Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Rapper speaks out
Talented songwriter sings about mental health issues
A Coatbridge rapper has launched a unique project to encourage people across Monklands to open up about their mental health and wellbeing.
Gary Maguinness, 25, aka Gary Magizmo, released his new four-song project entitled I Didn’t Kill Myself on streaming services in a bid to encourage others to open up about their feelings and combat the stigma surrounding mental health.
The talented young hip-hop artist produced the emotive four-track EP, which includes the songs, I Feel, Fancy Car, Falling and Weak, in collaboration with fellow Coatbridge rapper Prophetsixfour, aka Aaron Mcallister.
And it has been released to fans across popular streaming sites, including Soundcloud, Spotify, Apple Music, itunes and Amazon.
Gary told the Advertiser: “I’ve struggled with my mental health for a few years, but this year topped it off.
“The big thing was me opening up and hopefully getting my friends to open up too. That’s why I got them to do the voice notes at the end of the songs.
“I think music, from a personal perspective, helps to get things off your chest and if there are other people who can relate to it, that’s what inspires me to do it.”
The young Kirkwood singersongwriter has been passionate about honing his craft since his school days at St Andrew’s High and he hopes to follow in the footsteps of his hip-hop hero, the late American rapper Mac Miller, who sadly passed away at his Californian home in September 2018.
He said: “Mac Miller is probably one of my favourites. I used to think rap was about gangsters, but when I found him, I saw the other side of it and how to express yourself.”
Gary lives in Kirkwood with mum Teresa, stepfather Bill Brown and younger brother Declan and has been dipping his toes into the music scene for more than six years, since his first gig in Coatbridge’s Eagle Inn back in January 2015.
He explained: “I’ve been in music for quite a while, but properly since 2015.
“I’ve been in bands, but I did my first solo gig at the Eagle Inn in January 2015 and met DJ Tommy Smoke, a rapper from Glasgow, and we recorded my first song, called The Prelude.
“Since then I’ve collaborated with a lot of Scottish artists. The Scottish rap scene is not very well known outside of Scotland.
“It would be good to reach more people. There are a lot of talented Scottish artists that don’t get the credit they deserve.
“From an outside view it looks as though artists suffer more with their mental health, but they are more outspoken than other people and are able to express it through their music.
“I want to inspire pretty much everyone, I think a lot of people relate to my songs. You start to rap about real life and you get people who relate to you, especially during these times. I just want to get my friends to open up about their mental health and know that, ‘it’s not just me’, and for people to open up and feel a lot less lonely.” The Monklands mechanical engineer, who has been shielding against Covid-19 since March last year, has his sights set firmly on the future beyond the pandemic – and looks forward to the light at the end of the tunnel.
He said: “I would really like to make an income from my music. I’m a mechanical engineer – that’s the thing that keeps me going – but I am so proud of my music and it would be great if I was able to do it full-time.
“I would be able to put all my focus and energy into it.”
Gary’s four-song project is available on Soundcloud at https://soundcloud.com/ gary-magizmo/sets/idkm, and to download on Spotify, Amazon and itunes.