UNCUT: PESO talks about his new album "Don't Look Down"

When I first heard Peso, I nearly had an aneurysm because I had the toughest time trying to categorize his music.  Now, months later he has an album out and I still have a tough time describing it other than it's elevated Psych-Rap.

Today, Peso has released his newest project "Don't Look Down," a 10 track project that talks about love loss and mental health. Produced by Xoe, Blu Majic , 36 samurai and Zach Vargo, the album offers guest verses from Draya Jade, Cam Stephens and Seth Hasan.

Drawing inspiration from Jim Morrison, Kid Cudi and Ridley Scott, the album offers insight into the artist's personal life. Below is my conversation with upcoming artist on his process, inspiration and how he discovered his rap style.

1) Your album is called Don't Look Down - why did you name it that?

In movies when the characters are scaling a ledge or on the edge of cliffs, and buildings, walking across bridges, they always say “don’t look down whatever you do don’t look down”

I thought applying the same thing to that feeling of being close to the edge in life just barely hanging on and one bad day could have you slip and fall.

2) What is the story behind the album? 

Just going through the trip of life, making this project I did a lot of self reflection, had a kid, quit doing pills, and started making better decisions mentally and physically. Before this my girlfriend will tell you I was one bad day from not being here. I was a mess. 

3) How long did it take for you to make this album? What's your process like when making a project?

We started September of 2019 and didn’t finish til November 2020. When I start a project I always start with making the cover art and the title , I just need to see the cover and colors in it to know what the production needs to sound like. If the beat doesn’t give me the feeling of the colors that the cover art has then it can’t be on the project.

4) Who did the cover art for this project? What was its inspiration?

I did the cover art, I just took a picture on my phone of my eye and edited it. My friend Lydia drew up the font for me, I took inspiration from The Moons, and how their font looks. The actual picture I took was inspired by the drain scene from psycho.

5) When I initially reported about you, I noted that it was hard to describe your style (which is still a good thing in my books) What are your influences and how did you develop your delivery? 

I’m influenced by a lot of music. My favorite rappers when I was young were Em, Wayne, 3stacks, Nelly, and Jeezy. I also listened to a lot of rock because of my grandma like Pink Floyd, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple. I had a huge music introduction at a young age. 

I used to hate my voice and delivery when I first started rapping I just didn’t think it sounded good but as you record more and write you slowly start finding yourself vocally and that’s kinda what happened.

5.2) How long did it take to find your style?

A long time lmao. I started taking music serious in 2016 and didn’t drop my first project til 2019. It wasn’t until I started this project  I felt like I found myself as an artist. I was just really happy with what I was making, and felt like it was coming together well.

6) I absolutely love the production on this project. How do you go about choosing the beats for your projects?

I knew what I wanted to do. I had a vision for the album and talked to Xoe a lot. We sat together for a lot of the production. The other half I had Blu Majic send me, I’m just really good at selecting beats that fit the vision.

7) One of my favorite tracks on this project is Downhill - what's the story behind the song? 

It sounded completely different at first. The first version I made was last fall and it just didn’t hit me at all. In a stroke of luck this dude 36samurai hit me on IG and sent me a beat pack. I heard the instrumental and had zach add the whole 2nd half, he played the guitar and bass on it. Just wanted to really open it with a bang and I felt like everyone was thinking shit was going downhill with everything that was going on.

8) I also pointed out when I initially covered you that a lot of your music is self reflection and examination. In songs like More 2 Go, you talk about taking a year off to get your shit together and needing late night therapy sessions. Mental health is such an important topic of conversation and while a lot of rappers dance around it, you dive head first into it with this album, why is it important to open yourself up like that in your music? 

I think just relating to and experiencing it make me more comfortable writing about it. My family has a lot of mental health problems, I have my own I struggle with and I think we all do. When I wrote music that expressed those feelings it resonated with people. Even at such a small stage in my music career having people tell you they connect with you and how your music is helping them through shit, it’s heavy but gratifying that your words can heal people. 

9) The album ends on ARE WE THERE YET? which is a stripped back acoustic track. After an entire offering of psych rock inspired music with so many tone shifts - why end on such a relaxed song?  What's the message behind it?

I look at my project like movies, the intro is the opening credits and the outro are the end credits. So I always think what sound would I want to open this movie and what do I want to end it.

I feel “Are We There Yet?” Was the best way to close it out. The question you constantly ask while your on a long trip, the song is me asking myself that question but about happiness and being content. I don’t think we’ll ever reach a point in life where we say “ you know what, I’m here, I’m happy now” I just think constantly asking yourself if your happy will make you less happy. I also feel like it’s the come down from the trip of the album and brings a grounded peaceful feeling to end it.

10) What are five songs (other than your own) that you're bumping right now?

Literally last 5 are ...

Strange Brew - Cream

Trust Issues - Drake

Kamikaze- Omar Apollo

Fruit of the spirit - jay electronica

Terrified - Childish Gambino

Check out the album below:

 

 Let me know what you think,

Lux