GNG IN BKNY GUATEMALAN INDEPNDENCE DAY
ME ON BASS W/ 2 OF THE BIGGEST ARTISTS IN PUNTA AZIATIC N AURELIO
MAD YOUNG IN THIS ONE BACCING UP LLOYD N RECKLESS FROM THE GRESTEST BAND EVER PUNTA REBELS
4 YA WHO THINK SMACK DVD RAPPERS GO IN TAKE A LOOK AT THIS N GET BACC @ ME I GUARANTEE UR FAV BATTLE RAPPER WILL GET CRUSHED AGAINST THE SUARUS,IRON SOLOMON DUMBFOUNDEAD, OKWERDZ LOCKSMITH ,ILLMACULATE, KID TWIST ETC OF A WHOLE OHTER MOVEMENT ENJOY!
Layout by CoolChaserAlex “AC†Ciego, bassist, keyboardist and singer/songwriter of GNG, was born on June 21st 1985 in Los Angeles, California to Garifuna/ Guatemalan parents. Though born in the west coast, Alex considers himself from The Bronx. “I don’t remember L.A. at all and barely remember Miami, which is where we moved to when I was still a baby. So you could say I’m from The Bronx.†At eight years of age, Alex’s father took him to a popular Garifuna park called Waporu or The Boat, where he observed Garifuna Kids perform for the first time and instantly fell in love with Punta Rock. “I was so used to hearing the older aged bands which in retrospect were good too but, you know how it goes when you are young. You rebel against anything your parents like. So before I seen Garifuna Kids, I was not fond of Punta at all. But once I watched them perform and perceived that they were not much older than myself, opposed to my father’s more favored bands, the realization broadened my insight and embraced the art, talent and genre in general. Garifuna Kids was the shit to me!!†Inspired by Garifuna Kids’ break-through success, Alex begged his mother for a keyboard. “ I remember walking in the house and seeing the keyboard still in the box. From where I was at that shit looked like treasure pot.†He chuckles lightly before continuing. “Ya’ll don’t know how beast I was for that keyboard. I was so hype I think I hugged my mom which is uncharacteristic of me till this day. And I remember she had a guest which me and my sister called drug addict aka crack head. That lady had a hawk eye on my keyboard! In my mind I was like Nah bitch!!!! You gonna have to knock me out cold before you take my Casio and sell it for crack!!!!†He laughs hysterically. Though he loved Garifuna Kids, Punta Rebels were his ultimate inspiration. “Rebels were the best. I was a huge rebel fan. They took Punta to another level. Vocally, musically, lyrically, performance and the cross over to English. There’s a lot of musicians that deny rebels their respect ‘till today. But if you listen to every Punta Rebels Album from ‘Save It’ up to ‘Rebels Again’ a lot of today’s musicians were inspired by Rebels. Including myself .Case Closed.†He says slapping his hand against his bed. His cousin Cosito came to his house and showed him the basics on how to play. When he was 12 he joined Cosito’s band, Garifuna New Generation and had a slight problem performing live. “ I used to catch a lot of slack from the other members because I was the youngest and was always mad shy. I’d be mad nervous over little hole-in-the-wall clubs.†He looks upward towards his bedroom ceiling pensively. “But they meant everything to me. I’d go home feeling real down if I would mess up and I’d have to wait for long period of time to redeem myself because we played like every four to six months back then. But I just practiced more in my house ‘till my parents and sister would tell me to shut the fuck up in Spanish.†He then chuckles slightly and shakes his head. “ Not wanting to bother anybody, I started reading a lot and writing.†Since then Alex has help produce Garifuna New Generation’s 2004 album “The Struggle†along with close friend Eddy Alvarez. “We named the album ‘THE STRUGGLE’ because it was and still is so true to our lives and it reflects our actions over the past numerous years. Not just me and Ed but former members like my nigga Randy, my nigga Jairo, my nigga Omar, My cousin Ibis, my nigga Dennis, my nigga Vincent, my cousin Rosie my cousin Cosito and more recently Steven and Derick. We’ve been like an underground band to an already underground genre of music. We barely played, which limited our exposure we’ve recorded like about four albums prior to The Struggle that were never released due to financial difficulties and management. All we could do is practice like crazy. But Fuck it. If there’s no struggle, there’s no progress.†The band celebrated local success with the release of The Struggle Album. “After we dropped the album, we started gaining recognition amongst our people. People who didn’t know us, people who shitted on us and people who were always fans went and copped our album. Dionicio(referring to local Garifuna shop Owner) called every two weeks for 3 months to tell us he needed more CD’s. He sold Out!.†GNG will soon be on their “No Struggle. No Progress†Guatemala Tour. And they have New songs like “Yo Te Quiero ‘Patras†written, arranged and performed by Alex coming out on their Mixtape due this summer.
