Despite stay at home orders, a full-on quarantine and a constricted ability to promote music the old-fashioned way, Compton, California, rapper Problem has been as innovative as any artist in 2020. Since filming a movie short — A Compton Story — while subsequently releasing new music to coincide with it, Problem has stayed the course.
His most recent release, Coffee & Kush, Vol. 1, boasts 10 tracks and production by Terrace Martin, with additional slaps courtesy of Mike & Keys, 1500 or Nothin’ and newcomers Miles Rose & DJ Kai.
Ever the innovator, Problem used the extra time on his hands to create an intimate live session with Barking Owl (Ad Age‘s music and sound company of year) in support of the project, where he performed stand out tracks including, “Coffee & Kush,” “Janet Freestyle” and “G S—.”
He shared with us how the project came together.
What inspired this session and how did you go about doing it with the quarantine intact?
I connected with Kelly at Barking Owl who has great space in LA where she puts together advertising campaigns for some of the biggest and hottest brands (Adidas and Donald Glover’s “Dusty,” “Expen$ify This” with 2 Chainz and Adam Scott and Reebok’s “Storm The Court”). She had an idea to use the space as a platform for live sessions that she could use to get independent artists in front of the brands and licensors. It was an opportunity where we could help each other while creating some amazing content.
What was that like, especially since the governor is tightening up due to the rise in cases?
We taped the set a couple months ago before the current spike in new coronavirus cases, but we took extra precautions with all the musicians before taping the performance. I’m someone who takes this virus serious.
It ended up being a great way to give my fans a free show!
How and why does this project feel different?
This project is different because it wasn’t trying to be. It’s all 100 honesty and transparency. No fluff. No useless meanings. Just my early morning thoughts while I have my Coffee & Kush over some fly music.
Check the session out after the jump.
