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Punk Goes Drill : Polo Perks’ Creativity Masterclass
Polo Perks is known in the underground rap scene for his beat selection and the monotone voice he possesses to chant expletive-filled lyrics. First starting to rap in high school, he grabs inspiration from Pharrell Williams, Big Sean, and the world of rock music to paint on the musical canvas. His music would help him work with Pharrell Williams with the Ice Cream clothing line; Most notably his mixtape titled Punk Goes Drill.
Perks used to be a part of the NY-based rap collective Surf Gang, a group of diverse yet like-minded creatives that have been instrumental to his success. Bonding over punk rock with one of the producers Tommytohotty, converting their love for it to their respective professions was the idea they came up with. Later, this would be worked on with the hands of the two and most of the collective.
The production technique of taking parts of another song to make something different has always been prominent in music. This is known as “sampling”. On Punk Goes Drill, Surf Gang producers such as Evilgiane and Tommytohotty share their innovation by sampling alt-rock songs they know best: something that hasn’t been heard in underground rap.
Perks packs a punch with “Punk Goes Drill”, which fuses the polarizing music scenes to deliver the refreshing sounds that rap needs in an industry filled with oversaturation. The audible contents of the mixtape can only be described as fun. As the first track, EVERLONG is the gist of what Punk Goes Drill means. Evilgiane and his ruthless beat pay homage to Everlong by Foo Fighters by manipulating the guitar melody to be layered on top of a bouncy drum pattern. As his contribution, Perks takes his time on the tape to share his modern rockstar lifestyle which consists of his interactions with women and substance usage. Other samples from this mixtape include songs from blink-182, My Chemical Romance, Snow Patrol, and more. Not only are producers at play but Moh Baretta and affiliates of Surf Gang like Caal Vo feature throughout the experience to provide the listeners with different vocal performances.
Punk Goes Drill has amassed over 7 million streams on Spotify, and the project's existence is a testament to Polo Perks and Surf Gang's talent. A few years after its release, Evilgiane finally caught the eyes of top artists. Drake, Playboi Carti, Kendrick Lamar, and A$AP Rocky have all worked with him either behind the scenes or have released songs with production under his name. Although Perks has not blown himself up to the mainstream yet, he expresses in a No Bells interview that he has everything he’s ever wanted in life.
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