Pill

1) The Brooklyn post-punk outfit
2) PILL, ALSO KNOWN AS “YOUNG PSYCH” TO THOSE IN “PINK CITY” AND ADAMSVILLE, IS AN ENIGMATIC INDIVIDUAL. PILL’S MUSIC IS DYNAMIC – A REFLECTION OF HIS PERSONALITY AND HIS EXPERIENCE.
PILL WAS RAISED IN NUMEROUS PROJECTS IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA. RAISED BY A STRONG MOTHER WHO DEALT WITH DRUG ADDICTION, HE BEGAN IN KIMBERLY COURT PROJECTS ON 4180 CANT STREET. FROM KIMBERLY COURT, HE MOVED BACK AND FORTH FROM ADAMSVILLE’S WAITS DRIVE COMMUNITY TO GRADY HOMES, BOWEN HOMES, THOMASVILLE HEIGHTS, AND ENGLEWOOD MANOR. FORCED TO SUPPORT HIMSELF HIS WHOLE LIFE – HE WAS SUCKED INTO THE UNDERWORLD ECONOMY AT A VERY YOUNG AGE. CURRENTLY YOU CAN FIND HIM ON THE “ONE WAY,” AN AFFECTIONATE TERM THEY USE TO DESCRIBE THE TRAP THEY CALL “PINK CITY.”
WHEN PILL GRADUATED FROM DOUGLASS HIGH SCHOOL, HE WAS THE FIRST MALE IN HIS FAMILY TO GRADUATE. HIS WHOLE FAMILY WAS IN THE STREETS -- SOME OF HIS BROTHERS AND UNCLES WERE GAMBLERS, OTHERS WERE HUSTLERS. HIS MOTHER’S FAMILY WAS FROM PERRY HOMES, HIS FATHER WAS ABSENT, AND HIS GRANDFATHER LIVED IN THE TECHWOOD HOUSING PROJECTS.
FROM THE END OF 2004 UNTIL THE MIDDLE OF 2005, PILL STRUGGLED WITH THE NEMESIS OF A “BEAUTIFUL MIND.” HIS STORY IS THAT OF THE EVIL GENIUS, ONE WHOSE CREATIVITY WAS ALWAYS CAGED IN BY THE BLEAK REALITIES OF ATLANTA’S PROJECT HOUSING.
THE PLACE IN SOCIETY WHERE PILL CALLS HOME IS NOT SIMPLY “THE HOOD,” IT IS THE STORY OF TRUE POVERTY – THE STORY OF SOMEONE WHO NEVER HAD A STABLE LIVING SITUATION, SOMEONE WHO HAS LIVED WITH MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES AND HAS DEALT WITH DRUG ADDICTION AMONGST HIS FRIENDS AND FAMILY. PILL IS FROM THE PLACE WHERE BROKEN SPIRITS ARE COMMONPLACE AND WHERE SOULLESS ADDICTS WALK THE STREET.
AS A RESULT OF HIS EXPERIENCE, PILL REFLECTS THIS PART OF SOCIETY IN HIS ART, ALBEIT IN A UNIQUELY CREATIVE AND INTELLIGENT WAY. SOMETIMES, HE EVEN INTERJECTS HUMOR INTO HIS RHETORIC AS A WAY TO DISGUISE HIS PAIN.
“PINK CITY” IS WHERE HE RESIDES -- THE BLOCK THAT ATLANTA FORGOT – CLAW FOOT METAL TUBS AND DILAPIDATED IRON SCREEN DOORS -- THE PLACE WHERE RAPPERS COME TO TAKE THEIR PROMOTIONAL PICTURES AND LEAVE. SIRENS, GUNSHOTS, “ZOMBIES” – “PINK CITY” IS A PLACE WHERE SLEEP DOESN’T EXIST.
PILL’S MUSIC IS NOT A HOLLYWOOD, STYLIZED VERSION OF WHAT PEOPLE PERCEIVE THE STREETS TO BE. HIS LIFE - AND THUS, HIS ART - IS A REFLECTION OF THE GRIM REALITIES OF THE STREETS. THE REAL STREETS, NOT WHAT YOU SEE ON TV OR WHAT YOU HEAR GLORIFIED IN MODERN DAY RAP MUSIC. HIS MUSIC SPEAKS TO - AND EXISTS AS - AN ESCAPE FROM THE PARALYZING SITUATIONS THAT HAVE HINDERED HIS ABILITY FOR CREATIVE EXPRESSION THUS FAR IN HIS LIFE.
HIS MUSIC IS UNIQUELY INTELLIGENT, BUT IS STILL A TRUE-TO-FORM REFLECTION OF HIS LIFE STORY. SIMPLY PUT, PILL HAD TO SELL DOPE TO SURVIVE AS A CHILD WITH NO CARETAKERS – AND HE SOLD DOPE TO PAY FOR HIS STUDIO TIME – ONLY FOR THE REASON TO HAVE A WAY OUT, AN ESCAPE, A RELEASE – HIS MUSIC.