Gilead7 has made a name for himself on the Chicago underground hip hop scene with his sharp wordplay, abstract imagery and fierce delivery. In the midst of prepping for his upcoming album, I had the chance to interview him on Inaugaration Day of all days.
HBE: So did you get a chance to catch the inaugaration?
Gilead7: I did actually. Man, it was a great thing. Watching it, I was taken back. I never been through a lot of what he was talking about, as far as the struggles, of course slavery and things of that nature, but at the same time, just hearing my grandparents talk about it, I'm like, "Wow, we've come a long way." I agree, we haven't gotten that far, but we definitely got somewhere. It's a powerful day
HBE: Yeah, it is pretty momentous. I was at work just going back and forth and I just had to sit back and soak it all in.
G7: Exactly. Yeah, same here.
HBE: I'm just more happy for my mom and other old folks who thought this day would never come.
G7: That's real. Exactly. It's not really him, it's what he symbolizes. I mean, regardless of what you think of him as a politician, I mean it's the fact that a person of darker skin color was in there, and that it shows the way the paradigm has shifted. And now of course as I said there's problems with that, but we have gotten somewhere.
