With his Guyanese roots deeply embedded in his music style, young Toronto rapper/producer BrownFace Gunna is poised to make his mark on the international scene.
At age 22, the young songster has accomplished what many in the music world strive to achieve in decades and the rapper is capitalizing on his unique style to woo his already growing fan base not only in North America and Europe, but worldwide.
The man
Growing up in Rexdale in Toronto, Canada’s west end district, BrownFace began his music career as a teenager with passion; his love for music being one of the fundamentals. He began rapping at age 11, imitating what he saw the professionals do on TV, and according to his rep, he did it just for fun.
But how did he get the name BrownFace Gunna?
He told The Scene in a recent interview that he wanted to have a name that represented who he is. “I happen to have a brown face, which many people around the world have, but it was originally a reference to the Canadian hundred dollar bill which is brown.” He said that the one hundred dollar represents the “highest bill that one would come in contact with in Canada,” he added, “it was just positive thinking, and everyone wants brown faces.” He said that it’s a moniker that fits his character, adding that the Gunna part came from ‘young Gunna’ which was his call name when he was a child and it meant back then that he was a young and ambitious.
BrownFace said that as he grew as an artist, he wanted a name that was unique and suitable to his character, adding that he is “still gunnin’ for the top spot”.
How he started
BrownFace began his career with beat making, a technical art which is crafted with the slightest of errors being kept to a minimum and by the time he reached 17, he began to make his talent known to his associates. He told The Scene “I made my first rap track on a tape deck with my friends when I was 11 years old. I made my first beat at age 15 and had my first recording in a studio at 16 years old. My first performance was at 17 years old.”
His music
He has since produced three mix tapes — ‘The Grizzy’, ‘Green Harvest’ and ‘The Flush’ and he successfully earned a place as a contender in the last four ‘Battle of the Beatmaker’ competitions. The ‘Cold Flo/Flo Frio’ is another project which he is working on and features the hit “When We Roll Up” which is to be released soon. BrownFace and childhood friend 4Twoney are collaborating on the latter project.
“We were never trying to be reggaeton or dancehall but we also gave up fitting in with rap. We wanted the most accurate representation of who we are and now we’ve found it,” BrownFace said of the collaboration in a recent interview.
On his mix tapes
‘The Grizzy’
“‘The Grizzy’ was my first and most aggressive project at age 18. At this time I was young and all over the place but I always had a message. This was the beginning stage, my come-up where I hadn’t really discovered myself. I was beginning to master my craft but in some cases I actually took the audience more into my mind than any other album. I look back at it and I’m still proud of that because it was special, my most personal album. We got a lot of college/university play and that basically let the Toronto scene know who I was. I had production by myself, Young and J Freedome.”
‘Green Harvest’
“My next project came out about 2 years later. I was 20 a huge difference in my mind state. I basically wanted to show the world how I matured and had changed for the better. I continued to work with the same producers but the production was a lot smoother and my flow was more laid back. I didn’t want to send the same rap clichés out to the world so I tried to give them the West Indian, Canadian youth experience in my own words. People loved this album as it was really relatable; this is where I began to speak to the human experience. This is the first album that featured 4Twoney and Moses. It was less anger as it was an environment of good friends and having fun, discussing life. The fans definitely liked to see an in-control more together Gunna.”
‘The Flush’
“‘The Flush’ was just a fun Royal Flush Clique album and we got the whole team on it. It’s currently available on ITunes and features myself, 4Twoney, Moses and Young Blaze. On this one we weren’t thinking too much. We just went with the flow and this is where Brownface and 20 really became a group. We realized we got a different style together than solo and we liked both so we started to experiment with the group thing while continuing to make solo tracks. The feel of the mix tape was up beat and we were just trying to show the world now that it’s not just about Brownface; gotta show love to the support I had all these years from my team.”
He said that the video for the single “Big Dreams”, which was produced by J Freedome, was shot in New York City in the same week as another single, “Hollywood Fresh”, appeared on the charts. He said he was assisted by a few big names with the latter projects and he also managed to meet hip hop legend Doug E Fresh during that time. “Big Dreams” stayed at number one on the Euro DJ Leagues charts for four weeks as well as the “Hollywood Fresh” remix , which appeared on the charts alongside the likes of Mims and Keysha, staying in the top ten.
His roots
BrownFace said his parents are born Guyanese. He said he spent time in Guyana as a child; his mother wanted him to know where his forefathers originated. He said he spent time on the East Coast Demerara where both his parents were born and raised. “I loved it. It really helped me to understand who I am. It was very different than what I was used to in Toronto. I liked the feel of the warm weather, more community; everyone knows each other.” He noted too that “it was an instrumental part of my childhood and I think that’s where I get my appreciation for the simple things in life. I was just happy to be with family in the sun.”
He also explained how his music connects with his West Indian roots and according to him, “My music is always going to be mood music because that’s what music is, it sets a mood. When you watch a movie it’s the music that sets the tone for the scene. My new CD the ‘Cold Flo/Flo Frio’ is a different mood that West Indians and especially Guyanese will feel.”
He explained that he was frustrated with the mould that rappers in North America had to fit into, “so I made my own mould”. He added, “One that highlights my culture and uses many elements from my Guyanese culture. You have to listen to the music to understand, guaranteed Guyana and the world will not be disappointed.”
His future
As of now, BrownFace is independently working to develop his career. He and his producers have had offers in the past and worked with several labels but the rapper chooses to remain independent at this time. He said he is actively pursuing the right opportunities and before the release of the ‘Cold Flo/Flo Frio’, he wishes to keep the focus on the music and keep the rest a surprise for his fans. “I can tell you however, we are planning a world tour to include Guyana.”
His advice
BrownFace also offered a few words of advice for young and upcoming artistes in the varying musical genre. “You have to reach out to the world, you can’t just be addressing your block or your city. You have to think big, but at the same time you have to do it with the swag, that where you come from is already in you and you don’t have to prove anything to anybody but yourself. And once you have got that then you have to convince the business world that they can make money off of you.”
