The Rap Dad Podcast: Ep. 64 - Pope The Hermit “A Modern Day Socialite”
What’s good everyone? WW Music Forecast is back with some much needed coverage. With posts few and far between lately, we have been spreading good music and bringing content to life Behind The Scenes, most of which you have seen on our IG account. With the radar running all over the region, we have connected with endless amounts of creatives who have been pushing the local culture forward. San Jose, CA and Reno, NV being the most abundant source of those we come into contact with, there are times we run into creatives from a completely different region. Allow us to introduce you to Pope The Hermit! We first became aware of the Florida born musician, at the December 2022 Project Flow competition hosted by One Vision Entertainment. His style and voice were immediate standout features that made the name easy to remember.
It would not be too much later when our partners at For You Productions would begin to work more frequently with Pope. Fast forward to April 2023, Pope booked a session with us (see below) and we been keeping an eye on his movement since. Currently residing in the Incline Village-Tahoe area, he has been finding his way into the creative scene since making his way from across the country. A calm, collected individual who can be very observant and well spoken when interacting with him, you feel at ease when hanging out with Pope. Getting to learn more about the individual still did not answer some of the more interesting details about his artistry. Thankfully he got to connect with one of the region’s most reputable podcasts in the creative scene, The Rap Dad Podcast hosted by Melancholy and Junes!
The trio sits down to talk about the beginning to now for the artist, originally born in West Palm Beach, Florida. He would later move to Lake City, Florida for his adolescence and becoming the place that made him. Seeing a lot of different things and being exposed to different types of people was a part of his journey but music would be the one to really take hold of his spirit. Having a sister many years his senior, who was a professional musician, gave him the bug to make music at an early age. Witnessing her success as a smaller level artist opened his eyes to a whole new realm of possibility. Eventually spending his late teens experimenting with sounds himself, using family influence and tools from being in his school’s band to shape his own creative processes.
All the meanwhile, Pope began to gravitate to culinary arts as an academic passion/skill. Engaging in it enough to get an opportunity to move to the Bay Area where his sister ended up. Falling more in love with the music, especially out in the Oakland area, he slowly drifted away from the kitchen and began to dedicate his life to cooking up in the booth. After some time out in the Bay Area, he found his way to North Lake Tahoe where he has spent the last five years establishing himself. Even more recently, newly discovering the scene in Reno, NV and has been thriving in the creative opportunities he continues to find. Citing that the Incline area having very little creative outlets compared to his time in Florida and the Bay. Reno has become a city of inspiration to him as he continues to meet independent creatives who just want to contribute their creations to the world and shape the layout we live in.
With 8 albums and over 10 singles, Pope The Hermit has well over 100 tracks released in the last two years alone. Much of which is self produced and all performed by him! He goes into this more in the interview and how he is now starting to get back into recording on other producer’s beats. With his sound going all over the place, Junes acknowledges his ability to swerve from genre to genre in his music. There’s a little bit of something for everyone to find that they enjoy in his catalog. Pope credits that to not overthinking his art and allowing it to exist for the one person that will listen to it. Consistency creates motivation and Pope is an artist that has brought the Weather Watcher some inspiration.
Be sure to watch the episode and catch his interview in full! It is very insightful and refreshing in conversation, there are not too many people like Pope and we were delighted to learn more of what he is really about. Down below you will see a link to Pope’s music, the interview on Spotify, and his Biggest Little Sessions performance! Also, be tuned for a big announcement from For You Productions and The Weather Watcher coming very soon!