Gashi

Gashi, born Labinot Gashi on 4 October 1989 in Tripoli, Libya, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. His parents are ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, which is why he is listed here among the artists of Kosovo. He spent his childhood in several African and European countries before the family settled in Brooklyn, New York, when he was ten.

Struggling with English at first, he turned to music to find his feet and was soon hooked on rap. After New Utrecht High School he won a football scholarship to American International College in Massachusetts, but he left college to concentrate on music. He first called himself The Kid Gashi, later G4SHI, and has since gone back to Gashi, styled GASHI.

He won First Look Sessions' "First Time Performances" in 2010 and 2011. His debut mixtape, Last of a Rare Breed (2011), had tracks with Nipsey Hussle and French Montana. In 2012 he founded the group Moxy and broke through with "Rocket", and later tracks such as "Who Made Me" and "Laughing" were played on Hot 97 after the presenter Peter Rosenberg backed him.

The mixtape I'll Be Right With You followed in 2013 and the album 4Play, with the single "Room 4", in 2014. Then came "Switch Up" (2015), "Day Ones" (2016), "Turn Me Down" and "Disrespectful" (both 2017); "Disrespectful" was used in the fourth episode of Showtime's The Chi.

His self-titled album, his first release for RCA Records, came out in 2019 with 16 songs and guests including G-Eazy, French Montana, DJ Snake and Maxx Owa. It was led by "Creep on Me" with French Montana, "Safety" with DJ Snake and "My Year" with G-Eazy. Since then he has released 1984 (2020), Elevators (2022), Brooklyn Cowboy (2024) and, in 2025, The Killah Whales of Gotham and If You Find This, It's Yours.