Minneapolis hip-hop artist P.O.S., creator of one of the year’s best rap albums, explains how he got the idea for his new video, “Optimist.”
I made the beat to this song after my friend Alegra taught me how to play a game she learned when she was young. [It was] based off of taking a few upside down cups and tapping on them and swooshing them around.
The main rhythm of the beat was made by setting up some mics and playing the game. (You see it clearly at the top of the video.) I added the organs and pads to kind of soften up the hard noise of the clapping and cups.
I wrote the words while listening to the beat in my car, driving around MPLS trying not to sweat how it came out. This was one of the last songs I wrote for the record and I was just not about feeling any pressure.
Not from the label, not from my fans — no pressure, no stress. That’s where the inspiration came from for this song, I think.
Not worrying about what anyone has to say about anything, ever. Doing my own thing and expecting the same from everyone else.
That’s where the refrain comes from: “We make our own and if they don’t feel it, then we are not for them.”
P.O.S.: “Optimist”
P.O.S.: http://www.myspace.com/pos
Rhymesayers: www.rhymesayers.com