 "Photo: Colie Brown for The Hilltop")
 "Photo: Colie Brown for The Hilltop")
In between cooking a late night dinner and preparing to watch the Cleveland Cavaliers play, Chappell Rose is glad to discuss his up-and-coming sideline.
Known primarily as a student-athlete, Rose has picked a second hobby, music and rapping. He’s part of a group called GTC.
“GTC basically stands for Goat, Tay and Chappell,” Rose said. “We are a group just trying to make great music, great party music, slow music, and music for everyone.”
He said he didn’t go about it intentionally.
“I went in the room one day, and saw Earl and a guy name P-Nut that used to go here rapping, so I decided to give it a try. They were like, ‘You sound alright.’ Every time they would record after that, they would invite me over to put something down, and my interest just grew from there,” he said.
He and his friends try to make that’s uplifting.
“We try to make party music, good feeling music, and something that will make you get out your seat and want to dance,” he said.
Although Rose’s quest for music started off as a joke, it later sparked a deeper interest.
“Basically, I wanted to put some of my ideas out there,” Rose said. “I just felt like I could do it. I guess Earl, which is Goat, found a talent that I had or that I didn’t know I had.”
Rose carries over his drive for football into his music.
“My inspiration for football has been in my family. I had two uncles who played in the NFL. The same drive that I put toward football, I put toward music. It’s just been something that’s imbedded in me,” Rose said.
Enthusiasm fuels both.
“It’s kind of like a calling almost,” said Rose, orginally from Orlando.
In looking down the road at his short-term and long-term goals, Rose said his eye is on the prize.
“My major is business/entrepreneurship, which is starting your own business. I am trying to start my own business but in the music perspective. Honestly, three or four years from now when I go into something, I want to be the best at it. I want to strike a deal and just go from there,” said Rose.
In the music industry, everyone has a target audience. Rose wants GTC’s music to reach out to everyone.
“If we had to pick an audience, our actual target market would be the younger generation. That’s where it is now,” Rose said.
He said he wants the music to be the kind all ages can listen to and enjoy.
“You want to have music that parents can listen to the whole CD in the car without having to change the songs because of its message. GTC is trying to have a movement where it’s all about having fun, not going to a club trying to start trouble or shooting or anything like that. That’s our aim and direction,” Rose said.
Rose’s advice about the music industry is: “Chase your dreams and never let anyone tell you that you can’t do it. In everything you do, out-work the next man.”
Be the first to comment on this article!