2020 has been a tough year for creative folks suddenly gifted with an excess of downtime—as well as a steady stream of bad news to keep them weighted down. It’s hard to be on your grind when the world’s on lockdown, an entire coast is in flames, and the President is condoning fascism on the national stage, and Marco Pavé understands this struggle.
The rapper and first-ever Hip-Hop Artist-in-Residence at Georgetown University is unveiling the latest track from his forthcoming Crossroads EP today, which wrestles with this exact subject. Written after an exhaustive self-booked and -promoted cross-country tour, the song came naturally to him as it was inspired by Pavé questioning this type of ridiculous work ethic. “I essentially freestyled the whole song because this was a story that was on my heart,” he shares. “However, I was exhausted—the months prior consisted of me booking and performing on a seventeen-city tour and a month after, releasing my debut album Welcome to Grc Lnd in May of 2017.
“As an Indie artist, as a Black person, as a father,” he continues, “you’re told that you’re supposed to keep pushing, no matter what. If you’re resting you are wasting time, and time is money. I bought into this idea of being until it really wore me down and I came to a crossroad. I had to choose between painting my grind gold, so that it looks good to others, or getting a grip and an understanding of my own value within. ‘Gold Grind’ is a challenge to overworking culture that America has shoved down our throats. It’s like if you paint something gold, or call it gold, it automatically makes sense.”
Along with the track, Pavé is debuting a video for the single, which serves as a commentary on overworking culture, specifically tinted with the gilded look of rap videos. “The ‘Gold Grind’ video is a trip of my mind in 2017, or the mind of anyone who is brainwashed to think that resting is wasting time. While it may seem sweet at first glance, trust and believe that you never know what someone is really going through when they are on their ‘grind.’ I have been a big fan of the art of dancing. The dance in this video was choreographed by frequent collaborator Steven Prince Tate. The dance represents the fun moments on the grind, it also represents freedom to do what you want to do.”
Watch the sort-of-NSFW clip below, and expect the EP out October 30, coinciding with his hosting Soundtrack for Life: An Evening for Sync Licensing, Music Supervision, & Film Composing. More details on that event here.
