Pigeon John is the acclaimed emcee hailing from Hawthorne , CA who has been a part of the crews L. A. Symphony and Brainwash Projects. Each crew's respective albums “Composition #1” and “The Rise and Fall of…” have been deemed classics by the underground scene. PJ had made waves in the industry with his own classic albums “Clueless” and “Pigeon John is Dating Your Sister”, which has sold over 11,000 alone. LAS was a featured artist on Yahoo.com/NBA Summer Tour, appearing in a two page Levi's ads in Spin magazine, and having a featured song in the blockbuster movie ‘Get Over It”, which stared Kristen Dunst and Sisqo. Six LAS songs and Pigeon John's own “Identity Crisis” are heard on the Xbox games, Project Gotham and NBS Inside Drive 2002. His newest project “South Bay Blues” is a collection of poems and an exclusive eight song EP and he has an upcoming album entitled “Pigeon John Sings the Blues”, which the song “Upside Down Rotten is available for a listen in the music section of Hip Hop For the Soul. Pigeon John has also been recently signed to the label Quannum Projects which is home to Blackalicious, DJ Shadow, Lifesavas, Lyrics Born and many more.

HHFTS: What motivated you to become an emcee?

PJ: Listening to KDAY in L.A. and all my homeys either beatboxed, breaked, or rapped...so it was just everywhere, but it was when I heard De La Soul in '88 that really got me.

HHFTS: What made you decide to leave L. A. Symphony and center on a solo career?

PJ: Mostly it was the money factor, I wasn't able to pay my bills doing LAS alone and had just gotten married. I was happily doing both, but I was missing LAS shows in order to do PJ shows to make bills, so I thought I was being unfair to my brothers, and decided to leave. We are all very cool and still hang and go to the same church.

HHFTS: Will you be featured on any future L. A. Symphony albums?

PJ: I probably won't be featured on the next Gotee release, it bums me out but I know they are just focusing on blowing up the 5 man thing. I believe this record will be the blow up record for sure!

HHFTS: Tell me about your upcoming new album, Pigeon John Sings the Blues, what listeners hear on this release.

PJ: I call it "morning after music” really laid back and introspective, for people who listen to more than hip hop, melodies and stuff. I tried to imagine if the Beatles and De La Soul were to make a record, how would it sound?

HHFTS: You are also publishing a book of poems entitled South Bay Blues, how long have you been writing poetry and what influenced you to publish a book?

PJ: Well I've been writing since the 90's and Mark Soloman of Stavesacre asked if I was interested in putting the book and he gave me his friends contact. I sent it in and they really liked it! And it comes out March 8th on pigeonjohn.com

HHFTS: How did you hook up with the label Quannum Projects?

PJ: I went out on the road with Lyrics Born for a month and half, at the end of the trip we kinda talked about the possibility of rolling with them, and a year later I'm on the team!

HHFTS: The upcoming Brainwash Projects' album, Willy Walnuts and the Chocolate Man, what does the title represent?

PJ: My power and I kill anything I touch.

HHFTS: How will this Brainwash Projects' release differ from the debut, The Rise and Fall?

PJ: It will follow the same vibe, be like a sequel, straight up hip hop with no frills, coming late next year 2005.

HHFTS: Any last words?

PJ: Thanks for ruining my life!


Interviewer- Caleb Kinney (Hip Hop For The Soul)