We were lucky to catch up with Rollo Papers recently and have shared our conversation below.
Rollo, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
At a young age I realized that any time I felt down and out about something in my life I would turn to my headphones and play music to make myself feel better. I would look at guys like Eminem, Wiz Khalifa, Kid Cudi and Logic, most notably, and listen to the lyrics of what they were saying more so than getting lost in the music behind the lyrics. I was always focusing on what they were trying to tell people. A lot of what Eminem, Kid Cudi and Logic rap about is overcoming adversity, struggles, etc., while Wiz is the feel-good type of guy who can make anybody smile just by being himself. The influence of those 4 artists on my life is what I hope to bring to everybody else. I want to be that guy who shows people that I had a hard time, but I got through it, and now I’m out here balling in the big leagues. And they can too! What I strive for most through being an artist is the ability to give people the opportunity to see that you can do anything in your life if you truly put the right amount of effort into it. It doesn’t even have to be about – oh yeah you can be a successful rapper too – it can be about anything they want. Maybe somebody listens to my music and it makes them want to get back into the gym. Maybe somebody hears it and it makes them stop using hard drugs and gets them to only indulge in cannabis as an outlet. Maybe somebody finds it online and something I say or do touches their emotions and it makes them want to fix a relationship they had with someone important. My purpose in doing all of this is to prove that as long as you stay focused every single day, it’s only a matter of time before you’re living the life you always wanted.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Going by the name Rollo Papers is definitely an intentional nod to the cannabis space. I’ve been using cannabis for a very long time and I firmly believe that I’ve never found any negative effects or reasons to stop or slow down on using it in my own life. It helps with physical pain, mental anguish and is by far the safest outlet a person can use in order to satisfy their vices if need be. The aura behind my artistry is for sure related to the 420 friendly type people, but I don’t exaggerate it to the point of it being the only thing people see when they look at my pages. Society is 100% taking the right steps to incorporating it into mainstream media and common social norms but I think we still have a long way to go. When people see me elevating my artistry I’m aiming to prove that cannabis users are not the cliché lazy guys you’ve seen portrayed in movies and TV for the past 60 years. This concept is what inspired me to create my brand called the Rolled Souls. The Rolled Souls takes the shape of a sports franchise while emphasizing itself in the music world. All of our merch is strictly sports related. We currently offer custom football, basketball and baseball jerseys where you can order whatever name and number you like in order to make yourself a part of the team. Before my journey in the music industry I was a student-athlete in college. At the college level you learn what it means to dedicate 100% of your time to a team and become a part of something that is bigger than yourself. The Rolled Souls are a community of teammates who value health and wealth in a team based atmosphere. We welcome anybody to get their own jersey and become a Rolled Soul. If you love sports, music and cannabis, or even just one of those three, we have a spot on the team ready for you.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The number one piece of advice I have on life in general, not even just the entertainment industry, is that everything revolves around relationships. Relationships, relationships, relationships!!! You have to give people a reason to want to help you, a reason to want to see you succeed. As an artist if I was to post my new album, tell everybody to click the link, pre-save, share it on their story, tag me in the comments, etc., – all of those things are about me. Click MY link, save MY song, share MY story. As an artist you need to make people believe that what you’re doing is really about them. Don’t say “check out my new song!” You want to promote yourself by saying things like “I made something for the summer parties, click this link if you’re ready for warm weather!” or “I been going through a lot and put all these emotions on this record, I hope it helps you the way it helped me!” Those types of comments will give people a reason to want to actually hear what you have to say as an artist. That goes into all of life too. The basic golden rule of treat others how you want to be treated is the realest advice there ever was. If you want someone to buy a ticket to your show, make sure you also buy a ticket when it’s their turn to perform.
The second biggest thing I’ve learned to embrace is understanding that at the end of the day your art is just another song to everybody else. As artists we tend to forget that literally everybody else is honestly never going to care about your music as much as you do. To us our music is not only our livelihood but our whole lives. I know what it feels like to pour your entire heart and soul on to a record and then to just have people give it a like or two on social media but never talk about it again, It can be demoralizing. But when you look back to those times before you started making your own music, you’ll remember that every song you ever heard was just a song. Some songs touch people more than others, and it’s only on those occasions that your art will become as much of a part of their life as it is yours. But that brings me back to my first point, which is make sure you are giving them a reason to FEEL your music instead of just LISTENING to it. There’s a world of a difference.
And third, I would do everything you can to research, study, learn and master the art of never taking anything personally. Especially if you are pursuing the music industry. I’ve built relationships with people over the years who I considered a friend, but as soon as you can’t help them the way you used to, the friendship feeling fades and you realize it was just a transactional relationship. But it’s called music business for a reason. Music comes first, you gotta have talent, you gotta make good records, but at the end of the day this is a business being run the same way they run a public company that operates in the stock market. There is a bottom line that has to be met. Metrics that have to make sense. And people that need to be managed the same way they do in the corporate world. When you free yourself from the idea that a career in music means no rules and all fun, you learn to operate in the way that an employee trying to climb the ladder does. Play your role, do your part, prove your value, establish worthiness, and eventually they’re gonna give you that raise.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Absolutely, music is a collaborative experience and even if there’s only 1 person on a song it took a minimum of 3 people to make it – the artist, the producer and the engineer. Sometimes that person plays all 3 roles if they are good enough in every area, but I would find one of those 3 to master in rather than being just proficient at everything. I’ve established what’s become a long list of mainstream artists who I’ve opened for around the country including OhGeesy, G Perico, DJ Quik, Scarface, Twista, Rucci, Gloss Up, Mellow Rackz, Devin the Dude, Premo Rice and Kris Hollis. I feel that I’ve proven I’m ready to work with the major league players in hip-hop through my performing experience which has taken me outside of San Diego to places like Arizona and Texas as well. But the best way to build isn’t by building up it’s building sideways. Building sideways means it’s a better idea to find the people on your same level and elevate each other together instead of competing with them to be the one who is “more on top.” A great example would actually be this exact article. Sure I could try to hire a big time photographer and models with huge, well-known catalogues to help me get photos done for my brand. But it’s much smarter to find a photographer on more of a local level and find models who have a strong catalogue but aren’t quite at the level of Vogue or GQ. That way instead of being an artist on the rise using big time names who might never even post the article, I am an artist on the rise giving that photographer a chance to add to his/her publications, and giving that model another article to appear in to add to his/her catalogue. That way the article that is written about me is also helping 2 other people right off the bat just as much as it is me.
For anybody who would like to get involved with what I have going on all of my social media handles are @rollopapers on every platform, the DM’s are open! Also my email is [email protected] and that is a great way to reach me as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/rollopapers
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rollopapers/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/rollopapers
- Other: Email: [email protected]
Image Credits
Bianca Sanborn, DirectedByFlip, Daisy Miyeon Lee, Kayelle Justine, Ohso Marlon and Mötz-Art
