GILAD ZUCKERMAN – RAPPER, SINGER, PRODUCER, ARTIST

I was 14 and sitting on Museumplein in Amsterdam, when I knew that I wanted to make music for a living. Crazy that I still remember that moment and place, but it was suddenly clear to me: this makes me happy, I’m good at it and it gets me attention from people I want to get attention from. So making music is ideal for me.

I went to a boarding school in Israel when I was 15 years old. I had little time for music there and I didn’t have the right equipment for it either, like instruments or a laptop. I had little inspiration and there were not many people playing an instrument over there. It became an important reason to come back to the Netherlands.

I prefer to work with people who are not afraid to make mistakes. I like to work in an atmosphere where ideas and making fun stimulate the process of creating. Most of the beautiful things I’ve made so far come from those moments. For me, making music with other people, sometimes feels more natural than making music alone. If I do that alone, I’m way too harsh for myself. When I work with someone else, I allow myself the space that I give the other person I work with.

Here at the Wisseloord Academy I pay a lot of attention to hip-hop. I also feel at home with other genres, but the phase I’m in now I discipline myself by chosing. Then you can still go in many directions with hip-hop. You can distinguish yourself in hip-hop production, tempo, rhythm, accents, subjects, instruments. I’m also starting to see more and more that you learn a trade here at Wisseloord that can take you in many directions. If you no longer write for yourself, you can start writing for others. Or you can start mixing work from others or produce it. And all that experience makes you a better musician that helps you making new steps as an artist. In fact, a lot of what I do is about personal growth.

There are very beautiful souls here at Wisseloord, many of whom are also excellent musicians. I do a lot by gut feeling and using my ears. And by listening carefully. I don’t have a big plan and I don’t know how long I’ll keep making music. Now I feel very happy when I make music and as far as I’m concerned I’ll keep going until it’s not fun anymore.

I came across the Wisseloord Academy on Instagram and then went to see it with my parents where the founder of the Academy showed us all the options to develop within the Academy. In the first year I did the Full Course. This year I’m diving into the development of my live act.

I’m now making a music video for my EP called ‘CUSP’ that is coming out soon. ‘CUSP’ means ‘turning point’ or ‘moment of change’. My songs on CUSP are about those moments. It’s about never being satisfied, no matter how hard I work. About accepting that things don’t go as fast or will turn out exactly the way you want them to. About being in the moment of change, in the process. And about enjoying that. That’s important to me.