Pursuit of Happiness: How P-Lo Gets Out the Box
Ahead of his new album, ‘Out the Box,’ P-Lo looks to defeat his own limits.
Photo illustration by Okayplayer.
It’s not often you’re able to return a favor to a dead person, but P-Lo managed it this past spring. Working with Drake to interpolate a classic track from the late Mac Dre, the 35-year-old helped craft the beat for the song that became “2 Hard 4 the Radio,” a nod to Mac Dre’s 1989 single, "Too Hard for the F—n' Radio.” The song from Drake’s Iceman has since sold over a million copies, giving Mac Dre the first platinum plaque of his career.
“Mac Dre’s music gave me so much self-worth. He put the battery in my back,” P-Lo tells Okayplayer. “I don’t think [Mac Dre] had any other certifications, but now he’s a platinum songwriter, so that really meant everything to me.”
The accomplishment is one P-Lo might not have had if he were less ambitious. But level-ups are both part of his evolving philosophy and the rollout for Out the Box, a new album due out this summer. For the project, as well as his life in general, P-Lo looks to move past his limits. Or rather, what he thought were his limits.
“As people, we put limits on ourselves,” he explains. “To truly grow as a person, I had to push myself so I can be able to get this new version of my art.”
Speaking to Okayplayer for the latest edition of “Pursuit of Happiness,” P-Lo details how both his girlfriend keeps him grounded, using negativity as motivation and more.
P-Lo: My girlfriend is very grounded and very structured. I'm all over the place — just bouncing off the walls with ideas. I'll be having a million thoughts flowing through my mind. She’s the calming energy that keeps me centered.
I went on my first date with my current girlfriend and she told me, “Man, it's everyone's first time here.” And for me it was like, “Oh damn.” As much as you would want to think that this person knows best or this person is a bad person or whatever, everyone’s trying to figure it out. Obviously, some people do have bad intentions, but some people just have different circumstances and they are trying to make the best of the situation. That phrase put a lot of things in perspective. The foundation of the idea that you want in the future doesn't get there without being present.
Music has always been the outlet to channel any type of negative energy into something positive. When I face negativity, I try to be my most godlike and turn water into wine. That’s my motivation. I feel like it comes from my background in basketball; you know — like when your coach wants the best out of you. So they’re gonna like they're gonna test you and try to pull it out of you. So the negative chatter doesn’t necessarily discourage me. It actually pushes me.
My new album, Out the Box is about not putting limits on yourself and being able to think differently about yourself. I felt like I was doing that and, and there's obviously society that puts limits on you too. I just want to be able to inspire people to think outside of all those limits, and I think that's what the music represents.
Growth comes from being uncomfortable and I felt like, I feel like, everyone's not done growing, you know, as people, and we got to continue to strive for that, not, not only, not only for ourselves, but for the people around us also. If we keep unlocking new versions of ourselves, that will also inspire them to keep pushing.
