Exposed Vocals Interviews COLPOII3R
“For the most part I support myself with my music. I started writing when I was 15 off and on but I didn’t work on it seriously till I was 19. I like multiple types of music but raps been the one that I’ve also chosen to write. I love the infinite possibilities of creative ways to put lines together to portray a message in a song. I’m very passionate about what I do and I don’t really care how far I get as far as mainstream I just love making music and being an artist. Best talent God coulda blessed me with.”
Exposed Vocals: How did you hear about Exposed Vocals? What made you decide to sign up?
COLPOII3R: I posted a song I just made up on twitter and exposed vocals followed me so I followed them back. I do that with anyone that follows me besides dating websites. I usual look at their twitter and see what their page is about and if it’s music related I make an attempt to contact them or find their soundcloud etc. depending if it’s an artist or company but yeah anyone that follows me I follow back. I feel that expands my horizon and helps keep doors open.
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
COLPOII3R: I grew up in Moon Township a suburb of Pittsburgh PA. I got an interest in rap when I was 15 and I didn’t really have any studio hook ups so I dropped that for a bit. Then when I was in 11th grade I started writing a lot of rhyme based poems and it was so good that I caught a lot of teacher’s attention and I got offers to write for the morning announcements and stuff and I was like wow. I can really write rhymes. Then I thought about picking back up on it and I dabbled a little bit with it just for the fun of it. Then I fell I love for the first time and that ended and that’s when I got into hard drugs and shit. I was also writing music but I wasn’t recording till I met my friend Brenden aka Scripture. He showed me to a mic and I produce a song and I fell in love with music. Music has also been therapeutic for me and it was a major thing that helped me stopped doing hard drugs in the end. I’ve always had a love for music but it was the slight fear of never returning from trying heroin and the belief that maybe music would help it not suck so bad which it did. It didn’t make it a breeze but I kina feel like music saved my life and no matter how far I get I will always being into it because it’s been the one thing I been this passionate about/loved/enjoyed this much since that first love or doing drugs so I see no need for it ever not to be a part of my life.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
COLPOII3R: 20 mgs of Adderall and 12 hrs. later…. lol jk I wanted every aspect of my music to be creative and that included my artist name which also meant l.j.b. had to go because blunts joints bongs was to simplistic for my taste. My artist name is broken down into several parts. The first part “colpo” means rap in Italian. The second part is two Roman numeral “1”’s. I picked that because “L” is the 12th letter in the alphabet so if you look at the first roman numeral it’s a 1 and if you look at them together it’s a 2 which would make the number 12 if typed together how we typically use numbers so that’s supposed to be in place of the L that it is representing a sound for the 3 was like a backwards E for me and in some ways as a person I am a backwards ass dude. So the 3 represents my sometimes backwards ways about me as a person. And the R I picked to make the pronunciation right and all I could on my phone do the R with the circle around it which is how I wanted it but I can only type it that way on my phone so it makes it more unique. If you were to try to pronounce it would be pronounced Cole Polar but looking at it no one guesses that and that’s what I wanted. A complex and create artist name that in basics just says rapper but google translate didn’t have rapper in Italian so I got more creative with it. Also it is open to being edited when I get out there more if I so choose.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
COLPOII3R: I don’t mind the thought. I think it’s better to hand it out for free instead of trying to sell it particularly when you’re not famous. I hear about people trying to sell their mixtape cd’s and I kind of question that method. If I had a record deal that’s one thing but to expect people to buy my music and they don’t have any clue if they’re going to like it or not I feel cuts down on the number of people that can hear the music and the more that hear the better. At the moment all of my music is free. 1 reason is because they’re remixes and I worry about copy write issues when it comes to charging people for a song. 2 if its free I feel like my artwork will reach more people and as a rap artist that’s kina what I want. To show as many people why the style I have is original in its own way and be different but also show people what I’m about and help build a fan base. 3 honestly the people into this music shit for the money I don’t feel belong. If I was looking for money I would be trying to be an actor or NBA or NHL player and although I like playing sports I really love music and I can write music till I’m brain dead but I can’t play hockey till that point.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
COLPOII3R: I once read about an author of a book that had said when they first started writing they copied other authors writing styles till they developed their own. I took that into account when I was forming my own style and in a way I still am forming my own style. When I started I sounded like chief keef or soulja boy then I tried being more lyrical and people said I sounded a little like Eminem. Not like as good as him but in his style so I figured I was making progress. For a while now though I ask I’ve asked people if I sound like Eminem and they say no which I smile about because I try to make my lyrics creative but in my own way and from what others say that’s what I’ve been doing so if at first you feel like you are copying someone else’s style don’t worry. It’s a common crutch. Just don’t try to take that style particularly in rap. Originality is well respected in this game and copy cats get over looked
Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?
COLPOII3R: I’ve only done one performance so far and I was quite nervous and one song I wasn’t speaking loud enough and I could hear them saying speak up but I was just trying to finish the song. After a round of applause and a little pep talk from the dj I finished the rest of the performance then asked the audience if there was any of the songs they wanted to hear me redo and they replied the one that I was kina mumbling on and by that point I had been more then warmed up and I did a better job as far as seeming confident and performing that song then the first time.
Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?
COLPOII3R: No I haven’t toured yet. I’d love to though. I think it’d be a lot of fun to go out and see the world and also do what I love while I’m at it
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
COLPOII3R: It varies for what I have in mind as my vision for what I want the song to be. Sometimes my songs are written out of emotion sometimes they’re written out of a life experience sometimes they’re on a current even or hot topic and sometimes they are written out of a realization that impacted me personally and are out spoken thoughts on my choice as to how to go about things with the situation. Usually I get the beat first then I take and listen through it maybe freestyle to it a little if I can and if I have the time to then start writing it. Depending on how much trouble or ease in having with a beat sometimes I’ll listen though it the whole way and write something without the beat playing and then go back and smooth it out for the rhythm and flow sometimes I go a single verse sometimes I do a few lines and make those adjustments it really depends on what the motive and story in the song is for how I go about writing a song.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
COLPOII3R: I don’t have my own up yet but as of right now where I share my music is on my soundcloud account, YouTube account, Facebook music page, twitter page and I’m working on building a revernation page. There are other things I would like to look into like Spinrilla, Myspace, Tumbler etc. but I have yet to get to that as I am busy most of the time. Some of the websites I use for music purposes will not really be exactly meant for that like Facebook isn’t specifically for music but if there’s a website that I can put myself out there and help get myself out in anyway shape or form I usually put it on the list of websites to start an account and start building a profile for my music
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?
COLPOII3R: My music is my music. I pretty sure people are confused to my music taste when I pull up to Sheetz because I could be listening to Elvis Presley I could be listening to Marion Harris I could be listening to Glenn Miller I could be listening to Tori Kelly (a personal favorite) or I could be listening to rap my own music or other mainstream/ underground artist ex. Eminem Kendrick Lamar Jcole slaughterhouse yelawolf etc. I never take shame in music I listen to. I love music. Couldn’t shame me about anything on my phone. Besides “cumdumpster”. As much as people liked that song I kina wish I never made the song. But it shows me how things differ from person to person. I may think this line I did is dope as fuck and different people will say different lines are dope which has been a fun and interesting experience.
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
COLPOII3R: Shit I deff use a good portion of that money for music. I’d also use it for going back to school like I’m planning on doing anyways but in that case I wouldn’t owe anything which would be nice. The time off probably try to get my prerequisites done and release a dope ass mixtape or two.
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
COLPOII3R: What I’m working with now is a crappy usb mic hooked up to my cellphone with a DAW app. Once I get a desktop tower with windows and figure out how to use the equipment I have the vocals will sound much better and I’ll hopefully be able to do more things that I’d want to do that I can’t do on my cell phone apps DAW. I have Studio ONE 2 so once I get computer that is not running Ubuntu Linux and the software can be installed I will definitely be upgrading to better equipment.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
COLPOII3R: I promote it by getting it online in as many places as I can. What works best now is soundcloud and Facebook/twitter/YouTube. Soundcloud is one of the websites the DAW on my cellphone offers to post things I justed finished recording and mixed down so that makes it pretty easy then from soundcloud I can share on my twitter and Facebook so it’s nice in that manner. Facebook and YouTube allow me to post a little lengthier video if I so choose so my freestyle videos work better on there.
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
COLPOII3R: For Rap it’d be either Eminem Jcole or Kendrick Lamar. I just really like their music and their styles and it would be amazing to be able to perform with them. As far as artist from another genre if we’re talking alive Tori Kelly. I personally am a big fan of hers and I really think that if we ever collaborated we could make a really dope rap/pop love song. It was the hook itself that I liked the lyrics so much on the instrumental that I looked for the artist and when I found her I really liked just about everything she did. As far as dead artist Tupac or biggie smalls for rap and Marrison Harris for another genre. She has a song that’s a favorite of mine and if I could sing it I would have already did a video on YouTube. The songs called “after you’ve gone”. Although not 100% I’m pretty sure she wrote that and I would love to do a song like that with her if she was still alive.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
COLPOII3R: Uh yeah I have two currently. One’s a remix to the blacker the berry that I currently have the rough draft for and it’s going to be like Eminem’s song fine line or Tori Kelly’s song confetti and in basics it’s about the sacrifices made for being a mainstream artist and I start out every verse with the line “I’m afraid of being famous and conceded” but the third and last verse starts out
“I’m afraid of being famous and conceded
I made that clear so you must wonder why I have proceeded”
and I answer that in basic by saying there will be obvious sacrifices made if I became a mainstream artist but I want my friends and family and my fans as well that I don’t want to become this air head that thinks he’s too good to talk to anyone. If I don’t have time that would be one thing but I would like to reach out and interact with my fans as well as make sure I keep the friends from school I still have and my family because they’ve been kept around for varying reason but mainly because they either changed my life or have never screwed me over and I will need the people that don’t screw me over if I ever make it. The other one that I’m still writing is a remix to Kendrick Lamar’s song “u” and I’m using it for my friend that became a heroin addict. I remember that being one of the three drugs he said he’d never use and I said I’d never use either. Although I became an addict to other drugs and had to sober up the point I thought about trying heroin was the point I decided this has gone to far and it hurts me a bit to see a good friend of mine destroyed by that fucking drug. I also know that he had to have been really hurt for him to try that shit because I knew I was trying to numb a pain when I started doing other shit then smoking weed so that songs a little personal for me but in the end I think it’ll will come out good. To wrap that up there’s always a next project. Something I have as a thought and chose to start working on but at the moment that’s it.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
COLPOII3R: Giving my full attention to a pursuing a career in pharmacy as a pharmacist
Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?
COLPOII3R: Yeah it wasn’t that long ago Lol. First album I bought was to pimp a butterfly by Kendrick Lamar. I was a bit skeptical because my brother said it was kina like funk type beats and I do not like funk music at all. I listened to it though straight through on repeat for my entire shift and thought that was 12 dollars very well spent
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
COLPOII3R: I have a 7 on 7 off shift overnight so I work 7 nights straight then I have 7 nights off and the 7 nights off allows me to have a life like a 21 year old should and work on my music so it’s not so much a juggle just where do I fit things in. on my seven on most of my breaks I will spend working on a current music project and I have an hour for my breaks so plenty of time to work on that while I eat.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
COLPOII3R: Well my hope is to drop a mixtape this December around Christmas and I’m really trying to get that done but it’s a little hard to do when I also am trying to go back to school as well and continue my education. Hopefully though I will be able to drop that Christmas day this year. There’s already one song out that will be on it and that’s the remix I did to no role modelz that I just released the other day call “Ain’t forever 21” so if the rest of the year goes like this then Christmas day I should be releasing another mixtape.