A Conversation With Gifted Hands
A Conversation With Gifted Hands
“Gifted Hands”, born Immanuel Mitchell, is an American music Artist and Songwriter, whose music is both clean and inspirational. He has been making music since the young age of 12. While going through waves of depression at age 15, he began writing his own music, which was originally written by his older brother. Music has been his constant outlet and this purposed in him the desire to inspire anyone who would listen to his music by sharing his life experiences, lessons learned, and his point of view with the world.
In 2014, Gifted Hands graduated from Landstown High school, located in Virginia Beach, VA, where he showcased his musical abilities by performing in talent shows. In 2017, Gifted Hands released his 1st single titled “Work With“, followed by another single, “Don’t Let Em Stop You”. He then went on to release “Look Ma, No Hands” (an EP) in 2018 and “Mr. Nice Guy” (a single) in 2019. He has performed at numerous open mics and shows at various venues in Hampton Roads, VA, ATL, and SOB’s in NYC. He also performed at the 420Ish Festival in Portsmouth, VA. His music has also been featured on the “103Jamz, Sunday Night Spotlight” hosted by DJ Jack of Spade and other local radio stations. Gifted Hands has also been featured twice by 13 News, a local news station in Hampton Roads, VA for his musical accomplishments.
Gifted Hands began to be more vulnerable in his music and released “Tryin’ Not To Lose Hope” (a single) in 2020. Out of this vulnerability he recently released a new single “Why Not Start” in 2022 that has touched millions of listeners from all over the world and even went viral on “Tik Tok”. Gifted Hands most notable achievement is the impact that the new single is having on the lives of so many people. He loves making music that his nieces and nephews can listen to without it having to be edited. Although he doesn’t have a huge catalogue, his physical condition is combined evidence that when purpose is at the forefront, you can do so much with so little.
NSGs Billy Vitch had the opportunity to zoom with him last week to chat about his amazing life and career so far.
BV: How are you today? And what have you been up to so far? And how’s that going?
GH: Today just started really. It’s been great so far, haha. Another day above ground, another day to actually live and push my way to flourishing. My name is ‘Gifted Hands‘ and my real name is Immanuel Mitchell and I’m a music artist and inspirational speaker and I have just been pushing one day at a time to show the world where I come from and what I’ve been through, and I’ve gotten through it, right.
BV: So you’re based in Virginia, USA. We’re about in Virginia. And where did you grow up?
GH: I live in Virginia Beach, Virginia. I was raised here and it’s called the Hampton Roads area. The area code is 757. I grew up here. I’ve been here all my life but am so ready to travel.
BV: So you have a noticeable disability? Could you tell me more about it?
GH: I have no idea what it’s called, people asked me the question all the time but I keep forgetting, I don’t think there was a name. All they told my mom was that was going to be born without arms. I wasn’t supposed to be able to see or speak and I was supposed to die by the age of three. But here I am at 27 defeating the odds.
BV: What was it like growing up with your disability, do you call it a disability?
GH: As far as a definition, yes but I don’t define myself as disabled, I mean, like, when I’m clapping with a crowd I feel like I have two hands until I look down. Growing up was awesome, I wasn’t really bullied, because I had siblings. and they weren’t going for any of that but I did have trouble finding myself. I did have trouble fitting in and understanding why I was so different from everybody. And with that, because of that, I often acted out. So starting in third grade was when I started getting into trouble in school and started getting suspended, in-school suspension, out-of-school suspension, that lasted from the third grade all the way up to I think my 11th-grade year in high school. And so year after year, it was just me trying to fit in. But over time, I realised that I was born like this for a reason, music really became a big part of my life when I was thirteen.
(Gifted Hands)
BV: When you say you should have died by the age of three and been born blind and deaf and not speaking, to see who you are now, there’s definitely a reason you’re here man and defeat those odds!
GH: Absolutely man but it took a long time to realise, I mean, like when you’re in it, when you’re in that funk or in that pain, it’s hard to see past today. You know, it’s really hard to see like, tomorrow or next week, you’re hurting so much. It took me all the way up until the age of sixteen to get comfortable within my own skin, and at seventeen is when I had this confrontation with God when I told him in my living room, that if he didn’t show me why I was here, that I was done! And he definitely did show me, he showed me that weekend, when I was performing at my god sisters album release part he showed me while I was there because when I performed and everybody stood up and everybody clapped and so it clicked right there. Because when you’re trying to figure out like, why, you know like sometimes we don’t know our purpose. I was trying to figure out the why, like, why was I born like this? Why does it feel like I’m the only one in the world who needs help? And everybody around me doesn’t? Why do I have to always ask for someone’s assistance? And that weekend, when I performed and had that standing ovation, it all just clicked with everything that people were saying to me following my performance, they were like, you know, never give up, keep letting God use you. And every time somebody said something, to me, it was like, God was saying, this is why you’re alive.! This is why I made you like this.
BV: I guess you had to be open to that as well though, didn’t you?
GH: Yeah I had to be able to receive that. I mean, I was at my wit’s end, man.
BV: Your music is extremely inspirational and two songs you recently released “Why Not Start “, and “My Heart Instead“, really stand out to me and they help me personally. Can you tell me a little bit about the songs?
GH: Okay, so I actually wrote My Heart Instead, last year, but didn’t release it until this year, My Heart Instead was a song about my mental health. A lot of times, the world is different in my head than it actually is, haha, and that can be a scary and difficult thing because I’m basing my actions on what’s in my head.
BV: Yeah, I can relate to what you’re saying with that. Like our narrative can be very false to what the reality is?
GH: Yeah, very, very false. And so I wanted to give people a glimpse, like to show them what it’s like to live with that type of mental health and showcase that, even though I’ve lived like this for so long, in my own head, that I can get out of it, you know, like, we’re not stuck in depression for our whole lives.
BV: Yeah, I think that’s what I actually get from those two songs when I listen to them.
GH. I mean, “Why Not Start“, I wrote that this year and that song was basically saying, I mean as I told you that the doctor said I wasn’t supposed to live past age three so in my head, I thought I wouldn’t live past the age of twenty five and that sort of thinking started when I was sixteen. And so all of these years go by, I had no idea that I would be able to live you know, so I’m making all these decisions and subconsciously, I’m like, it doesn’t matter because I’m not going to live past twenty five. so to me, I was like, I’m still not sure what’s going on, so why not start was basically me saying that even though I thought that I wouldn’t live, I saw that I’d never started anything and that I had never planned a life out. I eventually realised that it was not too late for that. You know, so why not? So if I’m going to live, I’m not going to continue the same patterns, the same patterns I was repeating because I didn’t think I would live.
BV: You seem to have a really good insight into your own mental health don’t you, like you really understand yourself now?
GH: Yeah, I have to, I’m by myself a lot haha.
BV: So in today’s modern age, where a lot of rap music is about flexing, cash, women and drugs, your music is like the complete opposite. Can you tell me what inspired you and motivated you to write the way you do as opposed to the general norm of what we hear in rap music today?
GH: That’s always been a thing. Okay. So when I started music, like the first couple of times, I wrote for myself. when I was like, fifteen I was cussing a lot when I started out, but I was a kid and I was like, this is what everybody does, whatever. But you know, as I found my purpose, when I had that moment, at that album release party, I realised that I didn’t have to be like everybody else in order to be great or in order to have the impact that I wanted to have, like, it wasn’t in me to cuss, I don’t even cuss outside of music. So I wouldn’t just add that to my music. It just makes no sense and I don’t live that type of lifestyle. Everything that I write and create is authentic to me and just I didn’t see the purpose of being like everybody else.
BV: Your rise was social media has been epic, to say the least, with one of your music videos achieving nearly 2.5 million views to date on youtube alone! Did you ever believe that you would start to blow up and have thousands of fans? What’s the best thing about it for you personally?
GH: Did I believe? I have no idea because it’s always been a dream. You know, it always has been, but that’s like, one of those things that’s always just been in my head. And so it’s like, will it ever happen? You go back and forth with yourself like, Okay, I’m trying, I’m trying but all my trying is not getting me anywhere and then when it finally happens, it’s like, Oh, snap haha. And so I would like to say I did believe but I can’t. Everybody around me has always been speaking life into me and saying, you’re gonna do this, you’re gonna make it but I didn’t really believe, you know, but being is known around the world. It’s pretty great. I’m more focused on the impact though. Like, I’m more focused on the how or the why I blew up. Like if I was known for something else, and this isn’t knocking anyone who’s known for anything else. But if I was known for something else, such as like dancing or just like, I don’t know, like being funny or something, if I didn’t have the same impact that I have right now. I don’t think I would like really care. But the fact that I have a song and I have a story that’s helping people change their lives and change their mindsets and really become better people. That has actually been my therapy.
BV: There are definitely similarities to what the late rapper ‘XXX TENTACION‘ was trying to do with his music before his tragic death. Like he had a bad start and then he sort of developed into this artist who wanted to use that platform to do the same thing as you. I think there are very few rappers who are actually trying to do that. And even singers, a lot of them are chasing clout and fame all the time.
GH: Yeah, I’ve always told people like, I don’t really care about the whole fame thing, it really does nothing for me. I mean, I’m a people person. I mean, anybody who I’m around, I like to say what I believe in, I believe in people, we’re all human, and we don’t belong In darkness. We all don’t deserve to just stay in disgust. We deserve to be happy. We deserve to have joy and smile, you know, like, genuinely. And so my thing is if I can help someone, just one person to do that, I like to do that.
BV: Having your disability must present its own challenges, can I ask how do you write lyrics?
GH: I’ve actually been writing since elementary school and I write with my hand but as far as lyrics I haven’t written on a piece of paper since I was like, I don’t know, like a teenager. I just use my phone and use a notes app. I don’t even use speech to text or anything.
BV: So your artist’s name is Gifted Hands, what made you choose the name Gifted Hands?
GH: I didn’t choose it at all. So Back in 2012, remember when I said I did that album release party? Well, I was doing Christian Rap back then and my church family and my god sister specifically gave me that name because I was always rapping in church, and I’m not sure why they came up with the name. But I grew into it. You know, because I’ve had many names and like I’ve gone by Handyman. Or, like, just different names you know. I do believe that God does everything for a reason, or that everything happened for a reason. So what I realised as I grew into that name that is Gifted Hands for me, it means that even though I don’t have hands that you can see, I have hands that are stronger than my physical hands ever could be. They are stronger and can reach further than what you would think. Because as soon as you’re down or you’re feeling down, and as soon as you’re in that funk, and you listen to a Gifted Hands song or you listen to a Gifted Hands speech, or you watch a Gifted Hands video and those gifted hands will lift you up.
BV: America seems a really dangerous place for black people and rappers. So many murders of black rappers in the last few months and years. Why do you think this is and do you think it’s a problem that can be eradicated or do you just think this is how it is now?
GH: Sheesh, that’s a big one, but I think that is not just an American problem. I think that’s a world problem. I think America isn’t where it stops. A lot of history will show you that when people don’t understand other people who are different to them or people that are not familiar to them people either want to destroy or they capture to understand and that’s been a people thing throughout history.
BV: Definitely I think anyone who seems to be a bit different is always perceived as a threat.
GH: Yeah. I mean, or if, like, let’s say you have something that someone wants, and they don’t have it, you know? So that’s always been a people thing, Do I think that it’s something that can be eradicated? Not completely, because there will always be evil. You know, there will always be good and evil, that’s just the way that the world is, you know, I would love for everyone to just be happy. But you know, we all know that life is not like that. That’s not reality.
BV: You talk a lot about your relationship with God. Have you always been a believer? And if not, can you tell me when you first found God, and what actually led to that?
GH: I grew up in church. Like my mom took us to church since we were kids, but I do say, or I will say that I had to find God for myself. You know, it’s not just about going to church.
BV: Yeah, Like God can’t just be given to you by someone else?
GH: Yeah like you can’t just say, oh, believe in God, and somebody just believes in God, you know, they have to have that reason in their heart. And so my whole reason was like, God is the only one who’s kept me alive. You know, who has given me a purpose? And I don’t believe in forcing God on anybody. You know, I just believe in what I believe in and I can only tell you from my perspective that he’s real to me, because there’s no way you can sit here and explain why the doctors thought that I would die at three and I’m twenty seven now, I mean, even the way that one song has touched the whole world. That’s not me.
BV: Yeah like here’s me in Liverpool, England and I came across your music man you know what I mean? That’s how far reaching it is as you know and it wasn’t just I that heard it and thought “oh that’s cool”, it actually impacted me and it was like, Wow. Because it wasn’t like what everyone else is doing?
GH: But that’s definitely all God man like, I see God in the things that happen around me. Not just for me. You know, cuz even things that don’t work out. I see God in that. You know, I see God in everything, like the lessons and the blessings.
BV: If you could work with three producers, or artists, who would they be and why?
GH: Okay, so that’s a hard question, I only say that because when I grew up my brother got me into music when I was thirteen and the only artists that I can say that I deeply listened to was Lil Wayne and there’s another artist from Baltimore whose name is ‘King Los‘ and so those are the only two artists that I can say I deeply listen to, everyone else like I heard their music, but I really wasn’t like listening to them. So I would like to work with those two artists. And I mean, anyone who, you know, would make great music that has like a message. You know, producers or whatever. I’m not so big on names or statuses, I’m big on the impact and so whoever could help me continue to make a positive impact in the world. I would like to work with them all.
BV: So again, it’s not even about clout is it, It’s about who best is gonna help you portray that message authentically.
GH: Yeah, I don’t care about the clout, the fame, whatever, you know, I just want to live.
(Gifted Hands)
BV: Looking at your Spotify artists profile, you’ve released a hell of a lot of music on there, it goes back to 2017. Can I ask you when and why your music journey started?
GH: So I told you my older brother got me into music when I was thirteen. He was fifteen at the time, and we had an Apple computer where there was GarageBand on it, he was making beats on GarageBand. And he was actually writing lyrics when he was fifteen and he said, rap this for me, and rap it into the mic on our computer. And so we did that for about two years where he was like writing stuff for a few songs. But at fifteen, I started writing for myself, because that’s when I really started going through that depression and those suicidal thoughts and just those downtimes. And so I use music as a coping mechanism, like music, I felt like God gave me this gift. And he was like, showing me that there’s a way, a reason. And so music kept me alive. You know. I had the album release party at seventeen and then I was rapping school, like, I mean, I was a class clown. So I was rapping in the middle of class. Professionally, my music career didn’t start until 2017. I was twenty two and I put my first song out in 2017. That was after a breakup that I had that really weighed on me and I really needed a positive outlet. And so I wrote something down and it actually became like a fan favourite in Virginia Where I am from, I performed that song like, I still do, they don’t let me go anywhere without performing it. That led to me releasing my song, “Don’t Let Them Stop You” and each song that I have, is its own movement and so people will often be curious to know why I don’t have like the biggest catalogue. I mean, I could say that God is my ghostwriter. So the more I focus on my purpose, I believe that he’ll give me more songs. But it’s just that with every song being able to stand on its own, there is no rush to put out more music you know, I released why not start and although I could have released way more music than “My Heart Instead” afterwards? I haven’t because I’ve been focused on the impact. And I’ve been focused on people actually healing and people actually getting something from that rather than just going on to the next thing. And I will do that with as many songs as God wants me to.
BV: Out of your catalogue. Do you have a personal favourite song?
GH: Humm, it’s not out yet haha!
BV: Haha, Okay, that just makes me more excited though man!
GH: Yeah, it’s not even out yet and I’m very, very excited because I just continue to grow in music, like if people listen to each of my songs, they’ll see that I don’t use the same flow. I don’t use the same sound, I like to evolve, I like to be versatile and so I’m always working on how do I better myself and be different from who I previously was and so I’m always gonna do that with music. As difficult as it may be or sound, I’m always going to do that.
BV: Will you be touring anytime soon and will you ever get to the UK?
GH: Yes, I will but things are moving slower than I thought they would be. I am an independent artist and so I’m working with what I got. I know that fans are excited and I’m hoping that you know, that buzz and that momentum doesn’t die down or whatever, you know, but as I said, God works out everything for a reason. I will be coming over to the UK, I will be going to New Zealand, Canada, everywhere, like the song has been played in over 50 countries so I have to go all the way around the world because, as I said, I’m focused on the impact and it’s not just about the music for me, it’s about really meeting you guys in person and hearing what people want to say to, you know, not just seeing it through messages or comments on social media, I would like to experience that in person. So I do plan on touring, things are moving slow, but I promise that I will be out there. Just please be patient with me. Me and my team are working the best that we know,
BV: Thank you so much for your time, it’s been awesome talking to you, is there anything else you want to say?
GH: As I say to everyone, God is real. God is great. You do the work, and you keep the faith. I don’t know whether each person who’s listening to this believes in God or not and I’m not here to force you. What you believe in is what you believe in, but you have to have faith in something. You have to have faith and you have to believe for yourself that your life is going to get better that you’re going to get out of whatever negativity that you’re in and that you’re not going to always be down. You’re going to be happy, you’re going to be able to enjoy life and not just for a day or for a moment, you know, because those things suck. To go from happy to oh my gosh, I’m back here again. You’re going to be able to fully enjoy life, you just have to push one day at a time. One day, that’s all I’ve been doing and there’s no magic to it, there’s no secret recipe. It’s just perseverance. You might be going through things that may seem harder or more difficult than what others are going through but Pain is pain. You know, you’re hurt is you’re hurt and I just want you to know that I believe in you, that I love you and that I’m rooting for you every step of the way.
To listen to or to follow Gifted Hands on social media click on the links below
