We were lucky to catch up with PJ Cowan recently and have shared our conversation below.

PJ, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

I’ve actually had to go through this several times because I classify myself as an artist, I predominantly stay within Hip Hop/Rap but I do like to dabble in all music on occasion. More often than not there is a stigma that is put around me regarding being a rapper which is immediately dismissed once the person listens to my music and it’s funny because I used to take it very personal, especially when other creatives would assume I had less talent than they did. Luckily the genre has grown to be one of the most popular in the world and the culture towards it is always shifting, so I don’t get that put into that bubble as often as I used to.

PJ, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

So I go by the stage name “Peej” and I’ve been making music since I was 10. I’ve had many musical inspirations but the 2 biggest influences when I got started we’re definitely Eminem and Lil Wayne. I do have to shout out my day ones Devin, Thomas, and Sammy for really giving me the push to pursue this ability god gave me. We really used to be in the basement rapping on a rock and microphone through audacity every single day, I mean I probably had about 50 notebooks full of lyrics and a little over four or five hundred songs recorded. Now not all we’re good back then but the only way to get better is through practice. I think what really sets me apart from my peers is I’m in a place where I’m making music for myself and I think that’s really helped me out because it conveys how genuine and authentic I really am. I’m probably most proud of the music I have getting ready to come out later this year, it’s some of the best work I’ve made and with the reception I’ve gotten off of duets on Tik Tok then people are going to love what’s in the vault.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Whether it be most rewarding or most fulfilling I’d say it’s when someone reaches out to tell me how much my music affects them in a positive way. That’s really my purpose in this whole thing is to make people feel good about themselves. That really resonates with me because that’s what I related to listening to music growing up.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think people feel as though they have to run up streams or views or likes in order to support your creative friends but truthfully if you just share what we put out on social media then it’ll help us more than you know, it’s really as simple as that

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/geezpeej
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geezpeej/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/geezpeej
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/7IO7rsOXTqM

Image Credits
C.Tay Photography, Kree Applegate