Written by W. Kazi Mbugua, JD, Vice President of All In-House Entertainment.
The first time I watched Papi Grande perform was at the ‘Second Mondays Open Mic Night’ hosted by Gold Beams in Oakland, CA, in the summer of 2023. The venue was a sizable auditorium, but by 6 pm, on a Monday no less, the room was filled and the show was rolling. The line up of open mic performers consisted of spoken word, hip-hop, and R&B artists. But that night, one artist stood out in particular: Papi Grande. First, he opened his seven minute set with a spoken word piece, followed by a rap performance whereby he seamlessly transitioned his spoken word delivery over a hip-hop beat. All I could think was, 'if Common could see Papi Grande in action, he'd be very proud of his Bay Area protege'.
Released April 2024
Hailing from Oakland, Papi Grande is known throughout the California hip-hop circuit for his refreshing spoken word/hip-hop/poetry style and effervescent energy. And his latest music release on YouTube, ‘Untouchable’, showcases Papi Grande at his best.
What appears to be a uncut live recording of his verse, the Oakland artist is in his element as he even drops the line “walking in my purpose, it is not far away.”
I followed up with the poet recently to better understand what keeps him motivated to keep polishing his craft. “Life keeps me driven," he professed. Papi Grande then elaborated by sharing, "This is what I am called to [do], I love to live! Constantly surrounded with energies circulating and I experience them from my own perspective and expression comes from my core. I do it before I realize and I allow it to flow freely.”
On the mic, Papi Grande is comfortable, authentic, and well rehearsed. But the evolution of his artistry is what's even more impressive given the exponential progress he's made in a mere three years.
‘Run It Back’ & ‘Scared of Love’ 2023
2023 was a good year for Papi Grande. In ‘Run It Back’, his voice is confident, his cadence is on point, and delivery prompt. The way the piano kicks in at the top of the song gives it a Bay Area vibe while providing enough space for Papi Grande to recite his ostentatious poetry. Thats right, poetry. Though delivered over a beat, there is no chorus, hook, nor common archetypes that would suggest that this is a traditionally structured hip-hop song. And thats what I love about Papi Grande's approach to music. Rather than straddle a line of spoken-word artist and rapper, Papi Grande has introduced us to an authentic form of ‘hip-hop poetry’.
‘Scared of Love’ is a love poem that doubles down on Papi Grande's ability to showcase both his artistry as a poet and hip-hop IQ. His use of emphasis is that of a spoken word artist as he annunciates his lyrics, but then he also ad libs the lyrics like a hip-hop artist to tie the music together. Its a delicate balance, but Papi Grande does it in a manner that feels incredibly natural and unforced.
“I describe my music as a tool to catch a glimpse of experiences going on inside and outside. To allow myself and others to manifest for themselves," he told me.
But diving deeper into his catalog, I quickly realized that crafting his new found lane required Papi Grande to make some forced and unnatural music to get where he is today.
'Art of Loyalty' 2022
‘Art of Loyalty’ Released 2022
‘Art of Loyalty’ by Yung Breaauj was released in 2022, and featured Papi Grande throughout the project.The two artists carry very different styles going into their verses and Yung Breaauj is in her bag the entire album. She is clearly comfortable in her lane as delivers her verses in a low-key mumble rap fashion. Plus, her pen game and beat selection per track is not bad either. While the two attempt to ying and yang off of each other’s style and energy, Papi Grande's verses sound noticeably less polished than his more recent work. In six of twelve features on the album, a few songs felt awkward, to say the least. On ‘End of Time’, it as though Papi Grande is out of his depth on a rap song as a poet. His cadences are ill timed in the context of rap, but otherwise well timed in the context of reciting poetry or spoken word. ‘Change’ is another example of witnessing Papi Grande trying to rework his poetry skills into a rap verse. His words are deep, but then the punch lines fall flat and the rhyme scheme is MIA.
But from feature to feature, it is clear that Papi Grande used each song as an opportunity to figure out what kind of balanced approach was needed. In ‘Ever Know’ and ‘Bomb’ we even get a few glimpses of the Papi Grande we see today.
‘All Had Choices’ 2021
Papi Grande's debut album, ‘All Had Choices’ was released in 2021 at the height of the pandemic. Noticeably unmixed and unmastered, the entire project feels like a rough draft that was uploaded instead of the masters. But the attempt was worthy. When asked whether he had ever recorded music before this album, he replied, “‘All Had Choices’ was the first project I ever made in the realm of music and it remains a blueprint, having the keys to my future and how to get there today.”
Papi Grande’s opening song ‘Love Me’ was an interesting start to the project and it featured a familiar collab, Yung Breaauj. On this song, Papi opens up with a little Drake in his voice as he switches modes from his poetic approach to rapping. ‘Bay Sh*t’ was also a cool ode to his Bay Area roots. Without a feature, Papi Grande steadily treaded the beat with his prompt poetic delivery, foreshadowing the song as a link in the evolution to his 2023 single ‘Run It Back’. Overall, I agree with Papi Grande, this project truly represents the origin and blueprint of the artist we know and love today.
If you can listen past the raw mixes, then you can hear the determination in Papi Grande's voice as he manifests the best version of himself in every song.
When asked which artist has inspired him the most, he told me, "I couldn't speak about my musical influences without bringing up my family! Yung Breaauj and Thaillnai, as artists, helped to inspire me daily! After them, I pay respects to BIG, Ice Cube, Em, and Drake fasho!"
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