By MARK LINDSLEY
Staff Writer
Julian Oliver, who goes by the nickname G-Minor, turned 21 on Wednesday. While that is a common celebration that a lot of juniors in college experience, he decided to double-down on the festivities. That same day, he released his new rap album, “Finally 21.”
“You only turn 21 once and my birthday just happens to be Feb.21, so I figured I might as well do an album with 21 songs to celebrate,” Oliver said.
Oliver released his first album, “G-Minor,” on August 26, 2016, and with his second album now out, he is proud of what he has accomplished.
“I never really thought I would get this far when I first started,” he said.
One of the biggest influences on Oliver’s music is his culture.
“I’m half Dominican and half Puerto Rican, so I indulge myself in my culture and put that into my music,” he said. “I always include Spanish lyrics and you’re gonna hear a lot of that in this album. Almost every song has Spanish in it.”
Oliver said that having a mix of Spanish and English lyrics allow him to best express his songs’ messages, and believes that people who only speak one language will still get a sense of how he is feeling and what he is expressing just by the energy and the tone that is put into the songs.
His time at FDU has also played a role in his music. Things that Oliver has learned from professors and classmates have been incorporated directly into some of the songs on “Finally 21.”
“When I was younger, there wasn’t that depth in my lyrics that there is now,” he said.
Now, Oliver is looking straight ahead at his future.
“I want to do things with my music that I haven’t done yet,” he said. “I’m trying to be known throughout the world.”
Oliver wants to help inspire the people who listen to his music to strive for greatness as well, which he expresses in his favorite song on the album.
“I’d say ‘Aim for the Sky’ is my number one song on this album,” he said. “There’s Spanish in it, there’s English, I do some singing, it sounds good, the message is good and I know people are going to like it.”
The song is filled with inspirational lyrics.
“If you feel a little low, it’s ok to get high/ They say that I should settle down, I still aim for the sky.
“Imma show my true colors, I don’t play in disguise/Better days are coming, waitin’ for the rain to go by.”
“Finally 21” is available on Spotify, iTunes, Pandora, Google Play, Tide, Deezer and YouTube.