Tomorrow, on Friday, February 19, New Orleans rapper Pell will release glbl wrmng vol. 1 — a new conceptual project. GLBL WRMG is a new NOLA-centric collective launched by Pell and music professional Nate “Suave” Cameron of 20+ local artists and producers including Malik NinetyFive, Jzzle, Jelly of Tank and the Bangas, Lil Iceberg, Kr3wcial, and more. glbl wrmng vol. 1 is an ode to the strength and resilience of their beloved hometown and emphasizes the city’s heroic survival.
“I wanted to make records with all my hometown friends that didn’t have to be just Pell records that could showcase the talent of New Orleans and what we had to offer,” Pell says. “I wanted to executively produce this record and then give us all something to call back on whenever we were on the road or outside of the city so that we could keep connecting and building together.”
glbl wrmng vol. 1 aims to capture the beauty, vibrancy, and, most importantly, resiliency of New Orleans — a city that can attest to the harsh realities of climate change — while simultaneously showcasing the artists and producers who are reinventing (and heating up) the city’s sound. GLBL WRMNG will be rolling out community initiatives involving recycling and gardens to give back to their local neighborhoods throughout the year.
The collective’s aptly titled debut “504” single ft. Pell, Kr3wcial, and $leazy EZ debuted earlier this month The vibrant video is picture-perfect New Orleans and pays homage to local producer Niyo Davinci who passed away last year. An eclectic cast of characters dancing amidst beautifully colorful backdrops, the visual flaunts jovial, big band maximalism. OffBeat caught up with Pell to talk about his new project, his vision for the Black community, mental health, and more.
OB: I think the main part of this song that stands out to me is that you don’t care what people think. Well, we want to know what you think! Do you think people from New York and L.A. tend to come into a place like New Orleans that is so steeped in its own culture and its own rules and make changes? How do you as an artist negotiate that? (I hear all the time, if only people in New Orleans did it this way, etc.)
I would like to say thank you for realizing a universal truth about all New Orleanians, that is, we are unapologetically ourselves. My grandma taught me ” if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and I’d like to think a lot of things about our culture we don’t want changed and for good reason. People do come from LA/NY to live in and later exploit our culture – so I wouldn’t necessarily say they come in to change it. There are those who try to somewhat suburbanize neighborhoods within the city but it’s hard to rip the essence out of a city that’s identity lies in it’s rich history. If you’re trying to make changes to the New Orleans scene you’re a culture vulture and I don’t negotiate with birds.
OB: I even just caught the lyric that people from the West Coast are destined to fly back. Can you explain what it is, to use the cliche, to miss New Orleans?
To clarify, it’s not people from the West Coast – I’m FROM New Orleans, that’s why I came back. ha. To miss New Orleans is to have been to New Orleans and left. There’s no place like it and I’m happy to be from here.
OB: There seems to be some animosity or suspicion aimed at artists who choose to collaborate with people outside New Orleans or who experience national recognition. Do you think that’s necessarily a good thing or a bad thing? And as you start to achieve more of a fan base outside of this area, how does that make you feel?
I feel there’s always a sort of local skepticism around a local artist that achieves national recognition. If you’re a local artist specifically, you have to fill in the blanks of “how did he/she achieve this while being from the same place that I am” which leads to what successful people would determine “hater behavior”. Adversely, I’ve seen people support people from the city when they achieve national recognition because it reflects good on where we all come from. I pay attention to those people, so I feel good most of the time.
OB: How did you choose who to collaborate with on this song and what is that process like? I remember this episode of Empire where Cookie is wrangling an artist of Nicki Minaj’s caliber to get in the studio and work with her sons on a collaboration and it seems like a nightmare! Was it difficult to coordinate and sync up? Are you all in the booth at the same time vibing off each other and connecting or do you just go in and do separate parts and hope they come out sounding the best?
I didn’t choose this song – it chose me. All I did sonically was help arrange and lay my verse down. It originated off the computer of Niyo Da Vinci and was given to Kr3wcial. Kr3wcial recorded a hook and sent it to Sleazy Ez and myself. $leaz recorded her verse and took it to a. new level. Originally, I had thought of Nesby Phips to do a verse but once I heard Sleazy Ez’s part, I decided to write mine on the spot. I had a session organized for Axiom gallery on 1.31.20 and as soon as we sat down I just asked Kr3wcial to record me and I went in. The stems came in recently too so we did a little bit of an arrangement on it that night that was later changed during the mixing process by Chad Roby.
OB: I’m going to bring up Taraji Henson AKA Cookie again because she is such an outspoken advocate of mental health in the Black community. I know that you performed last September at Music for Mental Health Benefit Concert which might have been the most critical time to be encouraging people to utilize mental health resources, during a global pandemic. They say that depression and pain is crucial to making art. Do you agree with that sentiment?
I loved that concert. I feel as though there’s a special relationship to pain in music because music is medicine: music heals. I’ve gone through a lot of personal struggles and have even written Op Eds about them because at one point I felt like my struggle was the only thing that defined me. In reality though, those struggles are just a part of a journey we’re all on to become better versions of ourselves. Now, being the better version of myself, it’s hard for me to lean on the past when I’m addicted to the feeling of being better. Your fan’s growth should mirror yours if you’re being honest so, you can’t stay down too long – you need to experience the fullness of life. Sadness has contributed a lot to what I write about, but it’s important to show what I’ve learned from those feelings when making new records.
OB: Would you say it’s hard to be a hip hop artist in a predominantly jazz, blues, Cajun-centric city? I imagine that’s got to be a tough journey to make yourself stand out but then you have guys like Wayne and Mannie Fresh who did it flawlessly.
I’m not sure which question to answer first but: I think to make it in the music industry, regardless of where your from, is hard. To be a recording artist full time In this economy, is hard. To have idols and examples of what you should and shouldn’t do in your industry, makes it easier. Mannie and Wayne, just to use the examples you’ve given me, made the journey easier for me. I understand what it is to create brand partly because of them and Baby. I learned how to trust my sound by listening to Mannie Fresh. I think being from New Orleans should make it easier, not tougher to be a musician and stand out. The things that make it difficult are more about the business of living down here and staying down here, while trying to get noticed elsewhere. Sometimes you gotta fly out to get ya name out.
OB: Because it’s Black History Month I feel I have to ask this: There seems to be an entire ecosystem of white individuals who profit off of Black culture, especially Black music/art. Would you agree or disagree with this statement? If you agree, how do you feel the community should proceed in the future? It kind of blows me away thinking that we see Black actors finally being recognized in films like Black Panther but at the end of the day, the majority of producers, investors, etc. are white people. Do you think that needs to change?
I feel that nothing can change without representation. More black people need to be in executive positions so that we can properly represent and determine the value of our culture, from the executives all the way down to the recording engineer. I think that we need to be properly compensated for our work in order to create a more balanced ecosystem. I believe it’s hard for real change without economic empowerment. glbl wrmng invested thousands of dollars into the local economy just to make this record happen. When you invest in your community, It helps create jobs for people that were once doing things as favors, or not at all. We. are creating the ecosystem we want to see and hopefully one that’s sustainable enough for everyone creative, in from and behind the scenes, to have a paid place in the new industry.
Note: As part of the “504” YouTube premiere, proceeds of the streaming will go toward Concerned Citizens of St. John Parish, a non-profit organization 30 minutes outside of New Orleans. The town has the third-highest COVID -19 death rate in the nation (among other shocking statistics) and the nonprofit’s mission is to raise awareness about the high levels of Chloroprene in the atmosphere while providing solutions for the poor air quality.
To purchase and stream the album , click here.
