Dear Silas

Can I talk my sh*t for a minute since it’s Black History Month?

Well, back when African slaves were brought to the land now known as America they lost most of their African culture. In places like South Carolina, and parts of Georgia and Florida, slaves were able to maintain a good bit of the Gullah Geechee culture, which originated in the regions of West and Central Africa. And recently, Jackson, Mississippi rapper SilaS made a song in honor of our Geechee folks with “Gullah Gullah Island.” While SilaS maintains that the song was inspired by a cartoon of the same name, it’s still an inspiring track for us Black folks.

Over a neck-snapping backdrop provided by Donchedidit, the Jackson rhymeslinger gets busy with utopian thoughts of an all-black island. On this imaginary island, Blacks are safe from crooked cops and crime. Also, there’s no drugs –but you can blow Loud, though. And most importantly, every home is filled with a mom and pops.

“I remember watching the show as a kid and it was like, all black everywhere, black love, black businesses, and a successful black family. So I wanted to incorporate that into the sample which already came from the show and just make something positive to let people know that it’s possible to be successful as a black person and be positive,” SilaS said to VIBE in an email.

“Gullah Gullah Island” has gotten love Tupelo (Mississippi) natives Rae Sremmurd, and it comes from SilaS The Day I Died project. -

Appearing out of the same waters that birthed David Banner is rising emcee SilaS. Much like Banner, SilaS hails from Jackson, Mississippi and is an advocate for standing up against oppression and police brutality against minorities.
To address these on-going concerns, SilaS has teamed up with directors the Dark Brothers to produce the sobering video for “Gullah Gullah Island” (a nod to the mid-90s children show on Nickelodeon), which opens up with a young man being shot by po-po while reaching for his cell phone.
The visual then switches to a more “airy” ambience as SilaS fires off at the police for the recent transgressions toward Black people, “amid voiceovers from news anchors discussing the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, and those lost in the Charlestown, S.C. massacre.”
“Gullah Gullah Island” has also “sparked a new dance trend, amassing well over 22 million plays via Facebook” that has now travelled the world. -