Los Angeles, CA - Recent success stories for Young Greatness, Rob $tone and Fetty Wap prove that a single doesn’t necessarily have to be freshly uploaded for eventual hit status. It doesn’t matter if it’s several months or even a year old. Sometimes, it literally takes a while for the masses to notice.
Prepare to add Nebu Kiniza’s “Gassed Up” single to those ranks as well.
Released in October of last year, the Mexiko Dro-produced track earned 11 million streams on YouTube and 13 million on Spotify. “Gassed Up” was also made pretty quickly.
AD LOADING...
“The track was made in 15 minutes,” Kiniza told DX in the conference room of video production studio Psycho Films. The team, known for directing videos for artists including those from Top Dawg Entertainment, YG and Flo Rida, also produced the “Gassed Up” visual adaptation. So far, the video released at the end of September is nearing a million views.
Based on a pretty lit junior high school party, the track features a simple and catchy “Gassed up shawty / Said I need bout $40 / Pull up to the party / Yeah yeah yeah.” According to Kiniza, the track is an extension of his light spirit.
AD LOADING...
“It was a double analogy or however you want to take it,” he explained. “Either you’re feeling yourself or big headed or you like smoking weed. It’s kind of like how Lloyd said ‘She’s 5’2’ or ‘She’s Fine Too.’ It’s either or. It’s just music.”
Kiniza has come a long way since dropping his debut mixtape 2 Peace Signs. He’s grown a sizable fanbase and managed to even tour with ilovemakonnen, someone he collaborated with on the “Myself” remix alongside Key!.
“I was in high school just rapping,” says Kiniza about his first time stepping into the artist lane. “I wanted to be a dancer. I couldn’t really dance like that, but I got a little jig. But, I wanted to do something with music. I knew whatever I did with music was going to be fire. One day after high school in tenth grade. I was at my house smoking and shit and freestyling on Lil Wayne beats. Then it was my turn to start rapping and my homies stopped what they were doing and looked at me like I should really rap.”
AD LOADING...
A teenager on the cusp of adulthood, he spent his time doing what most kids his age do. Going to class and turning up afterward.
“I wasn’t doing nothing else but going to school,” he said. “Every Friday I would ask my mom for $20 to buy some weed and find someone 21 to buy the alcohol. We’re just bumping Juicy J and Wiz Khalifa. My homie had a new truck and we’re out here living, Just turnt up shit.”
Hitting a friend’s crib, he eventually recorded a track on top of Juicy J’s “Zip and A Double Cup.”
AD LOADING...
“I dropped it and it got twenty to thirty thousand views in the first week,” said Kiniza. “That was my first anything ever. From there, I knew I had something. Let’s keep this moving.”
And, Kiniza hasn’t stopped moving.
Today (November 29), he dropped the video for “Days.” The single should be featured on his upcoming project Forever Happy. According to Kiniza, it’s a reflection of his gleeful personality.
AD LOADING...
“I’m a very goofy person and I believe everything happens for a reason,” he said. “Just from me being here alive and breathing makes me smile. Life, in general, makes me happy. Everything about it makes me feel good.”
In the meantime, Kiniza is also trying his hand at producing as well. For the most part, he’s been successful.
“I have crazy records that I produced,” he said. “No one taught me how to make beats. I just started making beats because I had a passion for music. I’m always trying to level up and further my career. And, I’m still learning bro. I don’t know everything. But I do know what I know.”
ncG1vNJzZmigmaW1sLzDsWWcp51ku6bD0mignWZkZoF3gY6toK2klWO7pq7UZqKippmvrrR5xpqqrJ2UYsKxedOopqRlYWp6rrXNrqueq12pvG6v0Z6YrZ1dp66kt8SdZK6oXaK2rbjIqKWsZZ%2BberTA0Z6Ypqs%3D