What’s up, hip-hop fans? Local hip-hop artist Gabriel Van Eikeren is returning to the scene and keeping it fresh with a new name and new words. You may remember him as “Amsterdam” if you’ve been in the know and swimming in Bend’s hip-hop pool since the early 2000s (ish) — especially if you were hanging out at the old Bendistillery Martini Bar, a.k.a MadHappy Lounge (now Beach Hut Deli) back when he “basically” had a residency there. He also went to Mountain View High School with local poet-in-motion, MOsley WOtta. You may have even seen him open up for Tech N9ne back in the day, back when it seemed like Bend was a hub for underground hip-hop… or so I hear. Yes, Eikeren has taken some time out of the game, but he’s spent more time in solitude focusing on his work now more than ever before. More importantly, he’s re-entering with a new pseudonym: “gabriel lta” (as in, “LTA”) — with his newest album, “Did You Get My Moment?“
What caught me first was the album artwork, painted by local painter Katie Banks. There’s always something beautiful about really thoughtful and intentionally artistic album art, especially when it’s combined with rap or hip-hop. And then of course the Parental Advisory stamp on most of LTA’s albums got me instantly. Like, am I downloading Eminem .mp4s off of LimeWire to my iPad Nano in 2008? And when I say albums, I mean his 11 released singles, most heard cohesively on “Did You Get My Moment?”
Each of his single released tracks, such as “Left On Read,” “Sorry In Advance,” “Fumes (feat. Milc” (who’s known as “Your favorite Portland rapper’s favorite rapper”) and his most frequently listened single, “That’s A No (feat. GQ),” are all released with entirely different cover art.
“Because they all kind of do stand for themselves,” said LTA. “I mean, it’s a cohesive album that tells a story, but at the same time I feel like the song can stand on its own.” Beginning in fall of 2021 the album was co-produced and recorded with Kyle Devine, former manager of Portland “hip-hop ambassador” and rapper Cool Nutz.
“Kyle is a genius in my eyes,” LTA said. “So much of success in music is luck, there’s a world where he’s a better-looking Ryan Lewis and sitting on a couple platinum records.”
As far as sound, this whole project brings back quite a few nostalgic notes I haven’t revisited in a while. Its opening track, “Regal” — which goes, “I lived a decade in a couple days,” took me straight back to Timbaland’s 2007 collaborative studio album, “Shock Value.” Or in general, think of Jazz Addixx’s only released album “Oxygen” from 2005, Ohmega Watts’s 2007 record “Watts Happening” or anything from Lone Catalysts in 2001 or 2002. Side note, my other runner-up favorite lines from LTA’s album are, “Best times I’ve had are the ones I’ve made alone,” from his third track, “Left on Read.” And of course, “Scorpio b*tches are the craziest” — off of his single “Rent Free.” Because, did anyone else feel last week’s full moon in Scorpio? Yikes.
Astrology aside, I can without a doubt hear LTA’s claimed musical influences such as Mac Miller and Atmosphere. His pieces may say “Parental Advisory” but he and I both know that stamp is there just for the aesthetic. No shame. His lyrics are (for the most part) clean, and they’re self-righteous in a way that doesn’t come across like an angry post-breakup album. It’s respectable and grounded.
LTA adds, “I basically spent a straight year not going out. When I was done with work I would do music or I’d paint or I’d do design stuff, you know? It has made me a much happier person. You know, therapy helps, but turning your love of something into your own therapy is something completely different.”
This article appears in Source Weekly May 11, 2023.
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