. You know, I get a different energy from them these days. Well, and I always did. They always loved what I did. They always respected what I did. I never changed. I'm still a little brother, and they, they all. Like we riding with you, man. You know, it's like we with you and they see it. They see the videos, they [00:35:00] see the numbers, they see the love I'm getting from across the world. And they all are super proud right now. I said, so I let them know I do this for y'all, man, because I represent us. I represent my whole community. we have a really rich community that we have to hold to hold the guys and ogs in my hood and stuff like that. They always taught us morals, how to do things honorable. And I always, that's why the principles that I stand on, it's all honorable principles. You know, you got to look out for each other.
G’sta: They show each other is good. make sure we're not going astray. of course, you have a few bad apples in a bunch, of course, with anything, you know, anything good, you know, but the most of it, the people that had the most influence in the hood had more of a positive influence on my life.
G’sta: So, I honor that, you know, I'm a representation of that.
Christi: you are.
G’sta: Definitely, most definitely. And I take pride and honor in that, too, because it need to be told, you know what I'm saying? These [00:36:00] things need to be talked about. It need to be, it need to be acknowledged,
Christi: Thank you for talking about it here.
G’sta: Oh yeah, absolutely, absolutely. My pleasure.
Christi: what role does Las Vegas play in all this? How did Las Vegas come into being?
G’sta: My fiancee, my now fiancee, I met her out here and you know, we just, we did long distance for two years, two years. And I just, Texas was, you know, it ran its course, time to go, just didn't feel Texas anymore. I didn't feel the growth in there no more. So I got to Vegas. I love it out here, to be honest with you, home, you know.
G’sta: Been in the houses and stuff. And, that weather it's good, you know, it's like, it's cold everywhere else, but it's like perfect here right now. Vegas is, a beautiful place and place to own a house. to be able to be a homeowner now and stuff. And all of the things that I didn't really have the desire to, to obtain in [00:37:00] Texas. I did it here. And I'm very happy about it. Now my family got somewhere to come to. Like I got my cousin here right now Shandia and she's here. She had came out with my auntie and probably the last week, you know, they all came from New Orleans and Texas and they all came out for my auntie turned 80 years old. My Aunt Pearl. Beautiful I love my auntie Pearl and it was all here at the house and Shandia had to stay back because she got snowed out in Shreveport. She lives in Shreveport, but she's from New Orleans, but she lives in Shreveport and they canceled the flight. So she's been here with me, but she's leaving tomorrow. I almost don't want to, I almost want to kidnap her.
G’sta: Don't let her go home. And I hadn't seen my cousin in years. We hadn't seen each other in years and stuff. So. to get back around. We grew up together, but you know, it's life take its course and we all grown now and we all got our own families and stuff. And, but just to have them here under my roof and my house and have them here to, to house them and take care of them. It's a beautiful thing.
Christi: when are you getting [00:38:00] married?
G’sta: We haven't put a date on it yet. We supposed to did it this year, but I don't know. Some things kind of got pushed, but we're going to do it soon. I think I'm in transition mode. I'm trying to finish a couple of things and kind of get that off of me. I have to kind of take my time with everything, not saying that's not important, but that is important.
G’sta: But we together and she ain't going away and I ain't going nowhere else. So it's just like, we married, it's just to make it official. But I just want to get a few days knocked out and done. Which is I'm on a time span right now so I can feel more complete as a man to walk into that next phase of my life that that's going to be something that's going to be there.
G’sta: Hopefully forever hopefully forever. you want to take that and make it right, you want to have a solid foundation. Not saying that the foundation ain't solid now, but I just want to secure it. And just so, boom, we good. So, this is gonna be soon.
Christi: me ask you. have a life coach. led you to making that decision? And do you recommend it for [00:39:00] other people who have dreams than where they are now?
G’sta: Everybody needs to have somebody like that in their corner. Penny, see, me and Penny, we go back, you know, she involved into something magnificent. I'm looking at her like a butterfly right now, We was out there on the road together. We was, she was on tour with us. she started out as a photographer and stuff, she has evolved into such this, such a brilliant, wise, beautiful woman that she is, you know, mother and wife, we all grow, you know what I'm saying? One thing about life, if you're not growing, you're not living. that's how I look at it.
G’sta: If you're not growing, you're not living. To see the growth that I've come, because I know I've grown. I don't think the same way I was thinking five years ago. Penny grown. She went through her different channels to get to this point that we found ourselves back into this one particular space to be, for her to hold me down on getting my story out, getting my [00:40:00] energy out you know, and being able to talk to. I talk to her every day. First person I talk to in the morning, you know what I mean? When I wake up because my wife, she'd be going to work. So I can't talk to her in the morning, but she, Penny, I talk to her, we discuss the scheduling for the different interviews and the sit downs and stuff.
G’sta: And we talk about other life situations. And I could tell that we both have grown so tremendously in our roles that where we at right now. And it's amazing. It's amazing. I think everybody that's on the verge of being successful should have somebody Like that, that they can go to and lean on to get that type of, confirmation, it just could be something that I could be thinking of having in my spirit to say, and she probably already touched on it, you know, and that's been happening a lot with us. So. This is good. It's beautiful.
Christi: Somebody said to me. only people that have life coaches are the people that don't need them. All the rest of us [00:41:00] really need them. I thought, well, to stop you from, to find one. know anybody that hasn't benefited from that kind of whether you call mastermind or coach or somebody like you say you wake up every morning and that's the person who's there for you and ready to take you or help you to the next step to the next level.
G’sta: right, right, right, right. Yeah. Penny is definitely she's, she see the vision. She believed what I'm doing. She see how I'm moving, you know cause one thing, and I know she could attest to this as well. She knows one thing about me. I'm one of those guys that's going to go make it happen. I'm going to go out and go make it happen.
G’sta: And you got somebody like that, cause it got a lot of people that just be talking. Yeah, but they don't be doing nothing, nothing, and they'd be in a worse situation. And you know, you could really imagine, but you know, you got somebody that do less talking and more action. You know, those are the type of people [00:42:00] that I respect and I lean on, you know what I mean?
G’sta: And Penny is definitely one of those type of people that I have in my world, in my life. And I'm one of those type of people that she has. Because that's you put those type of people in the same room, they're going to wind up building another extra room. Because we're going to try to figure out how we can maximize and extend. This operation we got this thing we got going on. So yeah, she's, she's incredible and I'm very proud of her. Let me say that I'm very proud.
Christi: action as opposed to talk do you tell people who say, well, I want to do this and I want to do this and I want to do this and I'm planning this and I'm planning that. I mean, what do you tell them to just like, just do it? Or I mean, that sounds kind of, you know, banal almost.
G’sta: Well, at the end, at the, I mean, for the most part, yeah, I tell them, just do it because you can for instance, like I have a lot of people I help out, especially like in the insurance world, I didn't help so many people get licensed and sat there with them and encourage them, but If you don't take the [00:43:00] initiative, like, for instance, if I bring you something and you see me winning with what I'm doing, because the only reason why you want to do this because you see what I'm doing, you see me winning, you see me taking all these vacations and, doing these great days in life.why would you not take my advice. Some people be stuck in their own frame of thought. And they want to do it their way, you know, so I'd be like, okay, try it that way, you know, but I get agitated with that because it's like, I'm not going to constantly be telling you the same thing over and over and over and over and you do the opposite thing.
G’sta: It gets a little stringy. That gets a little tiring after a while, you know, it gets a little strenuous on you, but those who's able to. Be savvy to be witty. Catch on to it. They're going to win because my thing is like this. If you're hanging around nine broke people, you're going to be that 10 broke person. But if you hang around nine people that's being successful and get money, you're going to be that 10 person getting money and being successful. [00:44:00] That's my analysis with that. You know what I mean? That's, the way I look at that. And I put that lay it out as simple. And we have to be mindful of the energy that we put out there, because I'm more into the inspiring part. Why you think that everybody that I've been, that's been on my teams, even with me being in a leadership position with the jobs and stuff, they like, yo, can I use you for reference?
G’sta: Without you, I wouldn't know XYZ. I take the time and show them what they need to know and give them the knowledge so they can be successful with what we're doing. And you just got to be able to receive it. You got to be willing to receive it. You got to get out of your head and get out of yourself and be coachable
G’sta: when I had to go through my trial and error. I was coachable. I didn't even if I had somebody, Hey, pay attention, you know, they kind of saw just slaughter me a little bit. I'm saying really, really, really like firm but I had to take it as a man, you know, as long as there's nothing [00:45:00] disrespectful, I never had that issue, but I had people that I understand the firmness.
G’sta: Of somebody trying to teach me something because they want me to get it because once I give it to you this one time I want you to get it. I don't want you to come back to me and ask me the same question over and over and over and over and over. that's strenuous. that's a waste of time.
G’sta: We got to be able to be witty and we got to be able to learn what we need to learn and we need to learn fast, period. And whatever we have to seclude out of our, our way to grasp what we're learning, we got to do it. That's called a sacrifice. So if you gotta sacrifice going to the club or going to the mall, it's just that for, for the month to save 5, 000, you know, to, so you can get this, this car you're trying to buy or a house or whatever it is.
G’sta: You have to do that. I tell them discipline before motivation and you have to be disciplined and I had to learn that. I learned that through [00:46:00] working out. I learned that getting back in shape. I learned that kind of getting my physical fitness back in shape because I had to discipline myself.
G’sta: Some days you don't want to go to the gym, but you have to go. And you have to go because this is a goal that you're supposed to do. You know what I mean? This is something that you set in your mind to say, I want to lose 20, 30 pounds by June or by May or by April. You got to go to the gym.
G’sta: Everything you got to go in on and you got to change the diet and you got to do this. You got to work out and you just got to be active. And I learned that by by doing that. So. let me just put this to you. So I went to the doctor back in April and I was 208 pounds.
G’sta: So I just recently went back to the doctor, my primary doctor in the end of 2023, which is December, like the last week going into the new year, I weighed 186 pounds
Christi: Wow.
G’sta: I've been going to the gym every other day. I Like, got my body in a good place and, you know, 'cause not, and I wanna share [00:47:00] this too. You know, I have MS. I got diagnosed with multiple sclerosis back in 2022. I didn't know I had it, but I knew that it was a issue when I had with my left side of my leg.
G’sta: It felt like I pulled a muscle. It never was painful, but it just was strenuous and tight and stiff. But when I went to the doctor, I went to a neurologist. And once I did that, I was able to find out that I, they say I got multiple sclerosis. I'm like, what is that? And she was like, you know, it's something that you're going to have forever. And Some of the symptoms that they outlined is some of the symptoms I had been experiencing, but I'm not going to let that beat me. I'm not going to let that take me down. So, you know what I did?
Christi: What
G’sta: I got more disciplined. I started finding ways to fight this thing. You know, this is my health we talking about. Yeah, I'm doing all these great things. You know, one day I might, you know, be able to make enough money while I don't have to do anything no more. Right. But I have to take care of myself and I want to be able to be able to be [00:48:00] around and be able to enjoy the fruits of my labor.
G’sta: So I take my herbs regularly every day. I'm on a holistic diet right now. I'm one little inch, this is my discipline kicking in, I'm a little inch from trying to try to be vegan. You know what I'm saying? I don't know how I'm gonna do it, but I don't know. I don't eat crazy. I cut out a lot. I cut out beef a long time ago.
G’sta: You know, I never ate pork like that. I eat a lot of chicken and turkey and veggies and I got, you know, juicing and stuff like that, but I more might take my herbs and sea moss and stuff because it was trying to make me take this, medication that I was scared of. It scared me.
G’sta: You know, I feel like, you know, I'm reading all this stuff about the side effects. I'm like, that's going to hurt me more than help. So let me just try to do this and figure this out on my own do something more holistic and go to the gym and work myself and keep myself active. You know, that's [00:49:00] what I've been doing and I've been feeling great.
Christi: does building the muscles help? Is that part of what helps the MS?
G’sta: Yeah, yeah. Building muscles. Yeah, the thing about my condition, you could get a little fatigue, you get fatigued kind of fast. So having to learn how to balance that and channel that, you know, that's that's been not really been a challenge, but it's part of the process.
G’sta: You know what I'm saying? So I know how to not over exert myself and do everything in moderation, even with eating and stuff like that. Just do everything in moderation, you know, you can enjoy your life, you know, you can live with it. I was told that, you know, I could go 90 days on this strict, strict, strict diet, like fruits and veggies, so I could really kick it, you know, get it out of me where I don't have any more.
G’sta: they got stories out there like that, but it's going to be a very, very, very intense diet, you know, that you're going to have to do because you're going to have to detox your body completely out and get all [00:50:00] of that stuff out of that. And by me doing 90 percent of the right things, like taking my herbs and stuff, putting the right herbals in my, system and everything.
G’sta: Yeah, I might kick it. It's a possibility. It's a possibility.
Christi: Would you say that as you look forward, that is a part of the next phase for you dealing with the MS? I mean, how does the music and your goals for work and everything all come together?
G’sta: Well, I don't let the MS bother me because I'm on top of it. That's first and foremost. we're not gonna let that beat me. I'm not gonna let that get the best of me. So if I have to go into a diet that's going to help me really, really feel better, then I do what I have to do.
G’sta: It's no big deal. But as far as the music and as far as The other things that I'm doing, I move great. I still go rock a crowd long as I'm still able to be active and do what I need to do and be there for the [00:51:00] people and my fans and stuff like that and my supporters. I won't have no problem, but they'll know that I'm a fighter and they'll know that I'm strong in that area, you know, because I want them to know if I'm going to supply hope to y'all, I want y'all to know that I'm supplying it to me too.
G’sta: And if it resonates to y'all, then it definitely has a resonate from within because it's a lot that I have to do to really, really keep myself afloat. And it's a lot that don't meet the eye. that that people don't know about that I do, and it's a lot of the things that we're discussing right now, you know, taking the time out to, you know, meditate and understand what it is that you have to do to make yourself a better human being.
G’sta: And spiritually to be in a better spiritual place in your life, you know, that all that stuff plays a part with the motivation and the dedication and the discipline that comes with being successful.
Christi: I think you're pretty brave. It takes a lot of courage to face know, especially as a creative where you [00:52:00] just sometimes you think, my art will guide me
G’sta: It'll guide you. It'll guide you to some places that you know that you need to be definitely, but you got to be able to stand there physically. If you're not taking care of yourself, you know, you might not be there. Your art going to take you far as you want to take it.
G’sta: I always said back when I was coming, growing up as a kid, I want to throw my music out there and let the music take me where, let the album take me where, where I land, you know, and Guess what? It's been doing that, I just put the music out there and then everybody, you know, they love it and it's, I'm, I have to follow it.
G’sta: I need to be there, but in order for me to be there, I have to be in my right mind and I have to be in my right physical fit, you know, my, my right being. So I can't, I can't jeopardize. Doing all the other stuff, but I know what I can do and I know what I can't do and I know my limitations and every day it gets better.
G’sta: Every day it gets better. I'm pretty excited about that.
Christi: That's great. Well, on that happy note. G'sta [00:53:00] I am going to ask you, people want to get in touch with you or they want to hear you do music. What's the best way for them to do that?
G’sta: Well, of course, you know, social media, I got a website www.SoStimulusEnt.com com. You can find all of my great music there, all of my movements, my videos, photos, wherever you like to know about the G stuff and coming. You can find it there. You can follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Gsta underscore G. I got a TikTok page.
G’sta: I kind of just got TikTok started. I've been posting a little bit on there since I put out Classic Status. So I got a TikTok. It's going pretty good. I'm gaining followers there every day. I'm not, you know, thousands yet, but, you know, I'm getting started with TikTok. And Facebook, of course, you can find me under Sean G'sta Self under my regular page.
G’sta: And I got a music page on, Facebook as well. You know, G'sta official music page, so you can find me all over. I'm [00:54:00] all over. You can just Google me. You can Google me too.
Christi: That's great. Well, we're looking forward to what your next steps are and who your next creations are into the world
G’sta: Yes, we actually getting ready to shoot the new, my next single for the album is called I Win hashtag #IWin. I just got the treatment yesterday for Money Shot Chris, shout out to my guy, Money Shot, L.A. Create. That's my guys. That's my crew, my film crew. So they just sent me this amazing treatment.
G’sta: We're going to shoot it here in Vegas. Okay. So it's going to show the Vegas based on what I'm looking at. I could kind of, hopefully Chris don't kill me, but I'm looking at the treatment and it's got this flashy look, the scene of Vegas and the casino. You know, some cool shots riding up the Strip, and so it was going to be one of them high flashy dope videos.
G’sta: I, I'm, I'm excited about it. I am, and we getting ready to get ready to get working on [00:55:00] that. So, and the album, working on the album in the studio now. Incredible stuff. That's, that I'm putting together now in the creative space at this moment right now. So the record's the album is going to be phenomenal.
G’sta: I'm gonna make sure that. So, it's coming together. I can't wait to get it to the world.
Christi: That sounds wonderful. Well, we will be on the lookout for IWIN, hashtag IWIN, Thank you so much, sir. You are an inspiration. I really
Christi: mean that.
G’sta: honored. I'm honored. I am so honored. Thank you so much.
(Music, "Classic Status")