Pe$o has been making music for years but recently pivoted to DJing and taking it more seriously. Back in 2015, Pe$o was signed to an independent label and was making noise around the city. He released music on SoundCloud and many of his songs made waves around the city. “Pull Up” featuring Zip K was a party favorite, “Seen It All” featuring Mook Player was a personal favorite, and “Mula” featured one of the hottest rappers in Atlanta at the time, Key! Pe$o pulled up to rolling out for this week’s DJ spotlight.
Why did you switch to Deejaying?
Facts. So it’s like during the pandemic, or right before the pandemic, I started throwing this event called Power Call. And like, I kind of fell in love with just the behind-the-scenes side of the music. Like the A and R side, the event planning side, the side that really be making money in this. So I pivoted because the rapping is cool, but it’s more temporary. Because really, I started DJing in 2020, during the Pandemic. Then a lot of what I did as a rapper is helping me kind of skip steps as a DJ too.
What got you into marketing?
It was my strength as an artist. Like we just gonna keep pushing this. I’m gonna just keep pushing until it blows up and it’s out of here. That’s what I’m on. I like marketing. My favorite thing to do is market and see if it worked. The reason you know who I am and everybody that knew what I was doing is not ‘cause pmy music was just so fire. I always knew how to get my name out there.
You got a verse with Key! in 2015 when he was at one of his hottest peaks, how did that happen?
We paid him. I mean, not me, though. I was signed to a independent label. And like Key! now that’s my bro, like post paying him for a feature. Like, he pulled up for the video, we shot it in the church. Crazy, he did that off the strength. So we paid him for the song, but he really f-cked with the song. Then he met us in person, and he was like, oh, that’s you? You Pe$o? Hell yeah, let’s do it. He did that just off the strength. Shout out to Key!
Why do you think OG Maco took off first?
Key! was one of my favorite rappers. OG Maco, to me, wasn’t as good as Key! So when I seen him kind of elevate over Key!, it was strange to me a little bit. Even on their joint tape, Key! had fire verses on every song, but Maco had that energy every stage he hit. So that’s the marketability. Coach K and QC Pee were probably able to see the star power easier. And then, you know, who knows what the actual politics of that was? But long story short, back then you could do anything like Trinidad James.
I hear you are working on a production album?
I take producing very serious so, yeah, I gotta tape on the way. No Diddy, but I’m executive producing the EP that’s about to come out. It guys artists like Yo Dog, Quentin Miller, E. Chapo, who I mentioned earlier. F.L.Y. Mook, the guy that made swag surfing. Go Juny and Okay Surf too.
