A Good Friend – Pusha Rod Discusses How Being a ‘Professional Homie’ Led the Way to His Success
Pusha Rod (Daaron Cowan)
A&R and producer Pusha Rod is a Los Angeles native dedicated to shifting the culture. Known as a former A&R of Urban Music at Interscope Records, the young executive got into the industry by being what he calls a “professional homie,” giving his advice to artists about their music and then working to get their music in the hands and ears of the people.
About a year ago, the producer left Urban Music at Interscope to start his own recording studio, Creative Soundz Recording, where he hosts a number of very notable recording artists and does A&R work independently. He even recently produced his best friend and Rapper YG’s newest hit album, “I GOT ISSUES.”
In an interview with the Los Angeles Sentinel (LAS), Pusha Rod took some time to discuss the path of his career and how it led to the opening of his own business.
“I didn’t really know what I was doing when I started in the music industry. I just thought I was being a good friend,” Pusha Rod told LAS. “At one point in time, a few of us were all trying to figure out this music stuff, so we were all staying with YG. I had just dropped out of college, and we were all just living at his house.”
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Rapper YG is a close friend of Pusha Rod. Rod shared that, while living with the rapper, he’d already came out with his first project. He’d sit in the back of the studio while YG was recording, not doing too much, until one day they started asking his opinion on the music.
“Then that switch happened when someone asked me why didn’t I like the music. I said what I thought and gave my honest opinion, and they’d be like, ‘You know what? I feel you. I was feeling the same way.’ And it went from that to starting to ask other questions.”
Pusha Rod assisted Sycamore (the A&R on YG’s album, “My Krazy Life”) in finding producers and artists to work on that album and he was the one who told him that the work he was doing was A&R.
“I just thought I was doing what real friends do. I’ve never been a ‘yes man’ in my life, so I just thought I was doing good by my friends…So then, I started trying to play in [A&R] a little more, build my relationships a little more, and then Joie was actually president of A&R at Def Jam at the time, but he ended up going to Interscope and moving to L.A. He told Sycamore he needed someone on the ground, who’s connected with everybody, who could get in contact with the biggest artists to the smallest producers to writers. Sycamore was like, ‘That’s Pusha Rod. He’s that guy in LA.’”
He continued, “I met with Joie and then the rest was history.”
Pusha Rod worked at Interscope for about eight years before he decided to venture out into his own business. He shared that he “learned a lot.”
A&R, Producer, and “Professional Homie” Pusha Rod (Courtesy photo)
“I’m very grateful for the time I spent there, but I always at some point felt I was missing something.” He said, “I wanted to figure out what that next step was in my career, and I have a lot of relationships with a lot of artists that’re signed at different labels across the board, who I give advice to, who call me and might need help getting a feature, so I asked myself, ‘what’s something involving music that I can do, but also doesn’t have any specific holes or ties to anybody.’ ”
This led to the start of Creative Soundz Recordings.
“I knew if I opened up a studio, anybody could come. I could go into anybody’s session and talk with anybody for hours. When I left Interscope, I was like, ‘Alright this was a great chapter of my life, but what’s the level up? I’m not gonna leave Interscope and go be a senior director at a different label. Like that mean’s my life is staying consistent.’ ”
The recording studio, located on Melrose, was originally the home of Buzzfeed Studios in the early 2000s and 90s, and was already a “landmark” in entertainment. Pusha Rod made it a point to give it a different light.
“I’ve traveled to hundreds of studios, and one thing that I have learned over the years is that a lot of studios that we use as hip hop artists aren’t necessarily hip hop studios. Studios are made for like pop and rock, and the sound is literally built to build a different type of music.”
Pusha Rod shared that “even the structures of the rooms” aren’t made for hip hop music. He also shared that, in some studios, artists are forced to use equipment that’s almost 30 or 40 years old.
“Over the years, while working with the artists I’ve worked with, I’ve seen the things that they ask for, and I took that knowledge and brought it to my own because I feel that there’s not too many hip hop studios in Hollywood. There’s a lot of beautiful, amazing studios that hip hop artists use, but there aren’t too many studios made for us.”
(Courtesy photo)
Born and raised in L.A., Pusha Rod shares that making this business opportunity in his hometown feels amazing. He’s assisted in bringing out some of the “dopest artists in the West Coast who’ve pushed the culture over the last decade.” He also voiced that he’s an avid advocate of his city.
“I rep L.A. everywhere I go,” he enthused. “I’m very proud of being from here, and I’m very proud to help shed light on L.A. because a lot of things get misconstrued. It’s dope to be able to move the way I move throughout the city and throughout the music industry and interchange some of those relationships.”
He continued, “I introduce dope people to other dope people because a lot of times people come out here and they meet the wrong people, and they get the wrong impression of L.A.. I’m trying to be the correct impression.”
For those looking to follow in Pusha Rod’s footsteps of working in A&R, his key tip is to “lock in with an artist or producer, and really work to understand them. Help them make the best music possible based on themselves and what they’re willing to talk about. And be honest because, a lot of times, people get into these positions and feel like they have to say yes. But when you say yes to things that you don’t believe in or don’t love, people start to second guess you. So, never second guess yourself or your opinion for a like. People are going to respect you for your honesty. Not for falling in the room.”
To keep up to date on Pusha Rod, check out his Instagram (@pusharod). You can also visit Creative Soundz Recordings website: https://creativesoundzrecording.com.
