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Interview: Q&A

Toronto’s Pierre Pharaoh talks his single “70 Down” featuring Shottie Pippen

With such a high saturation of artists coming out of Central Canada, it often takes something out of the ordinary to be moving to ran fans these days. Toronto emcee Pierre Pharaoh filtered into vision with the recent release of his single “70 Down” which features a similarly new, and emerging emcee, Shottie Pippen. At first listen the track registers as slightly offbeat and aggressively confident in its’ uncharacteristic approach to the genre.

The dark and eerie chants have strong punk-rock vibes, and almost duck and weave – moving the flow of the beat in one direction when you would have expected it to move in another. You could realistically draw comparisons to the movement of a mosh crowd. The production is perplexing and features a well-produced beat with vocals that sound slightly distant and distilled, even in movement. The product of all of these efforts is an unexpected hype track that sticks out as unique and bold.

A recent conversation with the Toronto-based emcee offered surprising reflections and understanding behind the single. Check out our conversation with Pierre Pharaoh below, where we discuss the embracing of individuality within the Toronto scene, the motivations behind the punk-rock influenced sound that he’s created, and the similarities he draws between sports and the music industry.


Q&A: Pierre Pharaoh

HipHopCanada: Thanks for speaking with us about “70 Down”. How did that track come about?

Pierre Pharaoh: My brodie Solheir – he produced the beat and he always at 70 Down flexing and networking. So one day were at his house and he tells me that he’s got some people there that are down to throw a party or release party if we ever need to. I’m like, “Okay, lit.” Then he plays me this beat and it was called 70 Down. It was knocking, so I caught what he was trying to do. But, mind you, I had never been there yet but I rapped about it in the first verse and what it would feel like partying there. Sure enough, months later I’m in the both with my homie Randall for his birthday – bottles everywhere, and it felt the same haha.

HipHopCanada: From your perspective, what’s it like being an artist out of Toronto right now and how has the community influenced your music?

Pierre Pharaoh: It’s a good time. The city has been trying to figure its’ sound and fashion for a while. I feel like we’re in the process of making a huge push of all the different sauces our pot has to offer. Being an artist from the city means not giving a fuck if people don’t fuck with who you are, what you do, or how you do it. You have to own who you are and say this is me – I’m a rockstar, I’m the next me (that’s a big deal). It’s just loving who you are and what you do at the end of the day. People get lost with trying to please people who might be trying to run with their style in the first place. I’ve lived everywhere in Toronto to be influenced in some ways, whether it be sound, fashion and even slang. Oooh and I gotta thank HOOLIO too!

HipHopCanada: How would you characterize the music you make?

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Pierre Pharaoh: I think it’s gold. It’s got strength, it’s got pain put into it from mining it and reliving the experiences in my head. I gotta dig deep to make it out. I feel like I’m shining when I get my flows right. Shit is beautiful.

HipHopCanada: For this track you brought on Shottie Pippen to assist with a feature. when and how did that collaboration with him transpire?

Pierre Pharaoh: So I got this project on the way called Dipped In Gasoline. For the past year we both used to work at this furniture warehouse. We’d pass by each other by the assembly line on some 8 Miles shit – like, “Yo check this verse or what you think of this hook?” After work we’d hop in the whip, go to the gym, or park by my house and play all the beats from the project, or potential beats. I would freestyle flows and bars we were thinking about at work. I pulled up “70 Down” and was like, this shit needs a hook. I already had some bars in mind but the hook had to bang, and HOOLIO came through. Shit was magic.

HipHopCanada: You’ve released other successful singles in the past 2 years online. How have you grown since those releases to reach the point you’re at as an artist right now?

Pierre Pharaoh: I went and had my 5 beats a day for 3 summers, moment. I’ve also taken more time on perfecting how I’d like to express myself. I gotta hard time doing that by just speaking plain English. Sometimes I become obsessed with how I can translate it into sounds and visuals. I feel like that obsession drove me into finding new sounds and flows, which has all made me a better artist.

HipHopCanada: Do you feel like your sound has evolved similar to the way you have personally?

Pierre Pharaoh: Definitely. What I was going to say is it’s like the better I get as an artist, the better I get as a person. It’s the only thing that built self-confidence and self-love aside from playing basketball, in life in general. With basketball I had to evolve quick because I was facing giants in high school and also in my hood – goons on the court who wanna’ fight you if you cross’em too hard. That built character because you had to be aggressive driving to the hoop, you gotta be aggressive calling out a foul when they deny you. Same with music – you’re submitting music everywhere and everyone is denying you at that point. You either give up or keep going and land on HipHopCanada haha. So one can’t live without the other because it’s a part of the human experience. All of it has to evolve. Tek time you know?

HipHopCanada: What does music mean for you, and how did you get into the industry?

Pierre Pharaoh: Music has always been in my family before I was even thought of, and before my parents ever met. My grandfather, also named Pierre, was a music Composer and Maestro back in Congo. Later on, my Uncle went and did the same thing in Paris. He’s a genius. My father had a vinyl collection and it was like a library. With that being said, there’s definitely a lineage of influence. That’s why I gravitated to hip-hop. It was like the punk-rock of Soul and R&B to me.

HipHopCanada: I feel like a lot of rap and hip-hop coming out of Central Canada right now is taking a darker and vibey route. Do you ever feel pressured to fall into that lane at all as a Canadian musician?

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Pierre Pharaoh: I don’t feel pressured at all. The shit I’m kicking in this new project is about love, pain, passion and becoming who you wanna become. There are definitely dark moments but I don’t even like to say that it’s just music. It is our weather that might influence our music at times (lol) but I wanna bring back that vibe. It’s that early 2000s with Pharrell, Dipset, Ruff Ryderz and Roca Fella shit (in my own way of course). All those vibrant moments were colourful and stood out. If we keep serving muddy water it’s gonna be hard to see our true colour.

HipHopCanada: What’s something that your fans might be surprised to know about you?

Pierre Pharaoh: I’m from Paris, and I speak 3 languages (French, English and Lingala – a Congo dialect).

HipHopCanada: What kind of things do you have lined up in the future, and when can we expect new music?

Pierre Pharaoh: I gotta show February 24th – gotta hit my link on Instagram get your ticket and the location will be disclosed to you. New music in March, 3 new projects this year (“Dipped in Gasoline”, “Pharaoh Gold” and “Heaven at Night”), and more beats. And, more shows this year means more traveling.

Interview conducted by Kira Hunston for HipHopCanada

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