PBGR ( PLAY BROKE GET RICH ) – INTERVIEW

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How did you guys meet and when did do you decide to make music as a duo?

We went to the same college but never spoke to each other…we tell this story so much about how we used to “watch” each other but never actually acknowledge each other with a nod or anything, then it was kind of crazy that we ended up going to the same uni and we had a mutual friend who brought us together, we got to chill with one another day in day out, and started noticing each others skill to rap, we started recording songs with another one of our friends, and everyone we’d play it to felt like it was something that had a lot of potential. After making songs like ‘Ordinary hick & billy the kid, we realised that taking music seriously could actually make an impact on our lives, but we knew one person venturing out on their own could slow down the progression of both of us so we decided we were going to form a duo act.

 

What do you believe that you both bring to the table and how do you compliment each other?

 We definitely try to bring our characters to life through the music. The mix of both of us is kinda unorthodox because you never know what to expect, and I feel thats a very big positive for us as rappers. We also push each other every time we are in studio, constructive criticism always plays a part in our sessions because we strive for perfection, we can spend hours trying to make sure a verse sounds right.

 

There are a few duos in the UK rap scene at the moment [Krept & Konan, Brotherhood, Ard Adz & Shallow], why do you think this is? And are you worried about comparisons?

We couldn’t speak for the people you’ve just mentioned, we really just focus on ourselves and do what we feel regardless of what other people think, so to even think of reasons as to y theres is a few duo’s about would only slow us down, tbh we don’t actually take in whether its a duo or solo act, it always about the music. The music needs to be great.Comparisons will always happen, its the way of the world, so worry doesn’t even come into it. the fact ur being compared means your doing something worthy of being spoken about. We just hope its not just because we are a duo that people choose to compare us with other artists – compare the quality of the music.

 

How did the name PBGR (Play Broke Get Rich) come about?

The name PBGR came from a friend of ours, at the time he was coming up with so many acronyms, and PBGR is just one that stuck, we decided to use the name because it related to us a lot, which is also where the name for our first mixtape came from “LIVE AND MAINTAIN”, the 1st time we all watched  the movie ‘Paid in Full’ that phrase stuck with us, because it seemed like the easiest way to survive in this world.

 

Ever since you released your first project ‘Live & Maintain’ back in 2012, what has been your favourite track to date and why?

Crunch:

2mrw because it was one of the last tracks recorded for the black market the project didn’t feel complete until we recorded it.

 Skeps:

‘2mrw’ is one of my favs, so is ‘Humble Pie’ and so is ‘Four Seasons’, to pick a favourite it would have to be a track which is yet to be released, I wont say the name just yet because we are still going back and fourth with the producer for the rights of the track, but if you came to our show @ birthdays you would have heard it being perfomed, in fact we performed it for the very first time that day and since then people have been asking us when its coming out, so we are just trying to get the ball rolling for that to happen. It also features someone who hasnt featured on our released songs, so it will be a good suprise for people when it comes out. And honestly it was a bit off a spin off from ‘2mrw’, we took ideas from that song and made something special.

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What is your usual process for recording a track?

Our process for recording usually stems from whatever mood the music puts us in, for example the beat itself could put us an inspirational mood, which would we then try and emulate. Most of the time we are touching on our past experiences so the music can be relatable to the listener, once the recording process is done, we leave the track with DC & JC to mix and add their ideas to the track, just to give it what it might need, then we come in again and give the track an overall listen, and if need be touch up the parts that need work, before the final mix & master. We believe music cant be rushed.

 

You released your debut album ‘The Black Market’ back in August last year and it has been shown love by Mail Online, GRMDaily and Urban Revolution magazine amongst others. What did you want people to take away from the Project?

Our main reason for putting out ‘The Black Market’ was because we wanted to put out a body of work that back to back theres not one song you would want to skip, and also the fact you would be getting great music coming out of the UK, we wanted people to have emotional attachment to songs, and not just a body of work that you couldn’t listen to for years to come. We sat on the music for a while before it came out just to make sure its right within our inner circle, because ultimately if we don’t like it or believe in it why should we expect anyone else to believe in the music. We also wanted to make sure sonically we raise the bar within ourselves. That plays a vital part within our music, its like an achievement when people recognise the quality in the music because we spent a lot of time getting it right.

The album features guest appearances from both Mo the Artist and Miraa May, why did you choose to work with those particular artists?

That’s the family they’re like the vocal instruments within PBGR, their range both individually and together is second to none, in my opinion they are going to become greats, and we are more than happy for them to be a part of our journey. 

People don’t understand as well as a duo PBGR should also be looked at as a movement, because we literally all sit in studio sometimes whether it be a Miraa May track or a Mo track and try to get the best out of the music, its all love and everyone goes hard for each other. 

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Where is the best place you’ve performed live and why?

Best place we performed live was at BIRTHDAYS for OTFYM. It was a special night as it was our first headline show, which was sold out. It was great because we dedicated how we wanted the show to run, we didn’t want it to be a typical “Rap show” with opening acts and a host. We just got everyone in the team together and gave them a good performance. It was the best feeling knowing everybody was there because they believed in the music and genuinely came out to have fun. It was also nice sharing the stage with some of our friends and giving them a chance to come out and be part of a great night. The fact everyone came out had fun and there was no trouble, it gave us a lot of confidence that we could bring people together and entertain them. It’s one of those memories we will always cherish.

 

Your videos to date have all been creative and visually aesthetic, how do you usually go about creating a video and how do you come up with ideas?

Thank you we’re glad people notice these things. We normally sit down as a team and discuss what we envision the video to look like and try our best to execute. We work hand in hand with our visuals team which is just another extension of PBGR called NEW ARTS and we all just share ideas and bounce off of each other. We also do alot of research into different methods of shooting, different themes to explore and try to gather as much inspiration we can from the things we love visually. For example ‘Well Wishers’ and ‘La Familia’ was very much pop art inspired.

 

What’s next for you as a team and what have you got lined up in terms of material?

We hope to put together a series of shows, which will help people get to know PBGR a lot more and we can get to know the people who love our music as well, we are currently finalising things for that so when the time comes we will make announcements. Expect another show like OTFYM but bigger and better with the same theme of if you don’t come to the show you may have missed out on some brand new unreleased music. As a team, we’re focusing on our creativity and our craft. We have goals for this year and the next. Some good things are on the horizons. In regards to material – we’re always working. When the time is right – the fans and the public will hear and see.

To keep up with PBGR’s Musical journey follow them on Twitter at @PBGRMusic

 Interview by: Nathan Tuft – @Natz_AO

 

 

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