The Break
Plaiboy Juan is taking his music ambitions into overdrive
By SUGA DA BRAINIAC BABE The Break/www.ClevelandHipHop.net
There’s far more to being an artist than meets the eye by way of music videos and gossip blogs. It takes a real passion and consistency in your work to produce the results most artists in Cleveland hopes to obtain. Taking the initiative to learn various aspects of the business is imperative in order to achieve desirable results in this cut throat business and Plaiboy Juan is taking his ambition into OVERDRIVE.
Suga Da Brainiac Babe: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. First question, I’ve heard of you for quite a while through mutual acquaintances, tell me what is it about your style that has so many people supporting you?
Plaiboy Juan: The first thing that come to mind when I hear that is, they just simply relate to me, i try to stress real life experiences in my music, whether, its party, pain, good or bad.
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Suga Da Brainiac Babe: So, how long have you been taking this career seriously and when did you realize that you had skills? |
Plaiboy Juan: I fell in love with poetry as an art form… January 17, 1998… (laughing) some think it’s funny i know the exact date… but that was actually my first performance at Superior Elementary School. From that day on, I knew I wanted to do nothing else. I started Vital Ent. in 2004. That’s when i really started taking it serious from a business stand point
Suga Da Brainiac Babe: So, how long have you been taking this career seriously and when did you realize that you had skills?
Plaiboy Juan: Thank you… as CEO of Vital, I’m in charge of every aspect of running a company, from, finance, managing my artist, (Trouble the Aviator), promotion, even down to engineering… (Laughing) I’m like a jack of all trades. the name Vital Entertainment actually came from two meanings, one, that i feel like my presence in the entertainment industry is vital, and also music is like my life line/ vital sign.
Suga Da Brainiac Babe: Very impressive, I’m just starting my company out and my hands are in everything as well. What advice do you have for anyone pursuing this lifestyle and how has it affected your everyday life?
Plaiboy Juan: The best advice I can give to anyone is to stay passionate, never lose faith, and it will all pay off. you have to go into OVERDRIVE, and do what will separate you from the others. Just know nothing comes easy! (Laughing) I don’t even know what an everyday life is… there’s really no time for what most would call a normal one.
Suga Da Brainiac Babe: I can definitely relate to not being normal (Laughing). Now you mentioned what I consider to be your moniker, Mr. Overdrive. What influenced this movement? Is there a specific reason that you decided to take your career into overdrive?
Plaiboy Juan: The overdrive movement was influenced by just never being satisfied… overdrive is actually pushing yourself beyond the limits, but i figured, who decides what the limits are? when i finally rest my head I am mentally and physically exhausted… then i know I’ve achieved something for that day. My family is the biggest reason I decided to take my career into OVERDRIVE! I have a son who thinks the world of me, a mother who has sacrificed her whole life in order to make me a better person… and a sister who deserves it all… (Laughing) I feel like that’s more than enough.
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Suga Da Brainiac Babe: I respect that and actually live by the same creed. Now getting into your mix tape, I noticed that you did a song with Tino Baby, one of my favorite artists out of “The Land”, how did this compilation come about?
Plaiboy Juan: Man Tino grinds! (Laughing) I always admire any artist that grinds just as hard as me. I’m always looking to collab with good artists no matter how popular they are. One of the problems with Cleveland is that we are sometimes shallow minded about the talent around us… So my producer Apaulo Beats sent me the track, I dropped the verses, and i knew before Tino did that he would be on it. (Laughing)
Suga Da Brainiac Babe: I couldn’t agree with you more, in fact I’m going to send you a link in a while of some of what I do, my sisters are really trying to get me to collab with you and by listening to your mix tape, I am very interested in working with you. Going back to some of your previous works, what was your muse behind your song Gravity and what went on with one of your videos on which the ECPD started messing with you?
Plaiboy Juan: Most def.. it would be a pleasure to drop with you… The inspiration behind Gravity just came from noticing that whatever you do in life there will always be a force trying to bring you down. You just have to stay strong and prevail. I wanted to give those who have never grown up in poverty, or even experienced it an open window into our lives, and show that a rose can actually blossom from concrete. ECPD has harassed our community as long as i can remember. (Laughing while talking) Protect n serve?? Nall more like harass and corrupt. but it was just a prime example of gravity. I’m out doing something constructive and they find a way to shine a bad light on it. but one of my goals are to give back to the city!
Plaiboy Juan: Thank you. I try my hardest, funny sometimes I feel like that’s not even enough. I never had a father in my life, so I’m pretty much trial and error. One of the major problems in the black community is we don’t have the blessing of knowledge being passed down from generation to generation. My goal is to break that chain in my family. What I teach him, he can add to what he teaches his. My son is the reason i wake up every morning, (Laughing) he knows my music, I mean every word. That just makes me feel like i have to make it for him! my legacy!
Suga Da Brainiac Babe: Much respect, I love how you responded to that because that’s what I’m getting at, it’s imperative to fit in time for your child. Now I really dig your song Reconstruction, describe the concept behind that track.
Plaiboy Juan: It’s just not being afraid to be different. I feel like everyone is sounding the same right now. some people get the misconception that if you’re from the hood all you have to rap about is being hard core. Well anyone who knows me can’t take anything away from my gangsta, but at the end of the day I’m a father and musician before anything, so i make music that i feel.
Suga Da Brainiac Babe: Much respect. It’s been a pleasure chatting with you, now to close tell Cleveland what needs to be done in order for our music scene to take off and tell us about upcoming shows and where we can find your music,
Plaiboy Juan: CLEVELAND, SUPPORT, SUPPORT, SUPPORT, SUPPORT! That’s the biggest thing we can do to achieve anything! Upcoming shows… you can catch me Sept. 11th at the Ohio Mix tape Awards, Club Sin W. 6th Street. You can find my music at www.playboijuan.com, my Boi to a Man album is on sale on iTunes, mix tapes on datpiff. I’m everywhere. (Laughing) They can just Google me.
Suga Da Brainiac Babe: That’s what sup, ok I’ll be hooking up with you soon to collab Have a Blessed one.
Plaiboy Juan: Most def… you too, thanks for the opportunity.
Suga Da Brainiac Babe: You’re Welcome. |
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Tenacity, perseverance, a strong work ethic, strong family values and pure talent. This is what should be more prevalent amongst my peers here in “The Land”. It takes more than being able to pick up a microphone to be respected in this business. If you’re around people that don’t take your dreams as serious as you do, change your company and do your own research. Nothing comes to a sleeper but dreams. You have to wake up and take action to bring those dreams into manifestation. We’re going into OVERDRIVE ‘round here. What are you doing?
(This interview is the official property of Unbreakable Records and www.ClevelandHipHop.net)
