RH First Look: PK Delay
I had the pleasure of sitting down with PK Delay a few weeks ago while I was back in my home town of Pittsburgh, PA. It was a solid 90 degrees outside which felt more like 100. After pulling up on Carson Street and walking over to one of his friends crib we sat down and started chopping it up.
rubyhornet: For our readers not familiar with PK Delay, what can you tell us about yourself?
PK Delay: I’m a rapper. I play video games. Born and raised in the Hill District (Pittsburgh).
rubyhornet: How old are you?
PK Delay: 24
rubyhornet: What was the attention like you received from rapping in highschool?
PK Delay: I was clowned for the first few years before people started taking me serious. It wasn’t genuine hate, just on my ass for wanting to be a rapper.
rubyhornet: Did other people rap in you school?
PK Delay: Yeah, I met Pet Zebra when I was in 6th or 7th grade. We best friends now. Some of his friends from his high school started rapping with us. We started recording at a home studio. The quality and production was decent so we sounded good. My father is a gospel singer and my grandfather is a drummer. It’s in my blood.
rubyhornet: Were you spending money on music at this point in time?
PK Delay: Yeah I was working at Taco Bell. Whatever I got from my check would be spent on music. We were recording our own shit, so we would be grabbing better speakers, interfaces, etc. I know how to mix well, but tend to head to other studio’s more now.
rubyhornet: What’s it like to be an artist from Pittsburgh and obtaining a platform?
PK Delay: We got a lot of rappers around here. Some of them suck. Some of them are alright.
rubyhornet: Where is most of your audience coming from?
PK Delay: 2012-2014 had a lot of growth on my social media. A good mix of the city (Pittsburgh) and other places like Atlanta and the west coast have been showing love online.
rubyhornet: Near the end of “On That” a saxophone comes in and the track fades out. Who produced this track? Who are some producers you have been rocking with?
PK Delay: Jay Card, he works out of I.D. Labs. My bro laid the saxophone down live at the studio. I wanted some live instrumentation on their, so bro came through and played the saxophone to a flow I had.
rubyhornet: How would you classify yourself?
PK Delay: Emotional. Comfortable. I be speaking my mind.
rubyhornet: Would you consider your fashion similar?
PK Delay: Yeah. I rock whatever. Wear my hair however. Tattoos.
rubyhornet: Tell me about disappearing off Twitter and Instagram for the past few months.
PK Delay: I be dealing with anxiety and stress. Sometimes I be too tapped into my phone. Scrolling all day. 20 mins to an hour goes by and I'm like what did I accomplish just scrolling? I'm tapped into everyone else and I just needed to take some time for me. The break felt great. I had to get back on it now for the music.
rubyhornet: Plans from here on out?
PK Delay: Keep dropping music and videos. Got a few videos in the cut. Exploring different lanes with the music. Rap is boring to me. It’s easy. I want to try some more singing type stuff.
[youtube id="fHa0nDmRziw"]