Gmac Cash's Giant Slide anthem goes viral
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Rapper Gmac Cash. Photo courtesy of Gerald Allen
It's been a week since Belle Isle's Giant Slide reopened and we're still talking about it thanks to Gmac Cash.
The intrigue: The independent rapper, whose real name is Gerald Allen, released "Giant Slide" in honor of the bumpy rides less than 24 hours after the reopened slide went viral.
- The song gained national attention this week by appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and the Today Show.
- "I am so sorry, Beyoncé. That is the jam of the summer," said actor Lamorne Morris, who guest-hosted Monday's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!."
What he's saying: "It's amazing man, my whole family was calling me, my older family members watch that show every night," Cash tells Axios. "I'm really appreciative of it and it's just love, man. I'm amazed everyday by the platforms I make it to."
Flashback: The Southeastern High School graduate is no stranger to going viral for his music, which typically mixes witty commentary with Detroit's signature sound. Cash has been rapping since 2011 — his career took off after he was fired from Chrysler after refusing to take down a music video.
- In the years since, he got Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to put on Cartier sunglasses and won points in Lansing by popularizing her "Big Gretch" nickname.
- Lions fans remember when Gmac memorialized the team's first win last season with "Lions won," in which the rapper declared Detroit would reach the Super Bowl "off of one win."
Yes, but: Detroit rap fans still count him out.
- "They still try to box me out in the city … When I switched over to the funny raps everybody was like, 'Why are you doing that?' Everybody in the city was sounding the same and I wanted to do something different, so I was like, 'I'ma be funny.' Now, rap is funny everywhere in Michigan," he says.
- "People were saying I was making Detroit look bad, that we got this street image to protect. The funny raps only cool now because it's already been done."
Of note: Cash's latest album, "Made in Detroit," dropped last week.