ABOUT

Pop Da Don isn’t just your regular run-of-the-mill nineteen-year-old. Shaped by a unique upbringing, which beget a wise demeanor, and coupled with an infectious laugh, Pop Da Don has a story you want to hear.

 

A product of Harlem’s famed Grant Projects, who grew up witnessing first-hand the rise of Cory Gunz and the late, great Fred Da Godson, is loading up his latest EP, “From the Trap to the Coupe”, whose name itself mirror’s Pops’ life story: growing up early in the ‘hood, before experiencing the luxury that many of us one day dream to feel. 

 

“Being in the suburbs, they’re always gonna look down on the hood,” says Pop. “In the hood, you see the same thing over and over, and over and over. I got to see something else.” A major part of Pop Da Don’s goals is serving as a liaison between two oft at-odds groups.

 

As a young Pop was buying Big Mac’s after school at McDonald’s, his father and uncle were spearheading the career of an MC whose untimely passing is still felt to this day: Fred the Godson. Seeing Fred’s success first-hand made Pop realize that his music aspirations were real;

and, perhaps more importantly – attainable.

 

Asked if seeing his father and uncles’ blitzkrieg success in the music industry impacted him in any way, Pop is quick to answer: “It impacted me in every way – I don’t look up to anyone else,” says Pop. “My pops and uncle taught me that there is no Plan B; Plan B is to make Plan A work. I’m very aggressive, and, no matter what happens – we gon’ get it. We have no other choice.”

 

Pop recently released the video for his “God Did” freestyle, and hopes that his new four-song EP serves as the catalyst for the rest of his career. “I’m working on me,” says Pop. “Finding out who I am, and put it in a body of work. This is the first thing I’ve dropped that’s really, really me.

These are my breakout songs.”

 

Case in point: the standout track, “Temporary”, about a close friend that Pop recently lost. Says Pop of the song: “When people listen to my music, I want them to feel the same way I feel. If I miss somebody that’s gone, when you listen to my song, it may just bring a tear to your eye. I make you feel like you’re 100% there.”

 

With over 300 songs recorded, Pops explains his studio sessions with a joviality that’s much appreciated, as it is unexpected: “Realistically, everyone has a process – I don’t,” Pop laughs. “I just come in the studio, throw a beat on, and then it’s supernatural. I just go in there and try to make some magic. Music is powerful, man. It’s flow.”

 

The challenge of carrying his uncle Fred the Godson’s legacy isn’t lost on Pop Da Don. “He died doing it; he died trying to take the world over. He gave me the fire; I gotta do it for him, and for me.”

 

Pops’ distinctive life story and experiences put him in a unique position, and Pop is keen on making the most of his opportunities. “To make someone feel different through my song? To change somebody’s day? Even if I never find out about it - that's  BIG to me. No matter what you’re doing, music impacts the mood. You can be with a girl and play the right song; or you can be at a boxing match, and the right song’ll get you hype!  The world is built on waves and everything is music.”

 

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