Emerging out of the new wave of white female rap artists alongside the likes of Iggy Azalea and Kreayshawn, Heart Streets embody the indie feel Montreal’s music scene is known for. Emma Beko and Gabrielle Godon are definitely one’s to watch.
Growing up between New York and Montreal, Emma thought she needed to be a black male to have success in hip-hop. Now she knows all she needed was a little help from her friend Gab. Together the two have made quite a name for themselves. To add to their growing clout, Emma and Gabrielle were recently featured on Changes, the newest EP from the likes of much loved L.A/Montreal producer/DJ duo LOL Boys.
We sat down to chat with the pair of up-and-coming artists.
WRG: What brought you to create rap music?
Emma: I have always liked it. I’ve been listening to Rap for about 11 years at this point, so it’s not nothing. It’s always been the kind of music I could relate to. When I moved to New York it was insane because everyone was listening to the same kind of sound, underground hip hop artist and everything.
WRG: So Gabrielle, you’ve been singing for how long now?
Gabrielle: It’s been a long time… I have done every single musical summer camp and singing class that you can imagine, and I have always loved it. But I had never done anything like what we are doing now with Emma ever before.
WRG: How did you first meet?
E & G: We were in elementary school together. But we didn’t talk much until the last year right before high school. We were going to the same high school so that brought us even closer. In high school, we would sing together in the halls and put on a show for the people who were bored. We would show off a bit.
Emma: For about a year I was in a hip hop crew. I was 10 years old at the time, and then I started again at 14 and that’s when Gab showed up.
WRG: Emma, you left for New York, but it was only when you came back to Montreal that Heart Streets started taking shape. What’s the story there?
Emma: when I was in NYC, I had a friend called Sammy. We were smoking and writing some songs and rapping them during lunch breaks. I really sucked… We would feed off of each other. I was more comfortable experimenting with a girl, you know. When I got back to Montreal I was writing more consistently with a rhythm already there. And Gab, well if you know her she sings ALL the time. And I think one time we were just drinking or something…
Gab: Yeah it was the time your dad wasn’t home, and every Monday we used to chill in your dad’s apartment. I think I just knew the song that was playing so I sang along and you started rapping. And that’s how we started to write songs. And then we put them on Facebook, and that was basically that!
WRG: So you started making music together for fun in your dad’s apartment, and next thing you know you were known on the Montreal music scene and opening for Radio Radio at Metropolis. Looking back, what do you feel made that all happen?
Emma: it’s all thanks to the people we know. Everything is falling into place nicely for us. My boyfriend, who I had only been dating for about two months at that point, had a mini-studio and we showed him what we were doing. He was so down. He said we should use his friend André’s studio on St Laurent. When André heard our sound, the two of them said they wanted to produce our music and then they started creating beats for us.
WRG: How was your first show experience?
Emma: It was for the release of our first EP, we had put the songs online only two weeks before, not with a big push even, but the venue was packed, 200 people, some of them couldn’t even get in the place! I remember one thing in particular: there were some people in the front row who I didn’t even know, but they knew all the lyrics by heart.
WRG: Where do you see yourselves fitting into Montreal’s eclectic music scene?
Emma: We are less in the electro/hip hop scene, like our friends Ain’t No Love who play in clubs and have a lot of dubstep beats. Our music is more mellow like Lauren Hill’s. We put more emphasis on melodies and voices.
WRG: You say your songs always have a meaning. Do you have any topic in particular that your songs focus on?
Gab: No one thing in particular. But Whether it be personal, be it about something that we can relate to, be it about some random thought, our message is always real. Take Trust, it’s more personal, whereas, Saturday Night is about a party, but we’re actually talking about parties that we like in general.
Emma: Drinking forties in the alleyway and all! In that song, we were trying to move away from the more intense stuff. But even then, we slipped some serious stuff in there, like “family’s more important”.
WRG: I read that you have a stage coach from Cirque du Soleil. Can you tell us more about her?
Gab: Well my step mom works at the Cirque and she came to see us at our show at the Lion d’or. She said we are two sticks on stage, and that we needed to deliver more of a show. It’s not just about the music. Our coach, Annie, she’s a dancer, and she works at Cirque du Soleil with acrobats who don’t know how to act on stage. It made a big difference for us, even for the show at Metropolis.
WRG: Ultimately, do you picture yourself making music for a living?
Emma: A while ago, I might have said no. But the way things are going now, I would say that I would love to do this for a living. We haven’t even released an album and the demand is already so crazy. Plus we have a lot of time left to grow. It can only get better. Bonsound wanted to sign us but we decided to hold off for a while because they are a francophone-driven label.
Gab: I don’t think about the future. I’m just taking advantage of the opportunity we have right now. We are really lucky. That’s all I am gonna say. If things had gone differently we could be writing at your dad’s place…
Visit Heart Streets online: heartstreets.com
Emerging out of the new wave of white female rap artists alongside the likes of Iggy Azalea and Kreayshawn, Heart Streets embody the indie feel Montreal’s music scene is known for. Emma Beko and Gabrielle Godon are definitely one's to watch.
Growing up between New York and Montreal, Emma thought she needed to be a black male to have success in hip-hop. Now she knows all she needed was a little help from her friend Gab. Together the two have made quite a name for themselves. To add to their growing clout, Emma and Gabrielle were recently featured on Changes, the newest EP from the likes of much loved L.A/Montreal producer/DJ duo LOL Boys.
We sat down to chat with the pair of up-and-coming artists.
WRG: What brought you to create rap music?
Emma: I have always liked it. I've been listening to Rap for about 11 years at this point, so it’s not nothing. It’s always been the kind of music I could relate to. When I moved to New York it was insane because everyone was listening to the same kind of sound, underground hip hop artist and everything.
WRG: So Gabrielle, you’ve been singing for how long now?
Gabrielle: It’s been a long time… I have done every single musical summer camp and singing class that you can imagine, and I have always loved it. But I had never done anything like what we are doing now with Emma ever before.
WRG: How did you first meet?
E & G: We were in elementary school together. But we didn’t talk much until the last year right before high school. We were going to the same high school so that brought us even closer. In high school, we would sing together in the halls and put on a show for the people who were bored. We would show off a bit.
Emma: For about a year I was in a hip hop crew. I was 10 years old at the time, and then I started again at 14 and that’s when Gab showed up.
WRG: Emma, you left for New York, but it was only when you came back to Montreal that Heart Streets started taking shape. What's the story there?
Emma: when I was in NYC, I had a friend called Sammy. We were smoking and writing some songs and rapping them during lunch breaks. I really sucked… We would feed off of each other. I was more comfortable experimenting with a girl, you know. When I got back to Montreal I was writing more consistently with a rhythm already there. And Gab, well if you know her she sings ALL the time. And I think one time we were just drinking or something…
Gab: Yeah it was the time your dad wasn’t home, and every Monday we used to chill in your dad’s apartment. I think I just knew the song that was playing so I sang along and you started rapping. And that’s how we started to write songs. And then we put them on Facebook, and that was basically that!
WRG: So you started making music together for fun in your dad's apartment, and next thing you know you were known on the Montreal music scene and opening for Radio Radio at Metropolis. Looking back, what do you feel made that all happen?
Emma: it’s all thanks to the people we know. Everything is falling into place nicely for us. My boyfriend, who I had only been dating for about two months at that point, had a mini-studio and we showed him what we were doing. He was so down. He said we should use his friend André’s studio on St Laurent. When André heard our sound, the two of them said they wanted to produce our music and then they started creating beats for us.
WRG: How was your first show experience?
Emma: It was for the release of our first EP, we had put the songs online only two weeks before, not with a big push even, but the venue was packed, 200 people, some of them couldn’t even get in the place! I remember one thing in particular: there were some people in the front row who I didn’t even know, but they knew all the lyrics by heart.
WRG: Where do you see yourselves fitting into Montreal's eclectic music scene?
Emma: We are less in the electro/hip hop scene, like our friends Ain’t No Love who play in clubs and have a lot of dubstep beats. Our music is more mellow like Lauren Hill’s. We put more emphasis on melodies and voices.
WRG: You say your songs always have a meaning. Do you have any topic in particular that your songs focus on?
Gab: No one thing in particular. But Whether it be personal, be it about something that we can relate to, be it about some random thought, our message is always real. Take Trust, it’s more personal, whereas, Saturday Night is about a party, but we're actually talking about parties that we like in general.
Emma: Drinking forties in the alleyway and all! In that song, we were trying to move away from the more intense stuff. But even then, we slipped some serious stuff in there, like “family’s more important”.
WRG: I read that you have a stage coach from Cirque du Soleil. Can you tell us more about her?
Gab: Well my step mom works at the Cirque and she came to see us at our show at the Lion d’or. She said we are two sticks on stage, and that we needed to deliver more of a show. It’s not just about the music. Our coach, Annie, she’s a dancer, and she works at Cirque du Soleil with acrobats who don’t know how to act on stage. It made a big difference for us, even for the show at Metropolis.
WRG: Ultimately, do you picture yourself making music for a living?
Emma: A while ago, I might have said no. But the way things are going now, I would say that I would love to do this for a living. We haven’t even released an album and the demand is already so crazy. Plus we have a lot of time left to grow. It can only get better. Bonsound wanted to sign us but we decided to hold off for a while because they are a francophone-driven label.
Gab: I don’t think about the future. I’m just taking advantage of the opportunity we have right now. We are really lucky. That’s all I am gonna say. If things had gone differently we could be writing at your dad’s place...
Visit Heart Streets online: heartstreets.com
