As he gears up for his #HEELtv project, Tampa rap frontrunner Gat$ takes a look back at his debut album starshipJERICHO—which dropped exactly a year ago on this very day. Gat$ spent a great deal of time making sure that this body of work is clean, conceptual, and reflective of him as a person. Inspired by pro wrestler Chris Jericho, the album showcases Gat$’ fierce, competitive nature while also exposing his emotional vulnerability. As a concept album, starshipJERICHO takes listeners on a complete journey through the mind of Gat$. On this special occasion, Gat$ himself takes listeners by the hand, explaining his notions and various tidbits of information behind each and every track. With that said, follow the pages to navigate through this track-by-track breakdown.

Ironically, even though it was the first track on the album, it was the last one we recorded. I initially made the beat with the Nobodies in mind and sent it on, but due to timing of the album, I could’t make it happen. I had went to the studio with Betty to work on “Saudade” and the last verse on “Problems”, and in the spur of the moment started working on “Undisputed” (originally titled “Illustrious”). It literally just made it self happen in the last session.

When I was producing it, I thought it had an illustrious feel to it. I wrote the verse at the studio, which is something I don’t normally do. I wrote it, and I called it “Illustrious,” but it just didn’t roll off the tongue the way I wanted to. After watching Chris Jericho promos at the crib after recording the song, I was like, “Dawg, I’m stupid, why don’t I just name it ‘Undisputed,’ duhh!”

Originally this was the intro. I remember Tools playing a snippet of this on his IG and I immediately hollered at him for it. What was inspiration to me was just the history of the flip, as Young Gunz and Lupe used it in the past. I just wanted to go in lyrically on something, back to my boom bap roots that some of my audience remembers me for.

I personally feel, and I think a lot of wrestling fans will agree, that there is no better finishing move than the liontamer. Chris Jericho, who used this move, just doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. I feel the same way about myself.

Man, was this a song in the making. It took two years for this to all come together. Originally, the track was produced for Scott for his project as an intro. He eventually dropped it and everyone hounded his beats lol. I ended up getting a hold of that and I went to A3C 2013 to perform and got linked up with Shawn Chrys, exchanged emails with his manager, sent the track and got it back. It took months for me to do that verse because I had to do it justice hearing Scott’s version all the time. Part two (P.M.) was wild because I got a beat pack from A$AP and that one just stuck. I recorded it and just told Bryan to slap them together lol.

I got Ty’s info passed down to me when I opened for [A$AP] Ferg. He sent me some beats, and a few of them were alright, but when I got to that [P.M.] beat, I was like, “Oh, this is wild!” I talked to him about it, got it, and wrote to it. I recorded it, and it was its own separate thing, but I felt like it needed to go some place. When I was putting the album together, it fit perfectly on “Sunday.” It works as a nice transition into the darker side of this album.

My spiritual mantra is that I pray for forgiveness. I grew up Catholic, really religious, and a lot of life experiences made me challenge my religion and I kind of abandoned it. As I’ve been getting older, I’ve been more in touch with it in a way. I try to speak positive things into the universe. I hope God understands…

This was literally the easiest song to produce, write, and record. I literally took notes about it driving to work everyday. Fuck my job, Lol. It was one of those songs that i was so convinced about when I made it. My old manager didn’t think it needed to be on the album. My current manager was against the song at the beginning. The only person who was behind it was Santos. I kept coming up with more ideas for the song everyday. I actually came up with the entire arrangement and referenced the vocals for the singers. It really wasn’t that hard, because I had so much passion for the situation, like I really wanted to quit my job.

At the time I started writing this, my ex and I had a brief breakup, and in my head all I could keep thinking of was, “All my exes are Libras, fuck ‘em” Lol. In the pettiest of ways, that one thought just spawned that song. I wrote it back in Winter 2013 and it was one of the first songs in the original Black Tape sessions (with Ric Flair, Trapping Will Kill You, and some other cut tracks). Man, I’m petty.

I’m fucking horrible at my pettiness. I take shots at so many people who don’t know I’m taking shots at them, and I don’t care. At the time, when I started writing my song, I got into an argument with my girl at the time. She wanted to look at the lyrics but I wouldn’t let her. I left the room, and she read the part where I said that all my exes are libras, and she said, “I’m a libra, what the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I was like, “You’re next.” To say the least, she’s not my current partner.

When I recorded this track, I finally felt the album was coming together. I went to the studio and Santos was cooking up, and he played this shit and I lost my mind. I went home thinking about Nelly because I had an argument with some nigga about how Nelly was one of the most dominant rappers ever (I still think he was). “If you a bad bitch, then get your eagle on/If you mad rich, nigga go take your ego off” was me throwing a shot. Fuck that guy. In any case, I wanted a song that encapsulated my version of the black experience and allowed me to be ignorant/conscious at the same time.

I listen to a lot of Curtis Mayfield. At the time I was making this album, I was listening to his album Curtis. I always wanted to touch on the black experience, but didn’t necessarily always have a way of doing it. This time around, I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to make a song where it wasn’t preaching, but more so venting. I feel like, sometimes, you gotta put some cheese on your broccoli to make the kids eat it, you know? To get people to listen to me talk about the black experience, you gotta throw some ignorance in there so that people can relate.

Originally titled “Gold Watch 2,” I wanted to make a girl track but was having a lot of inspiration problems. I wrote down a whole bunch of notes from people about what they thought modern day love was and peverted those features and slapped it on to have the idea of fame epitomized by a woman. Whenever I perform it though, no one cares lol. I remember hearing it for the first time and instantly losing my shit. Only thing that I wish I did was finish the singing outro to it lol.

I was quiet and shy as a kid. When you’re like that, it always seems to work out that you always have a crush on the prettiest girl in school. After pursuing that girl, you often get curved. Eventually it always comes back around. I look at my career like that. I believe I have all the talent and potential in the world, and by the time I reach fame, it’s going to be something I no longer want or care about.

Shout out to Ultra, man. I remember we had an 8 hr session at Deep and it was insane. Half of Bluuzone was in and out, Dustin DeVars was there shooting flicks, Mieux was there doing an interview, and I was knocking out hella songs. Ultra sends me a text like, “Is it too late for the album?” and I hit him back, “Nah”. He sends me 4 beats and when I heard MOTC I stopped recording and went straight to writing. I was inspired by a fellow creative Christy Marie who had posted graffiti about the 40 hr work week and I went right in. Shout out to Crown, too. The first beat I ever heard from Ultra was a Crown Marquiss’ track (H.Y.P.E.), so I thought it was appropriate to throw that line in there. By the way, that second verse is probably my all time favorite Gat$ verse. Just a lot truth to me.

With the exception of “New Millennium,” I feel like I really didn’t get amped up on the first half of the album. This song is the marker where, it’s like,  I’m not taking shit from anyone. This is where it gets real. In wrestling, if you turn heel, it means you’re the good guy turning into the bad guy. It’s like that on this track. In the narrative of starshipJERICHO, “Man Of The City” is when I become that nigga.

Kind of hard to talk about this one. What didn’t inspire me? My moms was going through chemo again, I was on the outs of being out of my job, my relationship was failing, and I couldn’t get the project (at the time) where I wanted it to me. I recorded “Problems” with hundreds of takes, 4 different versions, 3 different beats. It wasn’t until I got Wrath’s beat in a beat pack where it finally worked out. I heard it in the whip outside of my house and cried. Went to the studio the next day.

At the time, I didn’t really have much of anyone to talk to about all of these piled up life issues, so going into the studio and recording the song was really therapeutic. Having a version of the song that I was in love with was a big relief. It meant a lot.

BONUS: “Codes” – Shout out to Keyah. I had a whole song written for her beat, but didn’t have enough time/money to make it happen. It was so amazing I wanted to put it on the album anyway and highlight it. I always loved instrumental interludes on my projects and this was the only one for starshipJERICHO.

Yo, SWYMMM sends me beats ALL the time. Lol. I practically write to all of them, and try to make them work into the album. But when he sent this one it just hit a nerve. I rewrote it a few times, and the hook was inspired by my ex-manager actually calling off our working relationship. When that happened, I didn’t know what direction I was going in, but I knew I had to get my shit together, after being through so much. That, and the rest of the song was inspired by others who doubted me for so long. Eat a dick, y’all. (Still petty.)

To my knowledge, this is my most well-liked song on the album. People hit me up letting me know that it got them through something. When people tell me that it means a lot to them, I kinda don’t ever want to have a bad performance of it, so I save it for special occasions.

The oldest song on the album. I had a random meeting with Tyler and Prince at the studio and he recorded the solo on the spot. I had a lot of tension with some artists and obviously I pulled from that well to write this song. It was the only song that was on every version of theblacktape/starshipJERICHO.

Even though it is the oldest song, ironically, after recording it, I just knew it was over. Like, it is DONE. I felt like it was appropriate to end the album with this song—and the guitar solo was perfectly fitting for it. The final statement I wanted to make on this album: I am not to be fucked with.