{"id":485091,"date":"2019-04-25T12:46:19","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T18:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=827247"},"modified":"2019-04-25T12:46:19","modified_gmt":"2019-04-25T18:46:19","slug":"gashi-talks-johnny-cashs-hurt-coping-with-darkness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/music-news\/gashi-talks-johnny-cashs-hurt-coping-with-darkness\/","title":{"rendered":"Gashi Talks Johnny Cash\u2019s \u2018Hurt,\u2019 Coping With Darkness"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gashi<\/a> was in L.A. when he first heard Johnny Cash<\/a>\u2019s cover of Nine Inch Nails<\/a>\u2019 \u201cHurt.\u201d He instantly related to it. \u201cI\u2019m a very emotional guy, and I\u2019m very dark,\u201d the Albanian rapper said on Spotify<\/a>\u2019s Under Cover podcast. \u201cAnd I tend to hide that because I don\u2019t want people to see me in that light. But when I\u2019m alone, Johnny Cash\u2019s \u2018Hurt\u2019 is always the music I\u2019m listening to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gashi recited a quote from Rick Rubin, who produced the Cash cover. \u201cHe said, \u2018Artists are, artists cry, and artists have no control of the emotions. And sometimes, they don\u2019t understand why they feel the way they feel, but they\u2019re artists.\u201d The words resonated with the rapper, causing him to realize it\u2019s why he\u2019s drawn to the song.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like that is why sometimes I cry and I feel super down, I feel super emotional and I can\u2019t control how I\u2019m feeling,\u201d he admits. \u201cIt just bursts out, I\u2019m in tears. It all makes sense why \u2018Hurt\u2019 is such an amazing record and why it\u2019s such an emotional record and you can feel the pain in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gashi recorded the song at Spotify studios in New York alongside guitarist Logan Hyde. He found it hard to sing in such a low key. \u201cThe difficult thing to do was sing like Johnny Cash and actually make it feel like that record mixed with me,\u201d he said. \u201cSo it was a mixture of Johnny and Gashi. So I had to bring them together and make them Johnny Gash.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rapper felt he was better at covering \u201cHurt\u201d than his own hit, \u201cCreep on Me.\u201d \u201cIn a weird way, it felt like it was easier for me to do other people\u2019s songs over mine,\u201d he said. \u201cI guess I just don\u2019t listen to my music enough.\u201d The rapper describes the character he got into in order to perform \u201cHurt\u201d and that it\u2019s how Cash would sing the song in the present day. \u201cI felt like we did a great job,\u201d he said. \u201cI would love for this song to play at my funeral in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n