Los Angeles, CA

Musicians come and go in all genres of the music but especially within the rap game, where a great fraction of the artists achieve peak success on the independent front.

The universal rhyme scholar known as Gilbere Forté got a step higher than that, signing to Epic Records in 2013 after paying dues on the blog front like some of his peers. But when Industry Rule #4080 became the dominant voice in the room, he was forced to reinvent the wheel, not an easy feat for any artist, whether rookie or established.

Yet, through experimentation, determination — every positive noun ending in “tion,” he was able to rise from the music industry ashes like a phoenix and form HUNTR, his new pseudo-rap band with a cutting edge rock DNA. Today after nearly a year of prepping and calculation, the five-man collective (which includes Forté’s longtime collaborator Rakib “Raak” Uddin) is rolling out their self-titled debut album for the entire to consume.

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A reflective Gilbere took to social media to exhale a give a long overdue glimpse into his journey leading up to this endeavor.

“2 years ago… I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with music. I was stuck. I stopped making music. After Epic Records, I went on a hiatus,” he admitted in an open letter on Facebook today (September 23). “I stepped back from the scene to rebuild and find myself. I stopped listening to music execs, bloggers, negative people and anyone who cared more what I could do for them, than what I should be doing for myself. I went to work a regular job. It humbled the shit out of me and forced me to embrace that there is more to me than who I (or people) thought I was. I stopped caring about the approval and opinions of people who only wanted to make money off of me vs with me.

“It was never about fame or validation for me. It was about me conquering my fears, my doubts, my pride, and ego.. and ultimately helping others do the same for themselves. I’ve worked so hard to push myself to conquer myself my entire life. My everlasting dream is just being able to release music to the world without delays or hang ups that have nothing to do with the reason we’re all here, the music.

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Raak Aveli and I left LA in 2014. Went home to Philly where it all began with #87Dreams. It was there we made #VEINS. It’s now September 23rd, 2016 and I can’t express enough how good it feels to still to have Raak Aveli DeNiro Forté by my side through all the bullshit that comes with this “industry”. It’s been a blessing starting HUNTR w/ Nick Audy Boris Likharev Justin Bollozos Dionson Joshua Lirio, and making thee BEST ALBUM I’VE EVER BEEN APART OF. This album marks the beginning of a new chapter. This one means everything.”

Without further adieu, stream HUNTR down below via Spotify.

huntr album cover