80purppp: Finding Himself
80purppp is a rising star who unapologetically wears his emotions on his sleeve. After the success of his 2018 breakout single “Hex,” the British-Canadian artist has continued to create experimental music that pushes the boundaries of how we view Black music, masculinity, and mental health. Consistent with his name, an anagram describing a dark purple polaroid, the depth of his music matches the nature of the color.
On his most recent album titled Violet High which serves as a deeply personal depiction of the modern high school experience, 80purppp showcases his potential as an artist through a sonically diverse range of tracks. On songs like “Soleil” and “1017,” 80purppp is profoundly introspective, allowing his listeners to experience his high school memories and relationships alongside him. Our favorite song from the album, “Tay!,” is a smooth, synthy love ballad that serves as an honest portrait of the complexities that come with young love.
One aspect of 80purppp’s music that stood out to us was its ability to offer comfort during dark times. He prides himself on creating music that people can not only relate to in terms of mental health, but music that can make people feel less alone. At multiple points during our conversation, the artist emphasized the importance of reaching out to fans in order to keep himself and his music grounded.
80purppp’s potential is limitless, and we can’t wait to see what he does next with his upcoming project.
We know that you are from London but you moved to Ontario at a young age. How have these locations influenced your music?
I guess since I always moved around a lot, I never really had anything constant. Music was the only constant in my life. Because of this, as a kid you kind of begin to hate everything and develop this sour lens of the world. As I got older, I learned to appreciate the things that stayed with me, and music was one of those things that I developed a deeper appreciation for. Moving around made me appreciate music so much more because I began to realize how much shit is material and doesn’t really matter, and music was one of things that did matter to me.
What is your musical process like?
It’s weird because I always see videos and interviews of celebrities where they’re like, “I have to do a handstand on a midi pad,” but I don’t really have that. For me, it’s hard to write without a beat, so I need that to start writing and then I build. I don’t really believe in writing songs before the beat because you can’t really build a good song without taking it into consideration: I need the beat to match the vibe of the song as a whole. If I think about it too much I won’t get anything done, so one of the tricks I’ve taught myself is to focus on an emotion or an event that triggers an emotion, then just letting it write for me because emotions are more powerful than the whole thinking process.
How did you come up with the name 80purppp? We also noticed that purple is a really big theme on your Instagram so we were hoping that you could expand on that idea.
80purppp is actually an anagram. My name doesn’t actually mean 80purppp. It’s an anagram for “a dark purple polaroid picture” and “a dark purple peter pan”. The number “80” is an anagram for the letters “A and D” The reason I like the name is because as a kid I always loved Peter Pan. I loved the color purple. I just think I connected with the color purple so much because it’s such a strong beautiful color, but at the same time I associated it with going through shit. Like a bruise is purple, but you can still be beautiful with one. Even though you’ve been beat up, it’s still beautiful.
On your latest release, your songs are titled with the coordinates for Los Angeles. Can you explain why you decided to do that?
I was actually in LA when I decided to make those two songs. I was also shooting videos for some other songs that had been released on Violet High. I was in the AirBNB like, “I kind of want to record some songs right now.” So I wrote to some beats really quick and I didn’t want to give them some half-assed names because it was almost like the songs themselves were sketches. So I was like, “How do I stay true but also not cop out,” and I eventually came up with the idea to just use the coordinates for exactly where I was. Yeah, so I used the coordinates.
In a previous question, you talked a lot about mental health and its importance to you, so how do you think the theme shows itself in your music?
I guess because I’m always honest in my music. One thing people misunderstand is that everyone’s going through shit, not just you. For me, I never thought I could make the music that I wanted because I thought people wouldn’t understand, or would be scared away. One thing I learned is that there are real people out there. Not just numbers, but real human beings that can actually relate to you and connect with you. I just think that idea is so beautiful and I never want to lose it, so I am always honest in my music. Even if I am going through something, you’re gonna hear it in my music. Even if I am addressing mental health, I’m going to be honest. I’m not going to lie and pretend to be happy or lie and say I’m super sad. At the end of the day, I’m gonna be honest. I also constantly question if I’m right for feeling the ways I feel because there are also people with circumstances much worse than my own. I guess mental health is really important to me because the only way to fix it is to be honest. If everyone was just honest for a week it wouldn’t be an issue anymore because every single person is dealing with some shit. Some people are dealing with it in healthy ways, while some are dealing with it in less healthy ways. Some of these less healthy ways are socially acceptable, some of the ways that are healthy aren’t, but it is what it is. I’m just trying to do my part and help as many people as I can. I don’t really give a fuck about much else.
What is your favorite song that you’ve created so far?
That’s hard. I don’t want to cop out and say, “Oh, it’s not out yet” but there is one I really like that’s not out yet. The one I like the most that’s out right now would probably be “Tay!” because you’d never really expect a huge 6-foot Black guy with dreads to come out and just sing. That was the first song I didn’t even rap, or anything. I literally just sang on that song, and it came out exactly how I saw it in my head. I wasn’t expecting it to sound as dope so I was really happy. Usually when you write, you have this initial idea in your head, then you record and it’s a little less than, but “Tay!” is one of those rare one’s to me where it really came out the way I wanted it to. If not “Tay!” though, it would probably be “Hex”, not because I love listening to the song, but because of what it’s done for me. It showed me that this could be something real if I keep working my ass off, I have a lot of love for that song.
What is your favorite memory from performing?
I had a show and someone was opening for me. It was my first show ever and I was backstage worrying about if I was going to mess up or fall off the stage or something. I was driving myself crazy, then I looked out on the stage in the middle of this guy’s set, and the whole crowd was chanting my name: all of my anxiety went away. I’ve been performing for years because of piano concerts and stuff, but I still found myself nervous every now and then. That moment really just showed me the power of music because for a split second no one hated each other. Nobody was worried about how anyone else looked. All anyone cared about in that moment was the music that I created, that was super humbling for me. There are no conservatives, there are no liberals. There’s no skin color. For a certain amount of time, everyone is just enjoying the music. We shouldn’t take it for granted because people can’t get along a lot of the time, so even if there are 10 seconds where people don’t hate each other, it’s worth more than gold.
You said you grew up playing classical music. Does that affect the way you make music?
It does in great ways but also in less desirable ways. I grew up seeing whole songs, not just fragments of them. I think the thing with a lot of artists is that they can only see a certain aspect of music, like the notes or the lyrics. What classical music helped me with is the ability to see songs immediately. If I hear a beat with potential, I can build a song, and I can structure it well. I think people were taken aback when I was like 16 years old and I was writing structured songs where everything is connected. That’s one thing it gave me because you can’t build music unless you start from square one, especially at higher levels. You can’t expect to just go in and create something of crazy quality. But there have also been times where I’ve felt like my classical past has held me back. Not in a creative sense, but I’m very closed off to changing something that I’ve created, which is a very classical aspect of music. I’m trying to stay true to myself, but that’s something I’m definitely working on.
You said that Violet High is a time capsule for your high school experience. Can you tell me a little more about that?
High school for me was a lot of not knowing who I was, a lot of confusion, a lot of sadness, a lot of love, and lust, but there was still growth. It was hard growing up in a setting where I’d be told, “You’re Black, but you’re not really Black,” or “You’re Black, but you don’t talk Black.” I just didn’t know who I was. Then I got to high school and there were way more Black kids around me than any other school I’d attended, and I remember having two friend groups I didn’t really know what I was doing or who I was. What really showed me that I could start making music true to myself was X’s music, more specifically his album 17. And the thing was, in high school everyone wants to be a rapper, but I really thought I could do it. Not even necessarily be a rapper, but just make something that people would care about and listen to. What that album showed me, was that I didn’t have to talk about money and drugs and killing niggas in my music because I’ve never done that shit. What X’s music showed me was that you can be true to yourself and what you’re feeling, while still having an impact.