2022 has been an exciting year for up and coming American rapper, singer and producer Jacob Pappas, known by his artist name as J. Pappas. He’s released two new singles — the cozy “So, Dear” and R&B soul track “Summer Nights” — with producer and vocalist Lateau, put on phenomenal live shows, and made a huge move from Massachusetts to California. I had the privilege of sitting down with him to discuss the ins and outs of his career, from London to Boston and everything in between.

Pappas can’t remember a time without music. Early on in his life, his parents got him started in the world of music by putting him in piano lessons — an instrument which he was self-admittedly really bad at. Pappas’s teacher at the time failed him and told his parents, “Your son just shouldn’t do music.”

Despite this doubtful perspective, his parents didn’t want Pappas to give up. “Maybe this just isn’t the instrument,” they said, and put him on the drums. When Pappas picked up his first set of drumsticks, he knew he had found his childhood niche, one that turned into a lifelong love. Due to the rhythmic nature of drums, Pappas learned the basics of music through the lens of punk rock and metal styles. He aspired to play in a number of bands in middle school; creating music was becoming an even bigger part of his life.

However, Pappas grew up in international schools. “A lot of my friends would leave all the time. So then I was like, ‘Dang, all my band members have left!’” Left alone with music, Pappas turned to making his own. This new independence inspired him to pursue music production and songwriting entirely for himself. “I didn’t really have access to music at school [when] growing up; it wasn’t really a huge thing. So I would sit at home and make a beat, and it would be the best part of my day. On the weekends I would just work for hours.” For Pappas, production has been an outlet for him to escape, release stress, and to get out what’s on his mind at the time. “[Music] is like therapy for me, really. It’s a good therapeutic ritual for myself.”

Pappas was isolated by his musical preferences because he didn't know that many people who listened to old-school hip-hop. He was introduced to the genre in his early teen years, where he “met a friend in music tech class who got me really hip to a bunch of hip-hop artists like Nas; before that, I was really into electronic music such as dubstep.” He goes on to say, “He taught me more about hip-hop production, and because he’s from New York I ended up resonating with a lot of east coast stuff even though my family’s from California. He taught me about flow, and how to rap, so it was nice having a mentor to learn from.”

Subsequently, Pappas became obsessed with hip-hop and fixated on on the concept of sampling, which got him into the genres of ’70’s soul and R&B. Through this new interest, he discovered ‘90’s and 2000’s music as well, a love that flourished when he attended Berklee—many of his friends were big fans of the genre. Pappas finds that much of his musical inspiration draws from icons such as Q-Tip, Madlib and J. Dilla.

Many of these producers were rappers as well; rap was ingrained in the genres that Pappas was absorbing. This being said, Pappas didn’t feel very confident about his rapping abilities early in his career. “I wasn’t very good at it, but I was good at making beats and doing electronic stuff.” Pappas's mentor encouraged him to make beats inspired by a type of electronic dance music called dubstep, which became the first genre of music he produced. “I got obsessed with making beats, and it was hard to find anyone to rap on it so I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to give it a shot.’”

Pappas's passion for lyricism and the beauty of expressing thoughts through music led to his love for rapping and singing. Almost simultaneously — while attending Berklee School of Music — Pappas studied production engineering, where he utilized his knowledge of music theory to learn how to polish songs and refine his craft. Much of his love for collaboration started at the Boston-based university, where he was able to participate in musical dialogue and projects with fellow musicians. Two jazz musicians, a saxophonist and bass player — Pappas’s roommates at the time — helped to come up with ideas for his debut album Chamomile, which is where many of the jazzy elements throughout the album bloomed from. At first, it was about having fun with friends and making music. Gradually, Chamomile grew into a bigger project.

“I did a lot of production myself, but I loved working with my friends. The intro was done by my good friend Ollie Graham. He does a lot of the orchestral stuff.” This influence can be heard in the sweeping crescendos and philharmonic score that feel reminiscent of a cinematic blockbuster. Essentially, everyone that worked on the album were peers of Pappas's during his time at Berklee. They had become good friends of his who collaborated to create this musical masterpiece, accumulating over 1.5 million streams on Spotify alone.

The thing Pappas has enjoyed most about his musicianship is playing live shows. “It was cool bringing all the songs on the album to life. I played with some awesome band members that I’ve also met at Berklee who really brought the music to life, and it was just such a good feeling. [The first time] I went to New York was for a show, and it was just so cool.” Live shows have been a great opportunity for Pappas to try out new arrangements, reach new audiences and make new waves. Through his practice, the relationships Pappas built at Berklee have greatly influenced his love for music and the diversity of his production.

Currently based in California, with neo-soul, R&B and hip hop as his forte, J. Pappas is continuing to produce and put out music. His sound is unique, varied and exciting, and us at Five Cent Sound can’t wait to see what’s up next!

You can check out J. Pappas’ music here and follow him on Instagram.

J. Pappas on How Location and Collaboration Shaped His Musicianship