How did you start making music?
In seventh grade, I knew a kid name named Bauri who was from my hood. We also went to the same school. Back then; his name was 6Shotz. His crib was where everyone will go to after school to just chill or rap. Now when it came to rapping; nobody was on his level. At such a young age you can how advanced he was and you can see his potential. He was a punchline rapper. The response from the audience he’d perform for is what I wanted. Immediately got to writing. Consistently at that.
How did you get your name NeemTheGreat ?
I had so many names growing up it’s crazy. My first rap name was NaGunna. Looking back at that name; it flowed so well but I knew the name was overly aggressive for the image I was going for. I knew in the near future as I became more of an artist that I wouldn’t want that as my name. I had to rebrand and find a name that stood out. Ever since I started music I always wanted to be on google for some odd reason. All the rappers popped up on google so easily and I wanted to be “known” one day. Moving forward to more recent times, I came up with NaeemTheGreat but it was too many syllables in my opinion. So I broke Naeem into Neem to make it one syllable. I wanted to have a name where I’ll be easy to find. Luckily the acronym for my stage name is “NTG” which flows so well when you say it. I say NTG a lot on certain songs or before a freestyle just to get me started because it’s catchy and rememberable.
I see “All Day” is your biggest streaming song. How did that song manage to get as popular as it did?
When I dropped the first album titled Lately I didn’t expect “All Day” to be the song to take off the way it did. To be honest; I didn’t even like the song. I wasn’t even going to put it on the album. I thought “Want It” was going to be the number one song. When I released the record I asked the fans which song they liked the most and even before asking; you can see mentions & screenshots of “All Day” being reposted all over social media. It was to a point when it was the only song that I have seen getting any type of traction. The way “All Day” really popped off was those Spotify playlists though. Submitting my song to a certain playlist before the release and word to mouth. I was fortunate to have people from the Spotify team and even local playlists with a smaller audience put “All Day” on their playlist. Globally, people from all around the world reach out to me to tell me how much they loved the song.
Out of all the songs you’ve released; which one is your favorite one?
Wow, that’s a tough question. If I had to choose my favorite song that I’ve released, I would have to go with “City”. I don’t know why but I really love that song. Even the recording process for it and the sessions were just great as well. The textures and blends on that song is so well put together. Since we’re on this topic, that might be my favorite song on Sunset in LA 2. Shout out to BENNY. who’s featured on the son’s leg as well. He really was a great addition on the second verse and ending chorus.
Do you like to rap more or sing more?
Rap. Only because when I rap, I feel like I can vent more in my music. When I’m in my rapping bag ; I get so creative and witty with my wordplay and that to me is a skill set itself. I love saying a bar that makes someone make the screwface. I live for those moments.
Radio freestyle link below :
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQJq-mTn6y3/?utm_medium=copy_link
What can we expect from NTG going forward in 2021?
Sunset In LA Tour! Going to get some shoes lined up for the end of the year and start performing the album around different cities and really engage with my people more. You guys also may get a 4 pack project I’m working on as well along with a collab mixtape with Carlito Sf. Now that my album is out, I’m free to maneuver how I want and really get to the music. Last but not least. I’m about to be a father in January so that’s really my number one focus. I’m an excited man. As I always say … feel lucky.
IG –
https://instagram.com/neemthegreat?utm_medium=copy_link
WEBSITE –
https://www.neemthegreat.com
MUSIC –
https://linktr.ee/neemthegreat
YOUTUBE –
