A long time ago he abandoned the sign of promise to simultaneously embrace the surnames of archangel and devil child. Gazir (Oviedo, 2001) faces his third consecutive Red Bull International Final with the desire to remove some thorns and his gaze focused on the trophy. Little remains of that boy who surprised an entire panorama in 2019 with a mix of ingenuity and aggressiveness that surpassed the limits of logical battle: his hunger for victory and his desire to improve himself. With just a few days to go before the big event, it receives Diario AS in one of the rooms of the Espacio Tower, in the sky of Madrid.
How are you at this stage of your life?
Very good, quite stable within the roller coaster that is all. In general, everything goes very fast. My first Red Bull was in 2019, which has been 4 years now, it’s a while, but it’s also a short time for everything that has happened. I already feel more stable when good or bad things happen to me. It’s like I already know a little about managing the day to day of all this.
physics student, freestylernow streamer on Twitch How do you combine everything?
Well, based on the fact that I like everything quite a bit. In fact, I couldn’t have a project that I don’t like or that doesn’t motivate me because in the end it’s difficult to make time when you’re dedicating time to many things and you have a very tense routine. For example, it happened to me with Twitch that I thought let’s see how I fit this in, I already have quite a few things…, but once I started, I wanted to do 3 streams a week and I started doing 5 because I really liked it a lot and I didn’t like it. It cost me nothing. So, there is always time for all that. There are sacrifices, obviously, but it is necessary and I am proud.
And what relationship do you see between physics and free?
Pufff (laughs). For me the relationship is in the curiosity that both awaken in me. They are two worlds in which much has been discovered, in different ways, but it remains to be known. In it free We are not making equations, but a lot has been discovered… and what intrigues me most is how much remains to be discovered. In the end, in the free There is always something new in terms of battle, rhyme, rapping style, event… And in physics too, it is a very wide world, a science that knows many truths, but seeks many others.
And moving on to Red Bull… how did you experience the Spanish National Final that Chuty won? Did you want to have competed or better to reserve yourself for Inter?
Well, both, because the days before at the end, when you go to these events without the pressure of competing, which is something very new for me, you are in a different mood. The day before, which is done like a party, I had a better time than the 16 participants combined because the next day I didn’t participate (laughs). Then it’s true that the day of the event arrives, you see everyone concentrated and you think how cool it would be to suddenly go out there, but in the end I was watching it knowing that I was at Inter, so it was like a recharge of motivation. Red Bull always has that contagious thing, that wakes you up… you see a Regional, National or Inter and it makes you want to be there, be it in the public, participating or whatever. The National Final was very motivating, above all inspiring, it was like saying this has already begun, the path to Inter has already begun.
How do you approach this year? Do you have different feelings from last year?
The context is quite different. Last year it was like a challenge that people painted as impossible and there were many factors, but I think that this year they talk above all about the list of participants that there are, the level… and that is the main factor I think is very good sign. The Red Bull International Final is excellence in terms of names, location, and a large audience, it arouses a lot of motivation in me. It is a super ambitious challenge and very, very, very difficult, but feasible.
In 2021 you were in the semis, in 2022 you were runner-up and now it is your third participation in a Red Bull International… will the third time be the charm?
I hope so, I’m going to knock on wood (laughs). In the end I always try to improve. I think I arrived a better freestyler and person, knowing more and having matured more than last year. In 2021, in the end I noticed a lot being in Chile, which was my first Inter. It helped me a lot to adapt. Then the second year, I was able to apply what I learned in Chile, but also learn a lot more because it was a very different event. And now I have learnings from Chile, from Mexico, from all these years and I always try to continue improving things.
Who do you think is the favorite?
I think that, regardless of the level, the factor that can weigh the most is the narrative. In the end, Chuty and Aczino, being the best in history and the expectation generated by their confrontation at Red Bull, is very good and will benefit them. It is also true that there is Carpe, with the issue of being the local, but hey, there is also Mecha, Nitro or myself, who are people who in recent years have come with very good inertia. I know it is true that by narrative I would say that Chuty and Aczino have a better position.
Favorites? By narrative I would say that Chuty and Aczino have a better position.
Can you make a podium of what you think will happen? Or well… one in which you are and another without you
My goal is to win the Inter, I don’t plan to finish second like last year. On the podium with me, I would put myself winning, then Chuty and then Mecha, although it seems to me that there is a certain group of four or five that together can win. In the one where I am not, I would put Mecha the winner, Chuty second and Nitro or Aczino third.
How do you feel the support of the public? Especially at the Spanish level, since many people say that it is the year of Chuty…
I always feel supported. In the end, I don’t know if it’s also because I have more recent than many others the part in which you went to a park and if you went with your colleague fine, but if your colleague didn’t go, you weren’t getting Instagram messages supporting you, no. You have thousands of impressions about yourself.
There is also the issue of narrative. I have seen quite a few people who say: look, you are my favorite and for me you deserve it, but I would like Chuty to win this year, which has been going on for a long time…, but hey, what the free has has is that what matters is the moment, the present and the day. At the end of the last 10 years, I have been at Red Bull for four years, so I cannot go back in four years to the 10 years that are as glorious as those of several on that list. I also like that people with such a background are in the competition, with different narratives, whether for me or against me, in the end it motivates me.
Regarding FMS, how are you experiencing this season? What do you think of the change in format, then the modification of dates in the middle of the league, the MCs who are retiring?
Fighting a lot against motivation, the truth is, because I already started the season very unmotivated. He had won the previous season in February and it had lasted a year and a half, it had not been short. In March it was the International. The next season started in April and everything was too fast. Matchday 1 felt more like Matchday 12 of the previous season.
That’s why I started off more reluctance, but then I regained that motivation. It is a situation that helped me a lot in the process of finding motivation, something that had never been necessary for me, because it was already something that came naturally.
The changes that have occurred have caught me at a time when I am focusing on myself, on what is mine, on the people who see me, so they have affected me less. Obviously, I think it damages the image of everything a bit. In the end, the fact that we are not so eager means that the battles are not as epic or more repetitive. Although I think it also has that challenging part of knowing how to perform and give everything there.
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And on a personal level, how have you seen yourself? Do you think you can win the two-time championship?
Yes, I think so. I mean, I think the way the season has turned out is even good for me, because if in the end it had been a season in which I won in February, then I start the season, I keep winning, but half burned inside and I now reach the final, I would arrive with that super streak of having won, but very burned inside, with more reasons to give up, so to speak.
In this new season I have the status of being champion and the feeling that I can beat anyone, because I think I have proven it, although then people continue to put other favorites. I also have the desire to get rid of thorns and that is a cool position because well, you have that part that you are the champion, but you also have the challenger, who wants to take your position away from you.
In the FMS International Chuty eliminated you in the semis, do you feel this Red Bull Inter as an opportunity to get your revenge and get rid of that thorn you talk about?
Yes, it is motivating, of course. In a Red Bull Inter, even if my cousins participated, I would go to the death to win it. I look at this year’s list and I think it is a very great opportunity to enter history. In the one that Skone won in Peru there were also big names, no one was named as a favorite and it ended up being a historic day. This Inter gives us the opportunity to achieve that or to get rid of thorns.
I look at this year’s list and I think it is a very great opportunity to enter history.
Do you think it is the best Inter in history?
Let’s see, there have already been many events where it is said that it is the best list in history and then that depends on many factors. I think that a priori this could be it. Many narratives come together and there is a lot of talent. If everyone is at the level, I think the event can be very big.
If you can only choose one option, which one would it be: Win the Red Bull International, the FMS of Spain for the second time or for Sporting to return to First Division after six years?
I’m sorry for all my sporting fans, but I’ll stick with winning the Red Bull Inter. If I win it, I will go with the belt to the field to motivate the kids next year. The truth is that we are doing very well, we are second. And well, Sporting has already been in First Division and I have never won a Red Bull Inter. So, I won it this year and next year we go up and everyone is happy (laughs).
And to close, seeing how heated the atmosphere is due to the issue of controversy in battles, abandonments of MCs, changes in competitions… how do you see the future of freestyle?
I think freestyle is in a maturing stage. It’s like I’m a teenager now, that’s why there’s so much controversy. There are things that have been done wrong. I think we are focusing too much on conveying the bad. In 2020 it was said that without Chuty and Skone the FMS would be weaker and now it is remembered as Michael Jordan’s Dream Team. The following year the same thing happened with the departure of Bnet and in the end there were very memorable moments. So, I think we don’t have to judge everything so radically.
We will learn from this time and I hope that this makes us demand more from ourselves so that when a new project is carried out, a clear and very professional path is sought. I think that this leap to professionalism must be made clearly and decisively, you cannot stay halfway. Now there is still the dilemma between the show or the meritocracy… Although well, it is true that everything was not going to turn out perfect the first time. It is normal that after so many years facing the same problems, the circuit needs renovations, but that does not mean any end. This always regenerates, it simply takes patience and desire.
