Rapper Chad Galati Cultivates an Eclectic Hip-Hop Sound With Forty2

For the past year or so, Chad Galati's music has aspired to achieve one very simple formula: the right mixture of hip-hop, reggae and soul that makes standing still at a house party impossible no matter who you are. The ideal effect of his sound plays out in the sun-drenched footage of his latest music video “No Reply” featuring members of his determined, Rancho Santa Margarita-based music collective Forty2.

Flanked by rapper/vocalist PopDeez (i.e. Nick Papageorge of reggae rock troupe Solution) and soulful vocalist Orlando Napier (who you may know from TV show “The Voice”), Galati weaves through a packed, South County party with verses about a severed relationship bolstered by PopDeez' freakishly catchy island hook. Napier then chimes in with bluesy, Brad Nowell-esque ad libs in a track tailormade for a Red Solo Cup social near you.

It's a song, Galati says, that perfectly exemplifies the path to success for himself and his handpicked partners in rhyme. “We don't want to create a new genre, we'd just like to bring a lot of different people together to respect one song.”

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On the phone, Galati's tone as he talks about plans to expand his self-bred music movement is one of a confident architect. He's got albums and various collaborations with Forty2 members plotted out to align with big gigs like the one he's playing this Saturday at the Hangar at the OC Fair. For the 25 year-old rapper, it's just the right size show to rock before releasing his eponymous EP, out less than two weeks later on Aug. 22. Through mutual support in their individual careers, Forty2 becomes the glue that brings fans of all the artists into one giant fold. Not only does this OC Fair gig offer his own time to shine, but Galati also has a chance to get the group out in front of people to pursue what he perceives as his homegrown movement he's creating in OC's music scene.

“My blue print to my success, at least what I see in my head, is that grass root mentality. I see Orange County as somewhere I'd like to remain and expand my sound and uplift the community.”

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Anyone who remembers Forty2 's beginnings knows that the project oriented around of-the-moment R&B, romantic raps and glossy hooks seemed almost strictly for the ladies. Since then, Galati–who has shared the stage with artists like Mikey Avalon, The New Boyz and Curtis Young– has expanded the group into a collective featuring his longtime friend and vocalist Kody Kropp along with Napier, PopDeez and singer/guitarist Dylan Carbone. Given that Galati's mission to expand the group started on stage at the 2012 OC Fair, their ability to keep developing their summer sound a year later on the same stage carries an extra slice of validation.

“In the past few years, I've wandered so into the sound of my music that finding a way out even if I wanted to do would be impossible,” he says, half quoting from the mission statement on his website. “I'm just rewarded with the joy of making people happy while doing what I love and I think that's why Forty2 started and why I'm out here still perusing it.”

Forty2 performs tomorrow at the Hangar at the OC Fair at 3:30 p.m. For more details click here.

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