Interview with Petey Pablo

By David Friedman

What can people expect when they pick up your debut album?

They can expect to hear what they’re really expecting — music. You’re not gonna hear me talk about how many girls I’ve got or how many people I’ve done killed. You’ve got melodies, you’ve got harmonies, you’ve got music. I’ve got the hip-hop version of what a Michael Jackson album feels like, or what a Prince album feels like. I really have music. I’m bringing it back to where it’s supposed to be.

I read that you don’t put out songs about killing people or driving fancy cars. What do you focus on instead?

I focus on the music that the average, everyday individual can relate to — the people that don’t have Bentleys, the people that don’t have Ferraris, the people that don’t have record deals, the people that don’t sell drugs, the people that are married with children. I write the music for the average individual.

Your first single "Raise Up" was produced by Timbaland. Did you write it to his beat or did he make the beat after hearing your lyrics.

I’m gonna tell you somethin’. That ‘Raise Up’ beat, that was the first beat that I got from Timbaland. I’m a big Timbaland fan myself. I heard the music that Tim produced and it sounded like a track like the ‘Raise Up’ track. So when he gave it to me, I thought he was testin’ me to see if I was worthy of a Timbaland track. And I respected that. So he gave me the track and nobody expected me to do a ‘Raise Up’ to that track. I wrote it after he had gave it to me.

Why is the album called "Diary Of A Sinner"?

I don’t look at my album as being an album; I look at my album as being my life in a diary. It’s my personal diary that I’ve put into a musical form, and that’s what all of my albums will be. All my albums will be diary entries. My next album, which you can tell the world, will be the ‘Diary Of A Sinner: The Next Day.’ And so on and so forth. As long as my life is, that’s how long ‘Diary Of A Sinner’ goes on.

Which part of North Carolina did you grow up in?

Greenville. And I moved to Raleigh some years later.

What was life like? Was your family well off or really poor?

It basically was me, my mom, my sister, my grandmother and my aunt. It wasn’t that we had a lot of money, but we weren’t poor. I’m not gonna get on no record or no interview and tell you about the holes in the floor and that the windows were broke out, ’cause it wasn’t like that. I was a spoiled child; I had everything that I wanted. The only reason that I lived the life that I did was that that was a life I chose. I had everything I wanted. (When) Christmas time would come, I was envied. But we still weren’t rich. It wasn’t like I had the designer this or the designer that. But we were fine. We had food to eat every day, we had a roof over our heads, we had clothes to put on our back and we had a family that really loved each other.

It sounds like life was really decent, to say the least.

It was decent. The only struggle came from me wanting more for my family and feeling like if they had one less individual to take care of — if my mom only had her and my sister and my grandmother and my aunt to take care of, couldn’t she do the things she was doing for me for herself? That’s the reason I took myself away from my family. I left home when I was 13 years old to assume the responsibilities of being a man.

Where did you go when you left your mother’s house and what did you do with your life?

I went to Baltimore and I stayed there for a while with different friends of mine. I had family there and I’d stay with them for a while. I got into that fast life. I got into the sellin’ drugs, into the robbin’ people, into this, into that. And it went on until I got tired of that life and I finally gave up. By then, I had moved back to North Carolina — to Raleigh — and that’s when I got locked up.

Did going to jail mark the bottom of the fast life for you?

Yeah. Me getting locked up was the bottom. That’s when I really hit rock bottom, ’cause I was completely drained. I was tired. I had been out here all these years assuming an adult responsibility, only being a child. I had completely given up a childhood where I should have been in the park playin’ on the slides and the swings, and I’m out here with guns and bulletproof vests on. I was just completely exhausted. I was ready to end it — by death or by me going to jail. I broke the law. I got a 14-year sentence and I did six from the 14 (from ages) 19 to 25.

How did you get started as a rapper?

I’ve always been into music because I grew up in the church. I used to sing in the choir. So music was always a part of my life, even when I was out there selling drugs. But rap, to me — you might not be a mechanic, but you can fix a car. That’s how it used to be with rap to me. I used to see guys tryin’ to rap and I’d be like, ‘That ain’t how you do it.’ And they’d be like ‘Show me how to do it.’ I be like, ‘I’m not a rapper, but this is how I think you should do it.’ Everybody was like, ‘You’re the shit.’ And I would do it from time to time. I’d hear a song come on and I’d come into a spot and everybody would want to hear me get on the mic. I’d do it, but it wasn’t nothing that I was looking forward to for paying my bills and making a better life. I couldn’t get into rap ’cause it would take too much time to go and get there. I already got a ki of cocaine, so I’m gonna pump this here. That rap, I’d do that in my spare time. But when I went to prison, all I had was my music. My music had the ability to change lives

Where do you hope your rap career takes you in the months and years to come?

My goal in this music business is to be here as long as I’m alive. I want my music to be here. I want to be the Michael Jackson and the Prince of hip-hop. I want to be a legend. I want to change the world. I want to give them songs that mean something. I want to uplift the spirits of a multitude. I want to be able to stand on the hill and look at the changes that I’ve made as I look over into the valley.

BG
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