P.O.S. interview

Having released his third album last year, the aptly titled Never Better, the Minnesota based rapper has just hit the road on a nationwide tour that will culminate at Coachella. Before heading out, P.O.S. gave us the scoop on where his music comes from, the manner in which he hopes you’re consuming to it, and what makes the Minneapolis music scene unique…

What inspires you lyrically?

I think what inspires me most lyrically is every day stuff, being awake and alive, I think about that kind of stuff. I try really hard to let my day to day life be inspirational to myself. Everybody gets boring, everybody feels like they might be boring, but that’s where all the good details are.

So you really find yourself feeding off those mundane details?

Not the mundane, but I mean yeah, the mundane too, because everything is always going on. But on the average, on the day to day, because even if it seems really super average and super mellow and normal, I feel like that’s where the most relatable details lie.

Do you remember the first rap you wrote, what you first covered lyrically?

I think I probably first covered politics, just because I first started writing raps when I was still young, punk rocker, I had a big mohawk, I was just really into subversive things, so I think that was the first thing that I dove into, some sort of subversive comment on something or other.

You tour a ton. Do you change up the setlist every night, or do you change up the set?

We change it up pretty regular. We don’t usually make a setlist. We know what we want to start with and we know what we want to end with. But my DJ usually just fills in the dots as he goes.

Do you have fun having that sort of freedom out there?

Yeah, I feel like it kind of makes it for me, to be able to do whatever you want, cut a song short or make it longer. Whatever you want to do, just go for it.

Do you remember your first time performing live?

I don’t remember my first time performing live. I’ve been performing live since, like, the first time I played in a club I was probably thirteen or fourteen, in downtown Minneapolis. But yeah, I’ve been performing for a long time. I don’t remember any specific performances early, but I do remember what it was like. I remember feeling so mega comfortable on stage, just as soon as the first show was over, not even being able to wait for the next one.

Even after performing for so many years, do you still feel that energy?

Yeah, it’s still my very favorite thing to do, or a very close second to making more music.

How do approach making tracks in the studio?

I get in there either with a beat or with an idea, and I just bash it out until it’s there. Writing is different. Making music is all in the studio and trying different things and playing and stuff like that. Writing lyrics is usually a different thing. Usually I like to kind of post up and drive in my car with the beats that I’ve made or that I’ve been listening to, and just write whatever comes to mind while I’m driving around.

Do you find yourself writing every week, or do you find yourself making beats every week?

It goes in spurts. Sometimes I’ll make twenty beats in two weeks, and sometimes I won’t make any beats at all for months at a time. It’s the same way with writing. Sometimes I’ll write every day and just crush verse after verse after verse. Sometimes I won’t write for months at a time. It’s one of those things where I try to both as often as possible, but I never force myself when it’s not gonna happen.

Do you feel like you have more freedom that way?

Absolutely. I think the one thing that has been important since the very beginning is I wanted to make music that wasn’t like everybody else’s music and didn’t necessarily follow the same format or sound or structure. I really like the idea of trying to go out and create something different. If I’m ever feeling it and I’m making a beat or writing some lyrics and it’s just sounding really odd and strange, instead of stopping and trying to make it sound more normal, I just try to make it fit into the confines of the song. You know what I mean? I don’t mind taking loops that don’t necessarily fit in 4/4 and smashing them until they do work in 4/4. If it comes off sounding awkward, it’s all the more better.

When I’m listening to music, I don’t want it to be something that’s just happening in the background. I want it to be something active that’s going on.

You want it to be something that grabs your attention, that’s not just like wallpaper, right?

I want it to be something that you’re doing. If you’re gonna play one of my records, I want it to be “What am I gonna do right now? I’m gonna drive in my car and I’m gonna listen to this record” or whatever. My favorite music to listen to is music that I turn on and I’m actively listening to, it makes me want to bang my hand on the steering wheel, or sing along, or rewind it to listen to the words again, or rewind it to listen to the guitar part or keyboard part or whatever part again. I just want it to be something that’s actually grabbing my attention and keeping me involved with it, so I try to make music the same way.

What do you feel it is about Minnesota that has created such a big hip hop scene up there?

I think just because people have seen that you can do it. There’s been a lot of success, based on a lot of hard work from the Rhymesayers label, and Atmosphere, and Brother Ali, and myself, and Eyedea & Abilities. This is hip hop right now. For like the last ten, fifteen years we’ve all just been grinding to make a name. And we didn’t reach out to major labels, we didn’t really reach out to anybody except for within our own community, which is the way that the bands before us did, Prince, Hüsker Dü, Replacements, Dillinger Four, these are bands from our city and our area that didn’t reach out to anybody for any help, they just made the songs they wanted to make, and set the standard for how things go now, even with such a different style of music.

What are some of your goals personally?

Right now I’m in a place in my life where I’m trying to reassess what my goals are. I had a lot of really big goals in music since I was a little kid. Ever since I realized that it was a career that people had, I wanted to do it, and I was in like fourth or fifth grade. I’ve just been looking to play shows for more and more people, and put out records, and I do all this stuff, and make videos, and I’ve done all that stuff. So I’m at a point now where I’m trying to see what’s next and see where the compass goes.

Do you have any words of advice for up and coming MCs?

Yeah, just keep doing it. There’s a certain point in any type of career, I can site music because it’s mine, but there’s a certain point where it’s like you’ve been doing the same thing for three years and it feels like you’re not getting any bigger, and it feels like you’re not really doing it, that’s the time where it’s the most frustrating, where people tend to quit or give up or start pondering the next step in their life, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But in order to get over the hump you’ve just got to kind of go through. I know that as a musician, I’m going to be doing this until I’m dead. I want to make songs until I can’t make songs or until I don’t want to make songs, you know? It’s not going to be forever where people are going to actually pay attention to what I’m doing, I’m understanding of how it is, nobody cares about any artist forever, but that doesn’t have anything to do with how much I care about making music.

Learn more at P.O.S. official site • iTunes • MySpace • Facebook • Twitter