American rapper, singer, and songwriter Gawne turned his physical trauma into an upward trajectory in the music industry. In 2011, the Chicago-based artist suffered a debilitating brain injury that permanently affected his cognitive functions. Not only did Gawne have to drop out of school, but she also faced serious visual limitations that prevented her from reading or looking at screens.
Gawne says that while healing her pain by writing music as a form of therapy, she earned an unforeseen surprise. NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal (often known as Shaq) sent him a DM on Instagram asking him to collaborate, leading to the duo co-releasing a single and video, “Chaos,” released last year on all virtual streaming platforms. O’Neal then surprised Gawne with a traditional Rolls Royce.
Named “hip-hop’s next rapper” through O’Neal, Gawne encouraged “Chaos” to be a motivational track about running hard to succeed against all odds. These cross-collaborations represent a wonderful opportunity for artists, new and established, to embrace new creativity and connect with their fans.
“I never imagined I’d be in music, let alone rap,” says Gawne, who insisted on graduating from top school and excelling in accounting and marketing at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “I latched onto the music and it took about 8 years for some of this to come out. “
Just days after the duo connected, Gawne flew to Miami with his team to conceptualize and shoot the music video, directed by Collective Films. The Rolls Royce O’Neal gifted him was inspired by one that served as a set prop in the film.
Known for his fast-moving, technical taste and cinematic storytelling, Gawne has garnered over 350 million streams of his music. The rapper has also collaborated with artist Tech N9ne and has appeared on NPR, NBC and ABC. In 2020, he co-wrote for Grammy-nominated rapper D. Smoke the first single “I’m Alive” from Paramount’s film Infinite, starring Mark Wahlberg.
“Shaq and I have built a wonderful friendship, we communicate every day and it looks like we’re going to make more music together,” Gawne said. “He said he opened his Instagram, me at the top of his explore page. , and he had to touch me. They revere me for being one of the first people to welcome rap back. “
Eager to be the biggest rapper he can be, Gawne has already exceeded his doctors’ expectations. He said he sees his triumphs as an inspiration to others living with similar medical conditions. And take advantage of each and every moment and each and every one of them. and every musical opportunity to motivate others to persevere despite setbacks and demanding situations in their own lives.
“When I first discovered Gawne’s music, I was too smart to ignore it,” says O’Neal. “I love seeing genuine artists shine, so I sent him a record, and the rest is history. Believe me, I know a star when I see her, and this kid will win Grammy Awards one day. “
Cross-collaboration creation is supported through streaming platforms such as Spotify, which link artists from other genres, regions, and career stages to create new tracks and, in the end, capture the attention of fans. Cross-collaboration also brings old rhythms to life and shape. new audiences by merging other music genres and fan bases.
According to Spotify, in more than 40 of the biggest cross-collaborations of the past 12 years, six months after the collaboration launched, 75% of the artists involved experienced at least a 10% increase in overall streams of their catalogs compared to the previous six months. And more than a portion of artists increased their number of streams by at least 50% over the same period, while 30% increased their number of streams by 100 percent or more.