Artist: P.O.S.
Song: Optimist (We Are Not for Them)
Lable: Rhymesayers

Words: Teresa Del Val

Q: How did you come about with using cups for a  beat?

A:Well my friend Allegra taught me how to do that cup can a few years back and I’ve been kind of waiting until I could do it right. Like I tried doing it a bunch of times, and that was just the first time it came out perfect.

Q: What I got from it was very motivating. While writing it did you intend for it to be about self motivation?

 A: I guess, a little bit of me, a little part of me kind of had that vibe for the entire album. I wanted it to be like a really optimistic and positive kind of ofrward kind of record you know?

Q: Did Lazerbeak (DOOMTREE) make this beat specifically for it ?

A:The beats that he made yeah he made them for me. He made about over half those.

Q: Aside from your previous releases , I noticed that in this album you used a lot of snare drum to fuse punk rock with hip hop to create a that energetic sound. Did you aim for that?

 A:Yeah, I always try to aim for it to be different from what everyone else is doing. You know, I grew up on punk and hardcore so I really wanted it to reflect that you know?

Q: Is that the reason you had Jason from No More Black and Judah from the Velvet Teen to get the album to diverge a bit more from that hip hop sound?

A: Yeah, It's just, I really like, I'm a fan of both bands and I just really wanted to you know?


Q: I heard that while you were on tour someone broke into your van and stole your material for this album. Was it hard to start from scratch or did you have some stuff backed up?

A: Actually, it turned out to be kind of a blessing because I didn't really like the way the album was going after I started over again. But it was really frustrating at first.

Q: Did you have the whole album finished?
Most of what I wanted the record to be was done.

Q: With this album do you feel that you have accomplished a sound for yourself where people can say “Yeah I know that sound, that's definitely POS." Or do you feel that you already accomplished that before this album.

A: No, I feel that I was on my way to accomplishing that before this record. But I feel like this record definitely does sound like it self and nothing else. You know what I mean.


Q: In Drum Roll and Let it Rattle where you targeting anyone specific in the Political World?

A: Umm, no. No, both of those songs just kind of aim at the way things seem to be going. You know? And Obama is definitely making some good choices but you know things are still kind of the same so far. So we will see what happens


Q: Do you have any upcoming projects with DOOMTREE, Ryhmesayers or any other Minneapolis rappers like Big Quarters?

A:Umm, I'm just continuing to try and make as many songs as I can possibly make right now, But I don’t really have anything planned until this record has been out for a little while until I start making new stuff.

Q: Can we expect more "As Seen On TV" videos on Youtube?

A: Yeah, you can definitely expect more Internet videos and stuff like that, it’s really fun to make those.

Q: The album packaging is pretty dank. Did you come up with the idea for the album artwork?

A: Yep, That was me and the Artist Eric Carlson was kind of working on it together.

Q: I’m looking at it right now it's awesome, I like messing around with it.

 A: Thanks, that was the plan. We wanted something that everybody could just enjoy playing with all the time

Q: Anymore remixes coming out with Minus the Bear?
 
A: Umm, maybe. They got a new record they are working on.  So hopefully they'll hit me up. I've done one for the last two records so we'll see.

Q: Are You going on tour this year?

A: Yeah I'm going to tour with Atmosphere and I’m doing Warp Tour as well.

Q: Anything you want to say to your new fans that just picked up the album?

A:Nothing, just make sure you try and check out our show because that's where it all gets really fun (laughs).