A Day with Rapper Caleb Giles
“I don’t need to be rich, n*gga. I’ve got eggs, I’ve got beans,” Caleb Giles said over his steaming plate of breakfast. Life is simple, sometimes you don’t need much. All you need is that one cup of cheap coffee in the morning, or a single pair of pants to wear for an entire vacation. For a musician, it can be just a piano and a microphone, like Prince showed us in 1983.
Caleb Giles skips a rock across his river of music in his newest self titled album, “Whole Heart,” which he says is a direct translation of his name. I spent a weekend at his Hudson Valley studio to document what his life was like during the process. I went into this wanting to understand how an artist writes songs, but I left learning that music does not come from within. Sometimes the songs feel like they write themselves or an external spirit guiding you through the process.
Every project is a risk for an independent artist, and this project is no different for Caleb. Especially considering Caleb sang vocals, played live instruments and is calling it “hip hop.”
Here is a portrait of a young artist maturing into the next chapter of his musical career. Watch along to find out what life is like behind an album.
