Here it is - my very first interview. Quite a bit has happened to me over the last year. Pwelbs.com has gotten a much bigger response than I ever could have imagined. It was serious reality check when I found myself in a taxi on the way to my very first interview. I was truly honored and excited to be interviewing Minneapolis rapper P.O.S of Rhymesayers Entertainment and the legendary Doomtree crew. I would be lying if I said P.O.S hasn’t dominated my ears over the last few months with the release of his third album Never Better back in early February. P.O.S has also had a pretty incredible last 12 months with an extensive amount of touring, a Doomtree record and his own record which received a tremendous amount of positive reviews. He also received extensive amounts of press from his performance at this year’s SXSW including being named Spin Magazine’s “Artists to Watch.” Ah hell he was even titled “Best Local Band Made Good” by Twin Cities magazine City Pages.

So here I am waiting outside the Bottom Lounge in Chicago, Illinois. The train is literally right above the door of the venue. I sit here waiting, going deaf about every 5 minutes as the train flies overhead. Anyone in Chicago knows that when the “El” goes over your head it’s the sound of a jet engine. I’m supposed to meet him outside the venue around 5PM. After a slight bit of phone confusion and receiving a phone call from P.O.S himself I learn that he is about 30 minutes away. No surprise to me, I understand the drive from Minneapolis to Chicago as I’ve made the drive a handful of times now. How long it takes is about as inconsistent as the quality of Eminem’s albums.

A car pulls up with Minnesota license plates; this is a very good sign. P.O.S gets out and quickly runs inside to check in. As he strolls out I go up and introduce myself. We chat a little bit and I let him attend to his business of getting his equipment inside. Shortly after he walks out and is ready for the interview. We chat it up a bit, he asks if I got a ticket to the sold-out show. Unfortunately, I have no ticket. The problem is quickly resolved as he graciously puts me on the guest list.

We stroll around the corner and down the street to escape the train. I find the next few moments to almost be like a dream. We both spot what seems to be a wing of a bird, still bloody, lying on the ground torn from a body that is nowhere to be found. A couple feet further another wing lies on the pavement. P.O.S obviously snaps a picture. This may seem strange and all, but if you follow the Doomtree crew at all you will soon realize the bird-wings logo is a key part of the group’s logo. I mean who hasn’t thrown up their Doomtree bird wings up at one of their shows.

We then turn the corner and record the following interview, which is below. After the interview we pop into the concert venue and I watch P.O.S completely rock a crowd of indie rock kids.  After his set the crowd looked like they just stuck a paperclip into an electrical socket, but in a good way. I must give props to the loud and proud group of P.O.S fans, including myself, that pumped our hands in the air for the entire set and spitting every line. This guy is a true performer and as he left the stage I heard the loudest round of applause I heard all night. So there you have it. I want to give a big thanks to P.O.S for giving his time for the interview. It was much appreciated but enough out of me. Let’s get to what P.O.S has to say.

Pwelbs: Your opening for Cursive tonight, what I like about an act like yourself is that you can play punk rock shows and hip hop shows. Do you play a rock show any differently than you do a hip hop show?

P.O.S: As far as playing a rock show differently than a hip hop show, I don’t think it’s that much different. I feel like the only difference is, at a rock show maybe half the crowd won’t know who I am or what I’m about. Which is cool it just makes it so that the first few songs I’m doing more introductory things. But right after the first three or four I kind of do it like I always do it. Usually goes off pretty well. Its fun man, we are doing three shows [with Cursive], this is our third show with them, the last of the three. But it’s really fun, reminds me a lot of the Minus The Bear tour I went on, just because it’s a good diverse crowd.

Pwelbs: What are you thoughts on how the Internet, Twitter and blogs have taken over hip hop?

(P.O.S Twitter)

P.O.S: It’s taken over everything! Not just hip-hop. Blogs, Twitter, Internet as long as people check there downloading, I don’t really care if people download my stuff, as long as they show support by coming to a show, buying a shirt, maybe buying the CD after they have stolen it later. [Laughs] If they liked it, ya know pick it up. I don’t care man, I’m not big enough to where people downloading my records is really going to hurt me that much. But I’m not small enough were it necessarily helps me unless people also show some support. But I mean I do it too, on occasion, I think last month I stole two records off the internet and downloaded maybe 4 or 5 songs legally off iTunes. Anyhow it’s all stuff I’ve never – like when ever I’m going to download a full record or something or someone sends me a link – just this last time I got a Paul McCartney record that I had never heard, I never even thought about, I checked it out, it’s been out since 1971, so I wasn’t really tripping to hard. The other one was a band I wasn’t to sure if I was going to like – and I didn’t. [Laughs] So I’m glad I didn’t buy it. I feel like it’s a good option for people to have. People just have to keep check of it.

Pwelbs: Do you feel like your listenership has gone way up because of Blogs, etc?

P.O.S: I don’t know [laughs] I feel like my listenership has gone up with every record. Know what I’m saying? But I don’t know it’s probably also helped to have blogs and stuff like that – that’s usually what’s supposed to happen. With every record you’re supposed to grow a little bit.

Pwelbs: Alright, so I’m a communications student and I work at college radio. What do you think about the state of radio?

P.O.S: I like college radio.  I haven’t listened to a mainstream radio station for longer than like 4 or 5 minutes in year and years and years probably.
Pwelbs: I had to do a project for radio class and I listened to B96 in Minnesota and Chicago and I couldn’t even tell the difference.
P.O.S: Ya – yeah can’t. You really can’t tell the difference.
Pwelbs: Peter Parker is doing his thing.
P.O.S: I like Peter Parker – he’s got a good hustle. Because he does put on local artists a lot and because he does his own, aside from radio, he’s got mix tapes and stuff like that. He keeps his credibility and he doesn’t just stick to the Top 40.

P.O.S B96 Mr. Peter Parker Interview

Pwelbs: As far as Never Better’s packaging and artwork, how did that come together?

P.O.S: Well, I knew I had a budget for the record and my plan was to make something that was cool enough to get. My favorite records are the ones where – ya know – my favorite records growing up – one ever you opened it up the book was huge or it comes with a bunch of stickers or it comes with something. I just wanted to kind of have something like - that since I had a budget I wanted to do something like that. The record is about doing things yourself and doing something for you. I wanted to make something that was hands-on and that was the best thing that we came up with.

Pwelbs: I think now days it’s definitely an incentive to actually buy the album – it’s nice to have that extra thing.

P.O.S: I feel it’s important, if people are going to buy it anyway it’s just one more thing to push it over if the art is really cool. 

Pwelbs: I’ve been listening to the new Big Quarters album and one of the opening lines in their single “Barter System” Medium Zach states “Stef Let me trade beats for studio time” and you actually appear in the music video. What’s the story behind that?

P.O.S: Ah man way back in the day back before Big Quarters was called Big Quarters – when they were still called EPO. Yah know, when Doomtree was still a little baby that was it. I was the only guy in the neighborhood that had ProTools and he (Medium Zach of Big Quarters) was the only guy that had any extra beats – I don’t make beats very fast, I make lots of beats, but I don’t make them fast so in order to have lots of beats (he was the guy.) We have had a good relationship, I like Medium Zach and I like Brandon and I always have. There only getting better and better - as far as Minneapolis hip hop goes – there in my Top 5.

Pwelbs: So you like the new album?

P.O.S: Yeah I love the new album – I love it. I actually have been twittering about it a lot. [Laughs]

Pwelbs: So you have been touring pretty much the last few months?
P.O.S: Yeah since February.
Pwelbs: Have you stumbled across any shows then?
P.O.S: I stumbled across a Mastodon show – we had a day off the same day they played. So we got on the list – and dude – it was awesome. That was my third time seeing them it was great.

Pwelbs: Which song do you wish you had written or produced?

P.O.S: Any song in the world? Oh man!  There are lots of songs. There are a lot of lines more than actual full songs that I wish I had [written.] I’ll say “Monkberry Moon Delight” [laughter] by Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney. I wish I wrote and performed that. I wish that was my jam and it came out right now and that I was a millionaire off it. I love that song – I don’t know if you’ve heard it – it’s so good. [Laughter]

Pwelbs: When did you know hip-hop could be your job?

P.O.S: Honestly that took me a little longer – I knew that music could be my job in the 4th or 5th grade. That’s when I started to work toward making that true. When I realized hip hop could be my job was probably not until 10th and 11th grade when I realized there were local crews doing it like Rhymesayers and stuff like that. I didn’t realize – I knew Atmosphere and I knew Rhymesayers – I didn’t know they were seriously literally a couple miles away. So yeah around the middle of high school right around then.

Pwelbs: So you do a lot of interviews during the year – is there anything you wished people asked you more.

P.O.S: I wish – well I don’t know that I do, but I wish – well I like when people ask about the songs, when people clearly know what I’m about because a lot of times – like you know what’s up – but a lot of people are like “So, you like punk rock? Ah that’s cool!” But you know a lot of times people ask questions that they could of figured out if they had just looked at my bio. Ya know?

Pwelbs: Well that’s all I got. I appreciate it. Thanks again.

P.O.S: Sweet, no problem.

Fin. Shouts to P.O.S – see you at Soundset.

To hear the audio for this interview tune into Bad Service with DJ Pwelbs, this Sunday night May 15th on Radio DePaul from 8-10PM.