I Go Hard

Album: Lightning on the Strings, Thunder on the Mic (2010)
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Songfacts®:

  • "Go Hard" is a credo for Gangstagrass songwriter and banjo player Dan Whitener, who had T-shirts printed with a picture of a jumping banjo player and those words. In his interview with Songfacts, Whitener said "go hard" is "definitely the philosophy we have, talking about our live show, talking about being committed to just going for something. Part of what it is for us comes from that little bit of pushback and skepticism that people have. We have to fight that because of the newness of what we do.

    Like, you talk to a bluegrass or hip-hop purist, or somebody who likes it but just isn't ready for them to be combined, and they are reluctant. Mostly people love it and are encouraging, but you have some people who prejudge it before they actually listen to it, and they say, 'Ah no, I don't think I'm going to like that.'

    So for us, we just have to commit and say we love doing this, and we're going to do this, and we just have to do it 100%."
  • Gangstagrass often incorporates hip-hop into their bluegrass sound. This song features the rapper T.O.N.E-z on vocals, who proudly carries the flag of an underground rapper who hasn't sold out.

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