Meet Gelin Manfred | Rapper singer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gelin Manfred and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gelin, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
Music is art and honestly o don’t know how the world would have been without music. Ive been an artist (rapper Singer) since i was 6 years old and music is The Love of my life .
And being creative innovative is what i do Best

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
As an artist I can say that what separate me from others is the fact that I keep it real(original) I don’t like imitating other artists because I feel like by doing so you have no authenticity

First lesson face your fears
Well my story is a looong and very difficult one to explain but I’ll try to make a resume
I am Venezuelan I’ve been rapping since I was 6 years old but my preference is hip hop from the USA.
Back then I didn’t know how to speak English so when I was 7 I learned to speak English on my own so I could write my verses.
And by the age of 9 my English was already 50%
What I did was try to write a verse with every word I learned.
My family never supported me because they used to see a rapper as the worst thing ever in this world. So I used to hide in the bathroom and in the closet so I could sing without people seeing me.
And this is the major factor why my biggest fear in this life is to sing in front of the people (audience)
But I know that if this is my dream I have to overcome that fear no matter what because without the audience there is no artist so I’m willing to fight for it.

Second lesson work on your craft
Well as I said as an aspiring rapper from Venezuela who wants to make it in the US it’s been hard for me because no producers really wanted to work with me not because I’m not talented but because of what I’m doing is basically established on the other side of the map so I’ve been on my own.
I never gave up I had to learn to write make my beats, produce, and record my songs on my own I find these easy to do because as I said music is my passion but for someone else it can be really really really difficult because these are like doing 4 different jobs at the time.
But I mastered my craft and today I’m currently dropping my songs

And final lesson never lose faith nor give up
I was supposed to begin dropping my songs in 2013 when I was 19 years old but I had to sacrifice my laptop to save my father from an economic crisis we were going through it took me 5 years to get another laptop but in the meantime I tried to make my songs borrowing other peoples computers but all was in vain.
So in 2018 I got myself another laptop so I started again from zero making new songs and stuff
What I’m going to tell you right here will sound crazy but it’s true
In the year 2000 I named myself lil’fred because of lil bow wow
Well I dropped my second single “popular” and guess who wanted to make a remix with it: Mr shad moss aka lil bow wow himself.
This was the most shocking thing I faced on that journey but the remix didn’t happened because I didn’t have the money to pay him for the feature.
What I learn from this was no matter what happens you must always believe in yourself and this for me was a sign that good thing are about to happen in my career and I’m going to make it.

As a conclusion I’m very proud of myself knowing that nobody gave nothing for this to happen I was on my own I tried it on my own and today I’m releasing my music and have high hopes in the future

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Here where I live my favorite place in town is la candelaria I would take someone there without a doubt because this place have it all shops public places parks restaurants and more

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Well being an artist is One of the most amazing gifts you can have in this life. Art comes in different styles like:
Acting painting designing singing and more
But from all these I chose music since I was a kid because it is what I do best in this life also it is what drives me crazy.
So while doing art we always have to get inspired by people who came before us and my I inspiration to sing comes from Bob Marley.
We do 2 different kind of music but he is my role model to get into this lifestyle and I learned a lot from him

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=izt2qnao7vk6&utm_content=sfoshh

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lilfred34363779?s=09

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lil-fred-102238734971793/

Youtube: https://youtu.be/AHkpV2HcXr4

Image Credits
Lil fred Bob Marley