Devon Stapleton is a local rapper who will be performing at this weekend’s Encore Music Festival in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You might know him better by his artist’s name “Guilda”.
A few days ago, Guilda was named among a group of emerging young performers, all of whom have been dubbed “Encore Freshmen” and will share the stage with the likes of Migos and many other international rap artists. For the most part, Guilda is trying to earn his university degree while moonlighting as a musician with a dream. He has been making music since 2006.
How did Guilda earn this opportunity? An online poll opened in May for prospective freshmen to share their music and build enough internet buzz to earn their spot. Guilda puts it simply: “As far as how I got the votes, I literally asked! There’s this stigma about St. Maarten not supporting their local talent. I admit that even I used to say that was true. Now I feel like St. Maarten is a lot more open to the talent if you put the legit work in and prove to them that you’re on the level of international artists and will help.”
Guilda has a lot of thoughts about being a St. Maarten musician abroad and about the role of music in his life. Out N’ About caught up with him this week to find out about his progress.
Guilda said he’s known about Encore since it started years ago but didn’t believe he was ready to compete. “In 2016, African artist Amartey, who’s a friend of mine, entered and it inspired me to just give it a try, so that led to me submitting my music for Encore Freshmen 2017.”
Guilda says while the performance is important to him, he isn’t mulling every moment of the show in his mind in the days before it happens. He would rather focus on giving a great show and allowing that to propel him to crowd appeal and success. “It’s just that expectations can open doors to disappointment. It would be a lie to say that I don’t sometimes slip into deep thoughts about how it will go, but I quickly quell those thoughts. I expect to do my best; the universe will reward me with a great performance just for that!”
You might have heard some of his music lately. He has had tracks that received steady airplay on Laser 101, among other local stations. For this young man whose rapping career started at 15, he maintains that musicians, local or not, must shed the attitude of entitlement and actually earn airplay on stations. He tells an ironic story of some years ago of an incensed caller who phoned in a complaint about stations not airing local music while a song by a local performer was playing in the background.
“I think the expectations that Laser 101 has for local music is very healthy because it forces a local artist to step his game up in all facets, quality, content, delivery, production – it’s all important. They never played my music at first; it’s time to get rid of the mentality that JUST BECAUSE I’m local, they HAVE to play my music – because that’s not how the music industry professionally works. I can go on and on, but I think you’re running out of page space.”
At 26, he says he is grateful for having many fans who have supported his music in the last 11 years. He says he is building a fan base in the Netherlands despite a few minor challenges. “You have to understand: I’m a kid who’s not born here; I don’t really speak the language; I rap in English and I still get love from the locals here. It just goes to show that you can’t stifle true talent and that music is a universal language. So slowly but surely, I’m gaining a little fan base in the Netherlands but with that comes persistence and consistency to maintain and grow even more.”
His latest project is called “North East” the mixtape, featuring local artists such as Kenyo Baly, D Kullus, Chanti and K-Dot. It is available on his SoundCloud.com account, under Guilda. He has tracks on Spotify and Apple Music – search for “Hold Up” and “Big Man Ting” and find St. Maarten’s own Guilda.
Guilda will share the stage with acclaimed international artists from around the world. He hopes to meet reggae superstar Christopher Martin, a favourite of his in that genre of music. And he also hopes to have a talk with Canadian rapper Tory Lanez. Guilda calls him a musical inspiration. “I met him briefly before and he was the most humble he can be. You know how they say sometimes it’s better off not to meet your hero’s because they’ll let you down? He did the opposite and made me a fan for life. I more so want to pick his brain just for knowledge of what it takes to make it, sustain it and keep loving what we do. If he wants to sign me to his label, I’m okay with that too, but I’m all about building bridges and establishing a long-term, healthy network, so that comes first.”
What’s next for him? “Honestly I need to graduate, so that’s the next thing on my to-do list. I’ve postponed my thesis to focus on doing this competition. Talk about betting on yourself!”
