Artist Interviews
Jan 31, 2025
Produced by: Tadeáš Jánoš
Edited by: Rudy Manager & Andrej Aroch
80purppp – “The goal is to make music that stands the test of time”
Cover Photo Shot by @tyfferguson
In this exclusive Studio Talks interview with 80purppp, we sit down with the rising artist to explore his musical journey, creative evolution, and the personal themes that fuel his artistry. With a unique blend of emotional vulnerability and genre-defying sound, 80purppp reflects on his experiences, the milestones he's reached, and what lies ahead. We delve into his creative process, sources of inspiration, the challenges of self-discovery, and his upcoming music releases. This interview was conducted by Tadeáš Jánoš via video call on January 23, 2024.
You were born in London and later moved to Canada. Did moving around and those experiences influence your writing, your lyrics, or how you view music?
100%. When I moved from London to Guelph, Ontario, I started taking piano lessons. That was my introduction to music—learning the craft and understanding what music was. I’d been exposed to music since I was literally in the womb. But playing piano was my first real experience with it. Learning the instrument and understanding musicality has 100% helped me write.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more in touch with my process and how my brain works, which definitely reflects the piano. I prefer writing with a beat because, as Ab-Soul says, you’re the last part of the beat. You have to get along with it and make sure it sounds good even to someone who doesn’t speak the language. I treat my voice and patterns as instruments, crafting melodies on top of them.
When I write, I imagine a piano in my head. When I hear a beat, I freestyle with that piano image in mind. I don’t have perfect pitch—I’m not Charlie Puth—but I do have relative pitch. If you play two notes on a piano, I can identify them because of this mental piano in my head.
You’ve also mentioned in previous interviews that you started making music in high school. Was there a specific moment when you knew you wanted to pursue music full-time?
As a kid, I always felt it deep down, but in high school, it started to feel possible. I grew up listening to artists like XXXTentacion, Trippie Redd, and Playboi Carti. I remember when X dropped his album 17—I can still picture exactly what I was doing. I was mopping the house because my mom told me to do chores, and I remember being pissed about it. Then I saw that X had dropped a new album. Honestly, I wasn’t even a fan of his at the time—I thought he was kind of a weirdo. But I thought, “Why not give it a listen?”
I remember listening to it and being blown away by how raw it was. I really connected with the album. I think I was, like, 15 or 16 at the time, and I related so much to how he was feeling. That was the moment I thought, “Maybe I can make music too.” It suddenly didn’t feel so far away or out of reach. I realized I could be raw, honest, and express my feelings in the same way.
That album was definitely a big moment for me—just listening to it and thinking, "I can do this too. This isn’t just something for the super incredible."
The influence of that access feels especially clear on your most-streamed track, “Hex.” Looking back, what do you think made this track resonate so deeply with your audience?
That’s a tough one. I think “Hex” was the first time I truly had fun with my music. Before “Hex,” I was focused on crafting a persona and building a specific sonic identity. I was meticulous about everything. Then, with “Hex,” it was the first time I was like, “I’m just going to have fun, try some stuff, and enjoy myself.” I think people connected with that energy—the fact that I was genuinely having fun with it.
Is there a specific key or melody that sparks your creative process? You mentioned earlier that you often start with a piano—what really gets you going creatively?
It’s funny—other people I’ve worked with have pointed out things about me that I didn’t even notice myself. I’m not super well-versed in music theory—I’ve learned everything by ear. I can listen to something and play it, but I’m not great at reading music or fully understanding it.
That said, producers I’ve worked with often point out that I naturally gravitate toward the key of B. I hadn’t even realized it until they mentioned it. A lot of my favorite songs happen to be in the key of B, too. I’m not sure what that means, but it’s definitely something others noticed about my process before I did.
Your music explores deeply personal themes, like heartbreak and self-discovery. How do you balance sharing your personal life with keeping certain parts private?
As a musician, I feel there’s a responsibility to inspire people. Part of that is learning to filter and choose what to share while keeping it raw. I’ve always gravitated toward being intentional about what I convey while staying authentic.
For me, it’s not about holding back or being overly private—it’s about pushing myself to say more. It’s easy—and really common—for artists to avoid saying much in their music. They stick to surface-level ideas or repeat what’s already been said. The real challenge is asking, “Okay, I’ve got something good—but how can I make it even more honest?”
It’s like Mac said: the s**t I don’t tell you is probably the s**t I don’t even tell myself. Those are the things you don’t want to admit about yourself, and putting them into music is like some real Zen s**t.
Are there any other recurring ideas in your music that you feel are crucial for listeners?
One thing I’m starting to explore more in my music—something you’ll hear in the new project and upcoming singles—is people-pleasing. That’s something I’ve been struggling with for a long time. I love people, I love my friends, and I’m really protective of the people I care about. But I’ve caught myself in this trap—especially when I was younger— because I didn’t know any better.
Now, I’m working hard to set boundaries and embrace who I truly am. I’m an artist, and I like to think I’m good at what I do, but I’m still a person. I make mistakes, and I deserve the same respect and grace as anyone else.
Being a musician can feel dehumanizing at times. People appreciate what you do, but it’s easy to feel reduced to just that—quicker than in other fields. I’m learning to push back against that because I need to be kind to myself. I was hard on myself for a long time and put up with things I shouldn’t have, but now I’m standing on my own two feet and breaking free from that.
I’m learning to be okay with who I am. Not everyone has to vibe with you, and that’s fine. What you have to say doesn’t need to be the most popular opinion. Your sound and your identity don’t have to be “now” or fit into what everyone else expects. You don’t have to force it or be insecure about it.
The right people won’t make you feel bad for being yourself—that’s a big lesson for me. They’ll celebrate you for who you are. It’s not a new idea or anything, but it’s something I’m really starting to live by more and more.
You’ve hit some major milestones in your career, like going gold in Canada and performing in the US. What’s been the most surreal moment for you—something that felt like a dream?
Performing in New York was crazy. The crowd was amazing, and it was my first show ever. That’s when I really felt like I was stepping into myself. My first 80purppp show in New York felt unreal—like it wasn’t actually happening.
When I first got on stage, for the first five or ten minutes, all I could hear were voices in my head saying, “Get off the stage, get out of here, and just leave.” But eventually, I reminded myself that I wasn’t going anywhere—I was here to do this. So, I started to embrace it. Since I couldn’t escape it, I might as well give it my all and just do my thing.
After the show, talking to fans was mind-blowing. I’d hear things like, “Yeah, I’m from Ohio, and I flew here just to see you,” and I’d be like, “What? That’s crazy!” The fact that they came all that way just to see me still blows my mind. Hearing that from multiple people after my first show left me completely in shock.
Looking back on Violet High, how do you think your music has grown or changed since that project?
Damn, I think, it’s more self-confident now—definitely. With this new project, you’ll hear more of me stepping into myself—a declaration, standing firm on something. With Violet High, I just wanted to tell a story—something that really reflected where I was at the time. But with this new project, I’m still doing that, but now I’m standing on something—a philosophy, a message. Now, I feel like I have something to say, and I don’t care what anyone thinks about it. This is my response.
With music, you get to transcend time. For this project, I want it to feel like, “This is my response to everything I’ve heard.” This is what I have to say in response to Good Kid, Mad City, Watching Movies with the Sound Off, and projects like that. It’s like, “That’s a great perspective on life—I’ve absorbed it, taken it in. Now, this is what I have to say.”
I’m standing on it, and this is me. So when the next artist comes along, they’ll hear my response.
You’ve got a double single coming up with “Hotel Lobby” and “Elevator Freestyle.” What inspired these tracks, and what do you hope to convey with this release?
One of the main themes of the project is this contrast between melancholy and extravagance—how your outer world doesn’t always reflect what’s going on inside.
I think “Hotel Lobby” is a great intro to that. It was one of the first songs we worked on for the project, and I remember thinking, “Okay, we need to decide what kind of project we want to make.” That song really captured the feeling of being in a nice place, but something still feels off. I’m in this dope environment, but internally, something’s just not right. My mind’s not in the right place. Everything around me is great, but why do I feel this way? I think the project as a whole kind of presents that question.
As for “Elevator Freestyle,” it was just super fun to make—I got to get creative in that world. We set the scene with “Hotel Lobby” and then just play around with “Elevator Freestyle.” It was a quick, super spontaneous track. It was fast, fun, and had a great vibe.
Talking about mental health, I feel like it has played a significant role in your narrative. Tell us a little bit about how you take care of yourself in this fast-paced industry. You’ve mentioned before that, despite how things may seem on the outside, you still find moments where you challenge yourself.
One of the biggest things I’ve discovered is cutting out people who don’t have your best interests at heart. Stop putting yourself in situations where you're not compatible with what's going on For example, if I don’t enjoy going to the club anymore, why go? Maybe going to the club just isn’t the best decision for me. That’s where I’m at now—doing the things I genuinely enjoy.
I like watching anime, so I do that. I like watching good movies and reading good books, so that’s what I do. It’s about being authentic and not feeling the pressure to share everything with everyone. I have faith in my music and in my team. I trust that what we’re doing will help us achieve our goals.
Like Kendrick said, "I do the work, and how I’m rewarded is God’s decision." There’s this illusion of control in the industry today—everyone thinks if you do X, Y, and Z, success is guaranteed. But I don’t believe that. I just do the hard work.
I make music that challenges me—that’s difficult for me to create. And that’s what I love about my team: they support that. I don’t take this job lightly. I want to make music that lasts—that people will still listen to in four years, like Violet High. I don’t want to make something that only gets streams for two weeks.
The goal is to make music that stands the test of time. It’s not about being the flashiest or the most well-known—it’s about trying my absolute best to tell the truth and be vulnerable, because that’s the hardest part. That’s what I’m focused on.
You’ve already achieved so much—what's next for you? Any dream collaborations? Any goals you're working toward?
I don’t want to sound ungrateful, because I’m super thankful for everything I’ve achieved, but in my opinion, I haven’t done much yet. I want the whole thing. I want to be spoken about and looked at the same way I talk about and look up to the people who inspire me. I want to be acknowledged by my heroes. And honestly, I just want to inspire more people.
I want to make the best music—undeniably good music. I want to get to a point where you can’t write me off anymore. You can have your opinion, sure. You don’t have to like it. But you won’t be able to say it’s bad or not great. I want to make it really hard for my haters to hate on me. That's my goal—to make it tough to dislike me.
And beyond that, I want to meet more people, do more shows. I’d love to go to Europe. Australia’s also high on my list. They really like my music out there, and I’ve got five cities in my top 10 that are from Australia, which is crazy.
If you could give advice to your younger self at the start of your music career, what would you say?
I’d tell him not to be so hard on himself. Like, stop surrounding yourself with people who don’t really care about you. Surround yourself with people who genuinely love you. Don’t be insecure about what you like. Be honest with yourself. You are cool. People want you, not a version of you that’s trying to be someone else.
You can’t copy someone else and think you’re going to outdo them at being them. If you're trying to be someone else, people will end up gravitating to the original. The only person you can truly be at your highest potential is yourself. If you try to be someone else, yeah, it might work for a little bit, but eventually, you're going to run out of steam, hit a wall, and then you’re going to have to do a lot of work to climb over it.
A lot of artists never make it over that wall, and their bones are littered on the ground because they took the craft for granted.
Follow 80purppp on Instagram: @80purppp
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