Reco The God was born Garry "Reco" Hervey in July of 1991. Growing up in Jacksonville, FL he acquired his taste in music from his father, listening to the likes of Brian McKnight, Jay-Z, 2Pac, and other contemporaries. Listening to wide varieties of music inspired him to pursue music as a hobby and learn how it was made. He attended both a private school and public school to help him in his development of instrumentation and chord progressions in music. Spending several years practicing music from learning the saxophone to the snare drum, Reco decided to work vocally with his lyrical skills. Several influences helped him to hone his skills to become a better writer and storyteller within his music. In the neighborhoods and schools he attended there were always cyphers and people who were chasing the same dream as him. Living in unfortunate conditions and several low income neighborhoods until about the age of sixteen helped Reco pull from a diverse amount of subject matter to help in his growth of music. Around his junior year in high school Reco began to produce and engineer his own music learning the ins and outs of the DAW programs. Hundreds of songs recorded, but small fractions got him known locally for his mix tapes such as the Space Age and his most recent release Good Morning. He uses hard kicks, dirty synths, and samples to help him relay his message through his production. The music that Reco makes is an storytelling experiences accompanied with ambient production to create the feeling on relation with the listeners.
Lucius Black
How are you doing?
Reco
I'm doing well, man. Just living. I'm a full time college student who's chasing this music dream at the same time.
Lucius Black
How has 2012 treated you thus far?
Reco
2012 has been a pretty decent year. It's had its share of ups and downs for me but I try to stay positive and motivated.
Lucius Black
Explain your name to us. How did you come up with it?
Reco
Originally my name was just Reco. It was a nickname given to me by grandmother so I decided to use it as my stage name. The surname, which is "The God", just came about recently from my producer Taz Taylor. He felt that my name needed to be more than what it was and one day he hit me with that surname. Admittedly, I was skeptical at first. Eventually I let it grow on me, just to see how I felt about it. It stuck with me. By the way, I don't think I'm a god at all. Far from it. (laughs)
Lucius Black
Tell us a little about the projects you've been working on or got working.
Reco
Currently, I've been producing a lot lately putting my beats on KBCbeats.com for artist looking for production. I'm executively engineering Jon Ryker's new project called the Breath Of Fresh Air which should be coming soon. As far as my projects I'm working on a new album called the Game of Thrones due to be released by either November or December. Until then tell everybody to go and cop that Good Morning mixtape.
Lucius Black
In regards to progress and projects, how good has 2012 been to you thus far? Is there anything you'd do differently in 2013? Conversely, anything you'd do again?
Reco
2012 has been a pretty decent year as far as building a buzz but it's still not where I want it to be. For 2013 I'm focusing on creating a breakthrough track and focusing on performing more to get the Kings Before Crown brand well known.
Lucius Black
Tell us about your team and your movement.
Reco
My team is Kings Before Crowns. Kings Before Crowns is a cultural group that extends to music, fashion, art, photography, and video. The group originated from Jacksonville, FL.
Lucius Black
How many people are you closely associated through your team? Tell us about a few of them.
Reco
It consist of me (Reco The God), Jon Ryker (artist), Taz Taylor (producer), Darren Robert (producer), and 7th Take (videographer). We are all from Jacksonville, FL. trying to build up the scene and make a name for ourselves.
Lucius Black
What or who specifically inspired you to start on your musical path? Tell us a bit about it.
Reco
The person that mostly inspired me to take a music would probably have to be Jay-Z. I was young when I heard his music, but the message he sent out captivated me even though I didn't understand everything at that time. I picked up rapping around my sixth grade in middle school, producing in eleventh grade of high school, and audio engineering freshmen year of college.
Lucius Black
Do you have a favorite verse you've written and/or a particular production that is especially amazing in your eyes?
Reco
My verses are like my children its hard to pick one without hurting the other (laughs). I would have to say the "Time" song on my Good Morning mixtape. The message and the theme behind those verses really fit where my life is constantly at.
Lucius Black
So what's the focus? I mean, what's the apex for you as an artist?
Reco
My focus as an artist would be making as many platinum records as I can in my career, but while making my brand of music. From there I hope to produce for some of the hottest talent in the industry or upcoming talent then possibly own a label.
Lucius Black
Describe your style musically. Are you similar to anyone in your opinion?
Reco
I would say my music is a cross between Jay-Z, Kanye West, Drake, and T.I. The reason I say those four artists would be because myself and Jay represent the hustlers that came from nothing trying to make it. I have Kanye's creative genius when I'm putting together music along with his work ethic and I can also break a story down like Drake, giving you a detailed genuine record. Both T.I. and I are Southern and I appreciate his Southern yet sophisticated and delicate approach to a record.
Lucius Black
If you could produce a beat for the BET Hip Hop Awards Cypher, what six people would you like rapping over your beat?
Reco
If I produced a beat for BET I would probably want my team because I can say, "Hey, we made it to the BET Awards". (laughs). But seriously, if it could be anyone I would probably have Nas, Jay Electronica, Wale, Eminem, and The Clipse. I picked those six because I know without a doubt they would murder my beat.
Lucius Black
Is there anything you'd change about hip-hop as a genre and an art form?
Reco
No, I like the way hip-hop evolves and can feed off different genres to keep itself versatile. The culture of hip-hop never disappeared. The grind only became harder than it was years ago.
Lucius Black
Who inspired (or inspires) you most as an artist? As a producer?
Reco
As an artist or producer I really can't say who inspires me the most. I listen to so many types of music and incorporate all of that into my sound every time I make a tape. There is so much to pull from so anything can really give me inspiration to just go in the studio and make something crazy.
Lucius Black
Any last shout outs or information you want to give us?
Reco
Yeah. I want to shout out Taz Taylor. He's like my brother. I want to shout out to Kings Before Crowns and the Bout Cream Movement. And one special shout out to my city Duval or Jacksonville, FL.
Lucius Black
How can we keep up with your music?
Reco:
You can keep up with my music by visiting Kingsbeforecrowns.com. You can follow me on twitter @recothegod and @welcomeKBC to get the latest updates on my music or on Kings Before Crowns. Look out for us to some mesh ups with clothing lines putting merchandise in stores soon.
*Courtesy of Lucius Black for @RoyaltyMagazine
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