PI'ERRE BOURNE

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PI’ERRE BOURNE

THE CROSSOVER Nobody in the music industry is more suited to thriving during lockdown than star producer turned star rapper Pi’erre Bourne who’s stepping back into the spotlight this fall with the 5th installment and finale to his The Life Of Pi’erre series and his very own label Sosshouse. That is if he can stand being away from his aunt’s oxtails, abstain from his habit of collecting stuffed Pikachus on his travels, or grapple with the socially injust whirlwind black men experienced in 2020 for much longer.

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Well, I will say that I’m well aware of my black history. I watched a lot of documentaries over the years. It’s now hitting me during my generation. Everything that’s going on has already been happening. It’s now being picked up worldwide. The affect now is way bigger. People feel the need to express themselves. I pray for it to get better. I’m a black man. I deal with this everyday, this stigma everyday. It’s hard for us.”

The 27-year-old Pi’erre Bourne, who celebrated aging another year on September 19, speaks on the social climate in a sympathetic tone that belies his charting status as he speaks from the undisclosed location where he’s stowed himself away with his girlfriend - “I have a girlfriend and I love her” - and his best friend / creative director, AJ Bourne. Right now, here, there, or anywhere, he’s just Columbia, SC-bred, Queens, NY-fed Jordan Timothy Jenks. Humble. Gifted. Nuanced.

It was only until Pi’erre successfully transitioned to a rapper from a producer that he discovered more about his family’s musical history. Funny how that works. When Pi’erre’s mom was a kid, she tried to form a band with her sisters, brothers and parents a la the Jackson 5.

“It was a phase,” Pi’erre says with nonchalance.

But he can remember it. But he can’t remember hisearliest memory of music. Maybe that’s how embedded itis inside of his spirit. He’s stumped upon answering.

“I honestly don’t know as far as a song. I can’t reallygive you one song.”

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Maybe it’s because when he was younger, he wanted to be like Ash Ketchum. “Everywhere I travel to, I grab a [stuffed] Pikachu. It’s just cool. Put it in my bookbag and go,” he says.

“Queens had a big influence on me. It had a lot of artists come from the area and blossom. Not just artists. Other entertainers. It’s not the birthplace of hip hop but it’s one of the places where it had a huge groundbreaking movement with RUN DMC and LL Cool J. I still wear my Yankees hat and my Mets hat,” he says about Queens.

TLOP4 and its deluxe reiteration featured cuts like fanfavorites like “Poof” and “Deja Vu.” I ask him why hebelieves these songs were gravitated towards by the fans.

“I’m not sure. With “Poof,” that’s a special song to me. I like all the music I end up putting out. It shows me what my strongest point might be. In “Poof,” I had great delivery and catchy sayings. “Deja Vu,” I think when I did that song, I took my time. I know I played it on my IG Live a couple of times. That’s one they really wanted. Some of the songs on the Deluxe were 2, 3 year old snippets.”

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This naturally lead to the topic of leaks. If you think Cartihas leaks, you already know Bourne has leaks.

“I used to be on top of it and get every link and send it to my label. Right now, I haven’t been consistent with making sure. Honestly, I used to go on IG Live and it would get screen recorded. It would go on YouTube. I learned that by doing that I would see what songs they don’t like. I get to see the feedback rather than trying to take it down immediately. It’s been working. It’s been what the fans want. I’m happy I can somewhat communicate with them rather than actually communicating with them.”

He’s an optimist! He’s a Virgo! “I’m well aware of my Zodiac sign but I don’t know too much about it.” However, all’s well that ends well. He’s focused on TLOP5 more than ever.

“I haven’t recorded in a couple of weeks. I’ve been mainly on my engineering stuff, trying to get my artists’ music done and trying to do a lot of production. I rest my voice. When I go back and record, I do it fresh and have a lot to say. At the end of September, I’ll be finishing TLOP5. I’ll be back recording. [Playboi] Carti’s on the album. I feel like I should just end the series with Carti since that’s who I blew up with,” he says.

But, how many times is Carti on TLOP5?

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“I can’t tell you the number,” he says. I can hear him giveup a sheepish grin.

I ask him about producing Love Hurts.

“That beat isn’t the whole beat. When they recorded, they used the intro. That’s what the song ended up being as far as the beat. It’s just the intro of my beat. They didn’t let it drop.”

However, he won’t speak much about Carti’s current musicor forthcoming album Whole Lotta Red, anyway.

“You gotta call Carti and ask him,” he says, slightlyannoyed.

Or even any unreleased music with Kanye West.

“I’d rather not speak on that.”

There’s aspects of his music that come natural to him, like his unique ad libs on his song “Fortune Cookie.” “I just wanted to do something cool.” But then there’s aspects of his music that he takes on with a vehement seriousness. “I don’t send the same beat to different artists. Everyone gets their own unique pack.”

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“It’s usually what people don’t pick,” he says, when I ask him about his own recording. An unselfish king. Your fav could never. I ask him about Instagram. “I don’t post often. I’m trying to do better.” I ask him about how many apps and games he has on his phone. “I’m not an app guy. I don’t know. I got San Andreas. I got Mario Kart.” Does Pi’erre have a favorite drink? “I don’t drink alcohol heavily. I don’t have a favorite drink. I don’t drink. In college, I did.” “Everybody’s just grinding right now. It’s grind mode right now. Everybody’s used to a certain lifestyle and they cann’t live that way. It’s a learning experience or learning curve for the industry. I think everybody will be alright,” he says about the pandemic. “I want to learn the guitar. It just hurts my fingers. It’s the only thing I don’t like about it. I always tell myself, ‘man, you know you supposed to know how to do that,’ but it just hurts my fingers,” he says.

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