What’s your stage name and where are you from?
Pook Hustle, Crown Heights, Brooklyn (N.Y)
What’s the story behind your stage name?
It’s a combination of a my childhood nickname my mother gave me “Pook” and the “Hustle I added myself. It’s a reminder to never give up because a lot of the people who’re from where I’m from had the talent but gave up due to circumstance. I want to be a reminder that your circumstances don’t have to define you. You can do anything if you’re willing to work/hustle for it.
Describe your musical journey in three sentences.
An adventure of self-actualization and community building. When I started doing music I thought I would become a better artist music but now I’m a better person. Some of my friends call me the Mayor of Brooklyn because I can’t go anywhere without shaking a hand or two.
Share an interesting experience you had while creating your latest track.
During the writing process I focused on the melody instead of the lyrics & something magical happened. The words kind of just came to me.
What message do you want to convey through your music?
An updated version of masculinity. Even though I’m on a hero’s journey, I’m still human. There aren’t enough compelling examples of healthy/honest masculinity in today’s media. I want to show that we’re multi-dimensional beings even if there’s social pressure to only display masculinity in a specific way.
Tell us about a challenge you faced during production and how you overcame it.
Finding the art direction. Being that I haven’t had a formal arts education, it was so hard to figure out what we were going to do for the rollout but trusting my team for this project, after shooting all the content, I had a Eureka moment. I leaned on KHAJE & Abayomi The Shotta for guidance & I found the perfect cover for each record on “Clearing Space.”.
If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?
50 Cent. He’s one of the greatest Hip-Hop artists & songwriters of all time. I feel like he would be an excellent mentor for me.
Where do you see your music taking you in the next year?
Touring and collaborating with new producers & musicians.
What’s the next big step for you as an artist?
Going on my first college tour & doing my first NPR Tiny Desk submission.
Where can we hear/watch your most recent work?
On spotify, Apple, Instagram, YouTube, Tik-Tok etc.
