Lessons Learned

What has your Journey to Success been like thus far?

JP: Annoying, frustrating. We have heard a million success stories watching stars on TV. Just like with anything else, (school, sports) you are going to run into a lot of dead ends. There were a lot of times when people laughed at me and did not take me serious. I came to a point where I said, “I invested this much time and money into this. I’m not going To STOP!”

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I spent five years working on my craft, switching my styles up, trying to find something that fit; studying rappers, singers, rapper-singers, producers trying to figure out my style. The first realization I was doing something right was when people began to acknowledge my work. They would say: “Oh that’s hot” or “You sound like that or you sound this.” Many rappers have people on their team who feed them the BS but these were complete strangers saying: “That was ILL!” It was my fuel� that gave me a positive boost.� I started when I was seventeen and have been working non-stop for five years. I’m sure everyone has had those situations where they feel like they are about to quit and someone talked you out of it or you talked yourself out of it. “Quitting is the worst thing you can do when you have come so far.” Regardless if you and I become superstars, there is going to be a point where we get that acknowledgment that satisfies us and if not, at least I am doing something productive and people appreciate it.

I had the chance to see &� meet Esperanza Spalding perform at the South Orange Performing Arts for the Jazz House Kids, a non-profit organization. During her interview with Grammy Award winning Christian McBride there was a response she made that stuck out to me. She mentioned that as artists you transmit vibrations of energy to listeners. It is very important as artist to be mindful of the energy you release because there are people who cannot differentiate between music and reality. Was there ever a time when you rapped about something that was not true?

JP: There was a point when I was going through my stages and I was rapping that BS. Every young’n coming up was rapping about being icy, having women and doe but, they did not have a dollar in their pocket. That was what I knew at that point in time, that is what was being depicted through music and the Media. One day I happen to leave my lap top open (during my high school years) and my mother read one of my rhymes. She said, “If this is what you are trying to do, then you are lying. You are being a pretender. I support you 100 percent but if you’re going to do this, be real about it.”� For my mom to say that was crazy. Moms saw right through it, right through me. That was a prominent moment in my career because it changed not only my style, but my thought process too. I dropped all that “ice” and “mad money”� stuff because it is not realistic.

What do you think about artists who have “dumbed down” their message to their audience to make a profit more specifically, artists who have exceeded the “street” lifestyle and are veterans of the industry?

JP: If there is anybody to point the finger at, it is artists who do not expand their horizons. When you demand a certain amount of money and have sold a certain amount of records it is time to move on to something more challenging by branching out and trying something new. You have already capitalized on whatever it was that you were trying to capitalize on.

What is your favorite song?

JP: I would have to say Nas “One Mic”�. I have always followed Nas because he possesses the ability to attack a subject like no other rapper could. He is the kind of rapper that if you take him off the mic and put him behind a podium in front of thousands of people, he would flourish. I do not know many other rappers that possess that ability. Maybe DMX, but X is a different type of dude. You can take him out of his element and he would be completely comfortable in a room full articulate professors. When Nas did One Mic� I do not think any other artist in history has ever been so intellectual, yet be so raw at the same time. I definitely adopted that style of being raw, but still hitting you in the head from an intelligent perspective

You will be performing tonight at Crash Manson in NYC for HIP-HOP Unplugged. Explain to us what you will be doing.

JP: Hip-Hop Unplugged is a new show that will be aired in the next few months. It’s like the Hip-Hop version of American Idol. I will be performing live this Wednesday with Ryan Leslie’s band in front of a live studio audience in New York. Contestants are competing for a record deal. Regardless if I win or not (Lord willing I do) I’ m glad I still received the chance to perform in front of major representatives of the music industry such as Def Jam.

Elaborate on some of your accomplishments: JP:My records are currently being played in Jersey, Delaware, & Philadelphia on a radio station called Soul Fusion. In two weeks I have a radio interview for 99.1, Philadelphia’s biggest radio station. I’ve collaborated with just about every artist in Jersey: The Wyld Stylaz Alvietron, Duray, Gabreal, Freaky Killa da Don, Kertasy.I dropped my first Mixtape back in November 2009. It was hosted by Heavy Hitter� DJ Wallah. Last month, I dropped another mixtape: Wes Will�. Both of those mixtapes are on DatPiff.com

It’s easy for artists to put mixtapes and videos out, but you know when somebody’s really doing it when they are on TV.”

Be on the lookout for Freaky Jon P going on tour pretty soon.

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I wish you many blessing and prosperity Yo-Sw