Ambitious P-Lo’s goal was to master it all

by Kate Wilson on June 28th, 2017 at 12:22 PM

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School has featured prominently in the professional development of rapper-producer P-Lo—but not because of his classroom time. Inspired to try his hand at music after hearing Kanye West’s aptly named The College Dropout, the young performer conceived of the idea for the seminal Heart Break Gang while cutting lunch at his high school with his friend Sudan Williams—better known as rapper IamSu!. Rounding up a loud squad of young artists from his grade and beyond, the pair founded the collective that would define the sound of the Bay Area hip-hop scene.

“It was all because of Kanye,” the rapper, born Paolo Rodriguez, tells the Straight on the line from a Los Angeles tour stop. “He was always told that he couldn’t do something, and every time someone said that to him, he always did it. I always had a big love for music, but I just didn’t understand what it actually was, you know what I’m saying? That College Dropout CD was hella vital. At that time, rap was so hard, and you had to be a gangster. He was one of the first who was just a regular dude. He is why I really started producing.”

Turning his hand to laptops, keyboards, and drum machines, Rodriguez perfected the studio skills that would land him writing credits on tracks for 2 Chainz, Wiz Khalifa, Yo Gotti, YG, and Chris Brown. Despite that success—which he shrugs off with customary swag—the musician always dreamed of being behind the mike himself.

“Being a great rapper was always my goal,” he says. “I just knew that I wanted to get as good as possible at producing in the beginning, and then once I was able to perfect that, then I would try and master rap.”

More Than Anything, Rodriguez’s third foray into solo material, is an indicator that he’s on the right path. Much more elaborate and detailed than his previous efforts, the record reveals the rapper’s growth with an eclectic mix of production styles, flow, and vibe. Seguing from flex-heavy hyphy track “Never Sorry” into the off-kilter synths and aggressive beat of “Feel Good” and the smooth R&B of “Much More”, the musician displays a range that is often elusive for up-and-comers.

“The record has lots of different feels because that’s my personality,” he says. “I’m not just one way the whole time, so I wanted to represent that. I’ve always wanted to be diverse, and not just make one kind of music. I feel like all the greatest and biggest artists were able to do a lot of different things, and I pride myself on that. More Than Anything is about believing in myself, and showing the layers and depth of P-Lo.

“The Bay Area has its own style,” he continues. “It’s in our water. It’s in our DNA. Our sound is so unique and so rich that I feel like a lot of people don’t understand what it is, because they don’t go there and get to see it. Now I’m bringing it to the people.”