Interview: Meet 20-Year-Old Gapix, Fusing R&B And Dancehall
Gapix—the 20-year-old Dancehall singer, who released the catchy single Peng Ting in 2018—is committed to his musical journey and has cooked up new music over the last two years. One such, which was released just a few days ago is the very smooth and passionate ode-like lyric, Thinking ‘Bout You.
DancehallMag caught up with the passionate, meticulous, and independent thinker for some insight on his journey and progress since Peng Ting.
Tell me a little bit more about Gapix
I go by the name Gapix but my real name is Tareque Robinson. Started doing music awhile back like three years ago while I was in high school. I was born in the parish of St. Catherine in the Spanish town area and yh I mean I’m just a guy who loves music and I just want to make some good music and share that with the world.
Why the name Gapix?
It’s just a name… where going to high school everybody kinda form their little pet names or you know everybody just get a name while going high school so my name was just Gapix.
So, there’s no backstory for it?
I mean yh so I was in class and I was singing some Chronixx music and I have a gap and so is like dem a seh mi a sing Chronixx music and mi have a gap so just Gapix
Why did you choose to become an artist?
It was around fourth form, fifth form where I was doing some Instagram snippets and some little freestyle on some like YouTube beats and such and I started to share them with people and I would get some comments saying you know you should tek this seriously or yo you know you sound good and all that type a stuff. From seeing that type of a feedback, I started to learn about DAW and whatever equipment that would be necessary to get myself recorded and I started doing that and from there, I started creating some records and producing my own beats and that kind of stuff
How would you describe your musical style?
I would describe it as a fusion of R&B and Dancehall. Of course, I dabble into other things but that would be my main style.
And do you have a reason for mixing them?
I mean it’s just the style that speaks to me. I find that it evokes a lot of emotion so its just the style that I would like to put out there.
Your single Peng Ting, received much traction since its release in 2018, what was it like for you making Peng Ting and how do you feel about the support thus far?
Peng Ting was made in the comfort of my home. I was just at home and Shakespeare sent cross a rhythm and upon listening it a few times I was inspired enough to come up with that catchy hook that everybody kinda tek onto. From putting it out it became viral because you guys are singing to it and everybody reposting and sharing stories and that kinda got it to where it is and so yh I feel good about it
Do you have any role models in the music industry and if so, who are they?
To be honest, I don’t really have a person who I model whatever I’m doing after however I do have artists by which I’m inspired. So umm locally I’d say I really like what Chronixx is doing and also like quite a few upcoming artists that I think are doing some good work and I like to listen to their music so people like Royal Blu, Projexx, Meleku and a couple others.
Internationally I’d say Bryson Tiller music. I like what PartyNextDoor is doing, he’s a great writer, I like his vibe as well.
Is there any particular artist who you would like to collaborate with in the future?
Probably Chronixx…. I’d like to have a song with Chronixx
In your latest release Thinking ‘Bout You, you were very smooth and sensual, and just by who inspires you, Bryson Tiller, people would say he’s a very emotional singer so would you consider yourself to be an emotional singer or a lover boy?
Yes, a bit of that enuh, you know evoking emotions kinda like an emotional roller coaster. I do have songs stored up that whenever people hear these, they’re gonna see that even more but I’m just taking my time unfolding that side of me and getting more into that style that specific sound that’s emotional and such… So yes, I would consider myself a lover boy.
Would you say that covid has impacted your musical journey?
I would say not entirely in a negative way because I would have used the situation to reflect on my creative process as well as just using the time to stock up on the content and just kinda spend more time on the craft and continue to hone the craft. Throughout the obstacle, there’s a way so yh I just used the time to focus on creating better music.
What’s next for Gapix?
People should just look out for constant releases and just listen for the sound evolving. I’ve spent quite a lot of time really refining my sound so just look out for that a lot of work with a lot of producers so yh just a lot of content in store.