Earlier this week New Orleans rapper Pell came through to Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn for a listening concert for his second LP titled LIMBO. The crowd was definitely responsive, and nobody in that crowd should be in limbo about copping the album that drops Friday (November 6). In addition to putting on a good show, Pell sat down with us to talk about Limbo, touring with Kehlani, and much more. Check out the insightful interview below.

RESPECT.: What should your fans expect from LIMBO?

Pell: The fans should expect a more progressive sound from me and a more upbeat tempo sound. But also a darker sound because I’ve been going through a transition in life that’s a little bit more that’s new to me. You know what I mean, as any transition would be. But it’s like I’m just going through a bunch of different phases of growing up essentially so that’s what you’ll hear in the project.

R: What about new listeners, how do you think they’ll receive it?

P: I think they’ll receive it with open arms because it’s something that like has this certain punch to it, that like instant gratification to it that as soon as you hear it like shocks you from jump. And that’s one thing I’ve been trying to adapt and implement in my music so it’s cool for it to be that.

R: What inspired the visual for your LIMBO cut “Café Du Monde?”

P: What inspired that, it’s just really a cautionary tale of people that like lie to themselves and lie to others about who they are and what they’ve done, so much so to the point where they don’t even who they are themselves. And it causes them to do things that a normal human being wouldn’t do, you know what I mean. That’s why you have scenarios of people cheating on their significant other or somebody going as far as to commit rape just so that he can be accepted into masculine society. Just because he feels he has to live up to some expectation that is unlike himself.   

R: I understand that Café Du Monde is an actual cafe in New Orleans, what of the themes that I find in your music is the term “feel good.” What’s your favorite feel good food?

P: Ooh my favorite feel good. That’s a good a question by the way. My favorite feel good food is jambalaya.

R: Jambalaya why?

P: Cause my Mom makes it really good. And I feel like being from New Orleans that’s something that my Grandma and my Mom made very well and it kinda just stuck with me. It would be between that or gumbo. But obviously I feel like jambalaya just, I like rice, and it’s a comfort food. It’s always something that I remember and associate with being home.

R: At first glance your other tracks “Queso” and “Almighty Dollar” may come off as just being about having money and getting money but they’re about much more. What makes you feel rich? Not materialistically, but in life overall?

P: Love you know what I mean that’s something you can’t substitute with anything, like no dollar sign amount. I feel like that’s the key to feeling rich. And having knowledge of self, those two things are really what make you happy at the end of the day, that may you feel rich as a human being. If you don’t have those you’re poor. Poor in spirit and poor in health usually. Once you have those two things going for you nothing can stop you.

R: One of your LIMBO tracks is titled “‘93 Supreme.” The title alone makes me think of fashion so I wanted to ask you how would you describe your sense of style?

P: That’s funny because I actually named that song after I’m just gonna give some background, but I am going to talk about my style. “93 Supreme” I named it after gasoline I was thinking more of like weed, like sour diesel. You got gas you know is just another brand of smoking. But I thought it would be interesting to title it that.

My fashion is more centered around what catches my eye at the time. And it changes and it varies. But I like to wear things that represent how I’m feeling. A lot of times I feel really relaxed and reserved and that’s when I’ll wear collared shirts a lot, I’m a big fan of button ups, I’m a big fans of collared shirts. And I think that comes from me being in the South for so long where I see a lot of preppy attire as people would call it attire. And like I just mentioned button ups, and even like Khaki pants, Khaki shorts, Wallabees. I think that’s something I’ve adapted to my style but  I’ve recently been in big cities like L.A. and New York. So I feel like I’ve taken on a whole new urban look with it as well, I don’t call it urban but you know what I mean. Like t-shirts and long fitting shirts with that. So that’s where my style is right now. Urban preppy.

R: Still going along with that song it’s “‘93 Supreme,” how old are you?

P: I’m 23.

R: I’m a ‘93 baby. My 11th birthday coincided with when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.

P: That’s crazy. it was unfortunate for everybody that lived there as well as just the whole nation was struck by it because New Orleans is one of those cities that everybody loves you know what I mean. It’s different from any other city in America. We have a rich culture, and a rich vibe that always has. You mentioned before feel good, we have a great electricity, and everybody feels good in New Orleans 24/7. It was a great tragedy. That’s crazy that it coincided with your birthday.

R: I peep that on LIMBO you have a track called “The Wild.” Is that supposed to be an ode to your 2012 project of the same name?

P: Yes. It is. Actually I had been working on music with my homie Stacks. But we were on tour with Kehlani and his hardrive crashed, and we had to scrap the music we were working on for this project. And we looked at “The Wild” as a song that didn’t have the platform at the time, like people weren’t really listening to it, and we wanted to basically reintroduce it because it’s such a great song and it still embodies what we’re going through today.

R: What was it like touring with Kehlani were her fans receptive? Did they get a preview of the LIMBO cuts? How was that experience for you?

P: That experience was so great. Being on tour with Kehlani is one of the best experiences I’ve had because I got to see people who, some of her camp is younger than I am especially she’s younger than me, and I got to be inspired again. Sometimes when you look up to people who’ve already been there and done that, you look at where you are differently. And to see people who are younger than me putting as much work if not more than every day. You know what I mean we’re working every day altogether for a common goal. And seeing how teams function is a beautiful thing. Because it doesn’t happen for everybody like that, a lot people don’t have teams and people that are willing to ride or die for them every day. And it’s good that they’re like a family cause they make me appreciate my family even more, and the people that are around me every day. It was beautiful thing. And she’s talented so it was a win win.

And her fans are amazing because actually at most of the shows I remember girls would come up to me and they would tell me that they hadn’t listened to me before I was going on tour with her and when they found out we were gonna have a show together, they learned all of my music and were singing along with me at every stop. And it’s crazy, they’re just so receptive you know what I mean cause they’re so young and we’re all going to be able to grow with them.

R: “Vanilla Sky” is one of my favorite tracks since there’s a “Vanilla Sky 2.0” on LIMBO could you explain how the original track came together?

P: The original track came together awhile ago I was visiting New York. I was in Brooklyn with the homies they’re now called Lion Share. Well no, they’re now, they changed their name. I still call them Lion Share. My good friends Jesse and Chris. We working on a bunch of different things, we had basically arranged an EP, like we had made so many songs together. This was one of the last ones that we worked on. And we were working on a vibe that was a little bit earthy and a lot of Rock influence to it, like that’s why you have the guitar in it. And the melody came to me instantly. And we started like vibing with it, and at the time I just felt like speaking everything that was on my mind, it was a beautiful process.

R: I just really like the song.

P: That’s dope, that’s crazy, that’s a crazy song. It’s all about people who, especially in today’s society where like internet is quick to love and then to hate things. It’s good to have those people around you who keep your moral support up, and not even just moral support, but just tell you what you need to get through the day, sometimes it’s not all good knowing the worst is about to come, or you’re about to grow through something that you might not want to go through sometimes you need that little pep talk with someone who’s close to you to help you get through it. That’s really what it is about “Vanilla Sky,” that’s really why I wrote it, for anybody that needs that boost or that lift from they know and trust that can get them through a hard time.     

R: On your LP release Floating While Dreaming you had quite a few featured artists, LIMBO doesn’t have any. Can you explain why you decided not to have people featured on your tracks this time around?

P: I feel like it coincided with the whole idea of isolation, that this project is coming from, the perspective of isolation. I wanted it just be my voice heard in, from a bunch of different perspectives that all leading up to same culminating point and I felt like sometimes features can distract from the main ideology of where the artist is coming from. And in this particular case, I wanted to make sure that my voice was heard throughout. And it’s shorter than Floating While Dreaming, so my voice won’t get tired.

R: What sparked your fascination with levitation? I see that on your project covers whether you’re horizontal or vertical and I wanted to know why.

P: Natsumi Hayashi. She’s the truth. One of my friends Avery Nejam, who did all the artwork for Floating While Dreaming as well as LIMBO introduced me to her and came up with some cool concepts around levitation photography because that’s what’s she’s known for. And I looked it up after she had told me about it, and we were like we have to do this and it coincided with everything I wanted to talk about. And it was just the idea of being elevated, or floating onto your dreams, or moving on to the next thing. It played perfect with everything that I want to do.

R: Can you talk about your last LIMBO track “Sandlot?”

P: When I was recording the track Sandlot was on. Like my homie has a VHS player, and he put in Sandlot.  We were watching Sandlot while it was being made, and it was just perfect because it was like the last track that I made on the album really. And that’s it’s last and it’s just felt very really chill, surreal, and cerebral. And I wanted to make sure that it encompassed the idea of not being where you fully want to be yet, but at the same time not selling yourself short because you’re not there yet. Sometimes you can psych yourself out and like “I’m never gonna get there cause I’m not there now.” But all you have to realize is that working every day for that future thing to happen or whatever outcome you want to happen like months from now or years from now, so all you can do is be comfortable where you’re at.    

R: For those that are reading this right now, for those that feel like they’re in limbo what advice would you give them?

P: Get back in touch with your roots, you know what I mean find family, friends, who make you remember who you were, before you feel like you were in a situation of limbo or you’re a transitional space, and they’ll help you see where you’re headed. In order to know where you’re going you have to see where you’ve come from.

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LIMBO drops tomorrow, find $10 and buy it.

The post Interview: Pell Talks LIMBO, Levitation, & Much More appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Back in October, Pell released his video “Wait On Me” featuring Dent. Today he premiers “The Never” featuring LV Baby from his well received album, Floating While Dreaming. As seen in the Greenhouse Collective-directed video, Pell and his female companion take a road trip across Mississippi to a 4th of July party.

The New Orleans native said a few words about his latest visual,

The song is really a take on how someone can fight adversity by being themselves and finding their own greatness – their own escape. I wanted the video to reflect that sense of self and escape.

Let us know what you think about Pell’s new video on a comment below.

The post New Video: Pell feat. LV Baby – “The Never” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Today, Pell brings us the video for his well received single, “Wait On Me” featuring  Dent May. Pell , a Mississippi native, was recently listed as Complex’s  list ’25 New Rappers To Watch Out for in 2014. The track is off his recently released album Floating While Dreaming and the beautifully directed video was filmed and edited by Joseph Katool. Watch the video below.

The post New Video: Pell Feat. Dent May – “Wait On Me” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

If you’ve got a couple of minutes to hear a truthful word, Pell has you covered. Today, he premiers the video  for “Runaway,” a track featured on his latest release, Floating While Dreaming. RESPECT. spoke with the New Orleans rapper shortly before the release of Floating While Dreaming  back in May and he called “Runaway” his most vulnerable track. Pell’s music pushes past the typical characteristics of southern music and has gives a fresh perspective on the genre itself. “Runaway” is just one of many enjoyable tracks that is lax and gives an open door to him as a relatable human being.

“Runaway,” was filmed and edited by Matt Robertson in downtown Los Angeles. Watch the video below and purchase Floating While Dreaming via iTunes.

The post Video Premier: Pell – “Runaway” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Pell, a southern rapper, is one artist that is challenging listeners to lend their eyes and ears for a broader outlook. Born in The Big Easy and having to relocate to Mississippi after Katrina, he’s formed his own sound, coined “dream-rap.” In 2011, Pell released Calphonic, a project that formally introduced him as a lyrically diverse artist with a southern edge. It wasn’t until 2012 that he released Feel Good Summer, an EP that gave his fans a taste of his experimental music side. His latest release, Floating While Dreaming, seeks to provide both substance and experimental sounds that radiates vulnerability and authenticity. RESPECT. spoke with Pell on his new body of work that he describes as “melodic and futuristic with soulful hooks.” He also speaks on his musical influences, his new sound, and how it all ties in with the inspiration behind Floating While Dreaming.

RESPECT.: After relocating to Mississippi during Katrina in 2005, you’ve mentioned that you were able to take the musical culture and life lessons from New Orleans. What were some of those musical influences?

Pell: I’ve taken a lot of influences from jazz and soul culture, i.e. a little Miles Davis and Rebirth Brass Band, and with rap, some Curren$y, Wayne, and others. Although its not too prevalent in my music, I still like to call on people like that to channel my inner artist because they inspire me to come through clean and uninterrupted in my pieces.

What was one life lesson that you learned?

That nothing lasts forever. You hear the adage again and again over time, but it never really hits home until you have something taken away from you. I had many items lost to the storm, but I was still blessed to have my family as a support system to build anew.

Your previous projects Calphonic and Feel Good Summer EP both have very distinctive sounds. Calphonic had more of a southern influence. Why did you decide to go in a different direction with Feel Good Summer?

I decided to go different with Feel Good Summer because as a person I am constantly changing. I was influenced by the sounds of summer as the project was scheduled for release then. I followed where my gut was taking me, and that was into the summer sun.

You’ve said he objective of Feel Good Summer was to “breakthrough the saturation and sense of contentment in the hip-hop world by experimenting with new sounds intertwined with lyrical vulnerability.” Why do you think it’s so important to show that the South is more versatile?

Good question. Coming out of the south, there isn’t really a market for an artist like me pushing a new wave, ambient sound. At first, I had to almost force people to listen when I would drop verses or lay down hooks. I think that is what really drives me to let people know what can be created down here; the fact that people in my own backyard weren’t making the same music as me. My mission is to push the culture, if not for the entire music industry, at least for the people and fans who first supported me. I’m actually happy that the new talent surrounding me from the South has been taking risks to be different and is carving out a new lane for their sound to be heard. It honestly is making music fun again.

What was the inspiration behind your new project, Floating While Dreaming?

Originally, I watched a documentary called Waking Life that inspired me to lucid dream. It also inspired me to tread on a path to know myself. Usually people go through life chasing their dreams so hard that they forget to look up, and once they do, they realize their whole life has been “floating” by. Some realize that they are going through the motions and want to make a change to find out who they are as a person and not become unconscious. The title and theme also reflects the soundscapes you hear throughout the album. When you listen to this record, I want you to feel like you’re on a cloud sipping Rosé with Ye, or listening to Alicia Keys playing her greatest hits, all while three video vixens call you by name and feed you grapes. That’s how it makes me feel, like I’m in paradise. Yes, at times there can be trouble in paradise and those same clouds can spout rain and we aren’t always prepared with an umbrella. But I want Floating While Dreaming to be that metaphorical umbrella for people, saving them from their own rainy day in paradise, and helping them to create a new day full of empowerment.

What type of sound can we expect from Floating While Dreaming? Is this an experimental project?

The album is very melodic. It’s not solely a rap album. I do a lot of singing. It has a futuristic feel to it, but that’s countered by soulful hooks and summer vibes. I would say that its experimental in the sense that I’m always pushing to re-invent myself musically, but don’t let that run you off. You’ll always get the real me in the end.

Vulnerability is what makes an artist more authentic and relatable. What’s your most vulnerable track on Floating While Dreaming?

I would say that my most vulnerable track on the album is “Runaway.” I don’t want to spoil it for the listener, but trust that it’s from the heart.

Your style of rapping has been termed “Dream Rap.” How would you describe “Dream Rap” ?

I would describe “Dream Rap” as me being me. As far as how it could be described sonically, I would say that it stems from ambient chords coupled with a relaxed flow/melody. Substance-wise, it’s usually music personifying a dream. That’s the aim.

Who is your go-to producer or the producer that you would credit for helping you to craft “dream rap.”

I would have to say that one of the people that has been with me from day one, Staccs, is my go-to guy when it comes to understanding my vision. I feel as though anything we make together will be classified as Dream Rap because it’s a sound that we started creating together and it comes out naturally.

It’s really hard to compare your musical style to any other artist that’s out right now. What are your feelings about not being able to be placed in a specific box?

I feel as though it helps my music spread faster. I think that since the sound is so distinct, people are able to identify who I am as an artist and it helps my message get across easier.

Since your sound is so different, who do you think you would have great chemistry with in the studio?

I think that I would have a fun time in the studio with Travi$ Scott, Pharrell, or Tyler, the Creator. Also, I would like to get in the studio with Andre 3000. Hope you’re reading this, Three Stacks.

Southern hip-hop is typically known for its bounce, trap and chop and screw, but your style is different from your southern peers. Do you for see yourself intertwining more southern elements or are you going to continue to go with experimental music?

You can expect some southern influence to shine through now and again, but for the most part I will keep my music progressive and experimental.

You collaborated with Big Sant on “Inner Peace.” He’s also an up-and-coming artist from Mississippi. Can we expect you to collaborate with more Mississippi artists in the near future?

Yes, for sure. A lot of my album features collaborations with artists/producers from Mississippi. I have Helen Le, LV Baby, Staccs, and even someone who I’ve looked up to artistically, Dent May, on the album.

Who are some of your dream collaborations within any genre of music?

Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend. I’ve been a fan too long and just have so much respect for his style. Travie Mccoy from Gym Class Heroes, Danny Brown. And I feel like this almost goes without saying, but I would love to work with Kanye West. There are some others too but that’s my top 5.

What are some of your plans for the remainder of 2014?  If you are going on tour, is there anyone in particular that you would like to join you? 

I have plans to release more videos for the rest of the summer, as well as going on tour as much as possible for the rest of the year. If I could pick the tour, I would like it to be with my camp, That Feel Good, along with Michael Christmas, SZA, and Banks. That would be a perfect lineup. Actually, we need to make that happen.

Pell‘s Dreaming While Floating is out now. The album is available for streaming below, free download here, and on May 27th on iTunes, with a bonus track and a digital booklet full of short stories Pell wrote himself, for $2.99.

The post Interview: Pell, “Dream-Rap,” And Changing Southern Hip-Hop appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

NOLA/Mississippi rapper Pell is providing a one stop shop promotional experience for the release of his upcoming project Floating While Dreaming. The LP, scheduled to be released May 20th via Spotify, includes 12 tracks, and his new single, “SC 2014.” The song features Detroit, Michigan rapper Boldy James with production credits from Staccs.  Listen to Pell flex his vocal skills on the chorus while we wait patiently for the album release date. Listen to “SC 2014” below.

The post Pell Releases Floating While Dreaming Artwork, Tracklist and New Single appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.