All it takes is seeing Arshad Goods and his band hit the stage one time to be sold on his potential as a rapper.
He has the energy and stage presence that has been the exception to the rule in hip-hop since singing to backing tracks with pre-recorded vocals became the new normal.
But Goods prefers conversation over the new school’s karaoke style of performance.
“I’m really just trying to talk with people,” Goods said. “I’m not trying to get you to turn up – I’m not trying to force you to do anything. If you decide to listen, we can have some great dialogue. For me, all this is about being a human being and knowing that I have something to say. Just give me your ear, that’s all that I ask.”
The surprise comes in learning that he’s only invested a year-and-a-half into his craft and that his recently released album “Black Sunday” is his debut.
Political at its core, the album’s tracks offer insightful musings of Goods’ doubts, fears and the internal struggle that comes with staying true to one’s self in an industry that capitalizes on catchy club bangers from blinged-out rap stars.
Goods’ beats go as hard as any, but the content tackles everything from police brutality to slut shaming in a manner that’s not repulsively righteous or preachy.
He defines the music as “backtrap,” a blending of the backpack rappers and the trap stars he grew up listening to in University City.
“I like live instrumentation. I love jazz over 808s. I’m a walking conundrum,” Goods said with a big grin. “I’m not really worried about where I fit in on the scene – or if I seem different or look different. I’m just focused on giving my truth.”
It was a chance visit to the movie theater to check out “The Dark Knight Rises” that put him on the path to getting serious about his lofty ambition of pursuing a career in hip-hop full time. (We’ll get back to this.)
He already had the name for it – Arshad Goods is actually his middle name.
Rap was something he wanted to do, but before he knew it he became a master of his backup plan as opposed to his passion.
After working to attain a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University and a master’s from Purdue, Goods had no intention of living from beat to beat as a starving rapper in search of a big break.
“I had these degrees, and I was kind of banking on that,” Goods said. “I was like, ‘if rap doesn’t work it’s cool’.”
Cut back to “Dark Knight Rises.” There’s a scene in the film where the title character is attempting escape from a notorious prison where only one person had been able to survive a successful attempt.
“He was like, ‘Why can’t I do this and this child did it? I’m Batman,’” Goods said. “And the other guy was like ‘You have to do it as the child did it – with no rope.’ That spoke volumes with me. When I left that theater, my mind was changed. It was like, ‘Succeed or die. Those are your options.’”
The grind has been exactly that, but he’s already seeing the residuals with respect to the intrinsic rewards of waking up – or losing sleep – and doing what you love.
“I’ve passed up a lot of jobs that could have had me in a very comfortable position,” Goods said. “But with this journey, I see that you can sacrifice and struggle and still be content. It showed me what happiness is and peace is – and it has little to do with your outside surroundings.”
For him, the external success doesn’t look like superstardom – or an industry shutdown.
“I want people to listen to my music and know that I’m a human being,” Goods said. “I want people to hear what I’m saying about being true to yourself. We are all unique, but we are all the same in that we are all different. So be you.
If you give your best you, I’m gonna say 100 percent of the time you are gonna be giving something that only you can give to the universe.”
He knows he has his work cut out for him but is full of unwavering optimism as his journey unfolds.
“I hope the city really like believes in me and feels connected with me,” Goods said. “That’s something that I know I still have to prove, but I feel like as long as you hold true to you and you come from a place of love things will work out.”
Human being first, rapper second is what he stands by and feels it has helped him ascend on the scene in such a short period of time.
‘My life’s motto is “work hard and treat people right,” Goods said. “That’s what I focus on. And with that I think the universe works some things out for me.”
The traditional trappings of success aren’t a part of his happy ending in hip-hop either – with the exception of being able to pay the people that work with him what he feels they are worth.
“I want to be known as somebody who gave their truth – they didn’t sell out or change who they were to get whatever they wanted,” Goods said. “As far as the rest of the story, I couldn’t care less.”
Arshad Goods album “Black Sunday” is available for stream at: Stream https://soundcloud.com/arshadgoods/sets/blacksunday
His social media handles are as follows: Facebook: Arshad Goods, Instagram: Arshad_Goods, Twitter: @Arshad_Goods and YouTube: ArshadGoods
