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Meet Pariah Pete

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Pariah Pete.

Pariah, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
First off I’m the youngest of five, four sisters, one brother, raised by a single mom. My father hasn’t been in the picture for as long as I can remember. Both of my parents and most of my siblings were born in Warsaw Poland, making me a first generation American. I believe that plays a huge role in who I am today as far as my work ethic goes, I can become a workhorse to accomplish my set goals, and do everything in my power to complete those, whether it be selling out my next show or promoting my newest video. I believe that “immigrant mentality” that was instilled in my household at an early age and has shaped who I am today. I grew up quick as hell and I’ve had a day job since I’ve been legally able to. As far as the music goes, I’ve been in love with hip hop since I’ve had ears capable of hearing sounds lol. It was one of the first things I found myself attached to and gave me a sense of purpose and identity, living vicariously through the rappers I was listening to like 50 cent, Eminem, and Dr Dre. Since my initial exposure to rap and thanks to the internet, I’ve explored all aspects of the genre that have intrigued me and made sure to be a student of the game and the history.

Recently, I been listening to a lot of MF DOOM, Lucki X, Kendrick Lamar, Tha God Fahim, Kid Cudi, and 21 Savage, but it all changes depending on my mood, I love it all for the most part. I wrote my first song as early as eight or whatever age you are around 4th grade. Even in elementary school, I would look in the mirror and envision myself rapping to an audience at a concert. It was something that I always saw myself becoming and desired to achieve that; however, I didn’t start my active pursuit until 2016. Before then I was simply writing here and there, and slowly putting together a home studio to record my early nervous raps. Since then I have grown tremendously as an artist through my work, sold out multiple venues around Phoenix, touched and inspired people with my emotion and stories, and also was apart of the reputable 20POUNDS crew. I’m living the dream, I do what I love, I get paid, and I get support for doing it, now I just gotta continue to elevate my platform and stay in the studio, I feel great about what’s ahead of me.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It’s never a smooth road. However, there have been far more personal battles that have affected my growth rather than issues musically or with my path to success. I grew up a sweet but depressed child, lacking self-love, a sense of worth, and was suicidal. I’m still working on it and try to improve everyday, but its still a battle. I doubt myself, attack myself, and sabotage my own happiness. However, I am surrounded by people who love me and I’m forever grateful for that. I’m not alone. I’m always trying to improve and learn something new, which was helped my development tremendously. If I didn’t have music Id probably go crazy. I’m doing a lot better than I was a few years ago though, and was doing better than compared to a few years prior to that. Hopefully one day I’ll reach that monk status of mental tranquillity.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I rap, point blank period. I have my music on all platforms imaginable but highly promote my Spotify and Apple Music. I’m a wordsmith and my pen is my sword. Some days I want to challenge myself with testing my writing capability and my lyricism. Some days I’m in my feelings and want to write the hundredth love song about some girl. It all depends on what I’m feeling at that moment, which is what makes it raw sounding and genuine. You’ll be able to hear a lot of that on my debut album set to release in July. I consider myself a versatile artist who can touch on many different topics and vibrations. Recently I’ve been testing myself more than ever to make my music more fun and enjoyable, which is my ultimate goal. Great music with substance.

Is there anyone in particular you would like to recognize? Mentors, etc?
20POUNDS is an enormous reason I am the person I am today, inside and outside of the studio. All of the members who were involved have played a huge role in my development and should be smart enough to know that. Especially Crust and Jalopy. Because of all of them I’m a better artist and person in general. We formed that collective shortly after my entrance to the local scene, so 90% of the time I’ve been doing this music shit I was with that crew. I had only dropped three songs and one five-song EP when we formed and played a handful of shows. I was only actively “Pariah Pete” for about six months before our debut to the scene.

Meanwhile, most of the artists involved had already been at their grind for years, especially Jalopy, Shrub Head, Nawlidge Nick who were previously apart of a group prior to 20POUNDS. I had some “catching up” to do and because of that I developed quickly. I was the youngest and least experienced in the group and felt like the “little bro” to everybody. It was cool because I always wanted brothers growing up, and in high school I had plenty of friends but never felt like I belonged to any group. I loved 20POUNDS because of that kinship, I was raised by all women and they felt like my brothers. Crust and I selected the initial members and Jalopy was responsible for bringing in MA$TERMIND, Sk8zen, and Nawlidge Nick. We were literally the Warriors when they got Durant, we were a powerful presence that was felt in the scene and continued to raise the bar for ourselves and AZ music. We’re forever cemented in history and to this day have a great resume and Youtube channel.

Since our break up a few months ago, I’ve gone through an incredible transformation and shed old skin. I feel great about this new era of mine, and since I’ve never really been a solo artist, everything seems really fresh to me and it revitalized my drive. I’ve been going harder than ever and creating my best music yet. It’ll forever be bittersweet though, we had the talent, the look, the following, the personality, everything. I loved that group and don’t regret a single moment of it. We owe it to ourselves to pour all our time and energy into furthering our individual careers now. To capitalize on the platforms we built for ourselves and take our careers to the next level. My fondest memories were all the times undocumented, the early mornings without sleep, the talks we had driving around Phoenix, and the 2K tournaments. We’ll forever be in history and I wish the very best for everyone moving forward, yall deserve the world.

With all that being said, shoutout Jalopy Bungus, MA$TERMIND, Shrub Head, Sk8zen, Nawlidge Nick, and Crust. My appreciation for them will never properly be expressed through my words, so I’ll forever try to show it with my actions. Love yall, “pause”. Btw Killadelphias Finest will always bring me to tears. That shit pure gold and one of my favorite forms of comedy lol.

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Image Credit:
Richard Lawson, Jonathan Contreras

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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