I got in tune with Chris Cassius a few months ago via my Baltimore plug The Demo Tape. Since then I’ve kept up with his output, which has been consistently great. Just a month ago he posted my favorite track of his to date in Worries. The song featuring Big Penny has gotten over 1 million views (as of this writing.) It’s not surprising as both rappers bring intense energy and a riveting flow.

Cassius has shared some upcoming releases with me…and let’s just say they’ll make some waves in the SoundCloud community. There’s a lot to be excited about for this East Baltimore artist.

His visual, GFK, dropped just a few days ago. Many influential music sites have posted the video such as Bluntiq, Musiconthedot, and of course The Demo Tape.  It’s been awhile since we’ve posted a dissection interview, so I thought it would be appropriate to start things off with one of my favorite new discoveries.

Kick back, watch the video, and read more about the process behind GFK. For previous Dissections click this link.

Hey Chris! How are you?

I’m doing well. Just gearing up for the release of my project and getting everything right for this year. I just released my “GFK” video to start things off for 2017.

You recently dropped a visual to GFK which I was thoroughly impressed with. It’s been getting so much coverage! How does it feel??

The fact that my video is receiving coverage just tells me that I’m doing all the right things, not only from a music standpoint but also from marketing myself which I’m learning more about as I progress with the help of my team. That’s just a testament to them though, as they allow for me to focus on the music itself.

First off – when did you actually record the song?

I recorded “GFK” in September of 2016 along with many other tracks in preparation of my forthcoming project, GOATFACEKILLA.  “GFK” is just grazing the surface of what my project is made up of.

Did you know off the bat that you wanted to shoot a video for it? 

No, it honestly was one of the songs I didn’t see myself doing a visual for at all. Not because it’s a bad song or anything, but because it was so simple and I was more focused on delivering a message with it versus it being one of my “hits.”

Ivaree did a great job directing it. I’m interested to know how you started that relationship as it looks like you’ve been working together for some time now. 

Ivarre and I were both part of a collective called “Set Sound” and that’s how we know each other. This past Thanksgiving, we actually discussed shooting together at a mutual friend’s gathering and we pulled off the vision we had. This was actually the first time we shot together, but with much of the feedback I’ve received people have commented on our chemistry, so this definitely won’t be the last time.

Most of GFK seems to be filmed in one location. Where is this and why did you decide to film there?

Ivarre and I agreed to shoot at the Copy Cat building located in Baltimore. Artists of all kinds live there and they rent apartments out. I believe the leases come with an agreement that you can pretty much do whatever you want with your space. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I heard somebody has an entire boxing ring in their room. We shot there because we wanted an abandoned-warehouse-type of look and the basement of the building has just that.

Going off that question, did you and Ivaree collaborate on the overall vision of the video? 

We collaborated on the overall vision of the video, as we both described the kind of setting we wanted to go for. We agreed on a look for the space used in the video. The bullet proof vests came from me promising fans over the summer that I would wear one to a show;  teamed up with Baltimore-based clothing brand DAFT! to make a custom one. The dog is actually owned by a friend of mine, Paco, who is looking to get into breeding dogs.

You’ve put out a large number of music videos in your career. Why is it so important to you to keep putting out videos?

Regardless of the numbers my videos generate, I’ve always been dedicated to working hard and supplying visuals to my songs. So, one day when I’m big, people will be able to Google me and dig up things like my old videos and old mixtapes the same way I do with artists when I find out about them.

Any last thoughts? 

Just thanks again for taking the time out to watch the video and interview me, I appreciate it. Stay tuned for my forthcoming project, GOATFACEKILLA. I have a lot in store planned to rollout the release – it’s going to be special.