Today we’d like to introduce you to Papa Zaniel.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Doing good work and simply moving forward from it is not an efficient way to create. There are a lot of accomplishments, large and small, that I have been reminded about this past year in 2023. Being able to say I graduated college in 2015 during a turbulent time in my personal life is something I should celebrate more! Most people don’t choose to go to college, and some folks don’t have the credentials or time to go. For me to be able to attend for four years and make it out on the other side is epic. I lost my maternal grandfather in my freshman year in 2011, and then my mom in my senior year in 2015, shit was tough. Throughout that entire time, I was supported by communities I found myself proud to be a part of.
C.Y.P.H.E.R. and Green Squad definitely helped shape my purpose within creating music and maintaining a platform for art. To explain, C.Y.P.H.E.R. was a registered student organization on campus that I eventually became the president of after being the emcee chairperson. Cultivate Your Pure Hip-Hop Elements Respectfully gave me an opportunity to perform and give back to the local Tallahassee, Florida community. Green Squad was more of a private organization made up of individuals focused on positivity. As simple as that concept was, I was pulled in immediately. Formidable Brothers through Growth and Motivation.
I was reminded of those times by a good friend of mine named Lance Markeith. My trauma definitely clouded my memories, not necessarily with people, but rather my actions and accomplishments. Being able to host events, perform in showcases, organize executive meetings and delegating tasks, being featured in the FSU school newspaper & FSU Radio, were all things I was able to do during a very valued time in my life. However, I was hurt and never really thought about those times after they occurred. I just kept going.
It’s my responsibility to take a moment and reflect on those times as they truly shape who I am today. It’s very hard for me to do good work and just move forward. There are lessons back there, and I am sincerely learning them right now.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Absolutely not. What I have learned from losing family members has been more internal than anything I can describe. Trying to maintain focus on your goals while asking, “Why am I doing this?” is extremely difficult. A person can start to question existence at any point in their life, and the advice I’ve seen those people receive is to find something that makes you happy. Don’t get me wrong, great advice, but depends on the person. I knew music made me happy, but that still didn’t feel like enough. Changing my artist name, moving to a new city, and pivoting in the type of music I was making, all of these real-life events that happened, allowed me to move forward and reflect. There were lessons in each turn I made as a recording artist, and at a certain point I was able to recognize and apply those lessons to every challenge I faced.
Creatively, I was always focused on making quality work, and financially I kept getting thrown in situation after situation. Losing your parent early, and being forced to become an independent person in the Internal Revenue tax System, while in college turns your world upside down. I wasn’t prepped for credit, or ownership, or investing, or any type of adulting financially. I just knew to pay my bills on time, don’t rack up debt, and don’t take out loans. Sticking to that method of living, I’ve been able to save my money and apply funds to necessary expenses. I try not to live outside my means, but I always fall short. Making music professionally is expensive. Outside of creation, the promotion of it, the advertising, the sales, the marketing all have hefty price tags depending on how visible you want your artistry to be. Invest in yourself.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a recording artist, a producer, and a DJ. Never had any formal training, I taught myself and learned from other caring minds. Being from French-speaking Montreal, Canada and moving to the States when I was 4 years old, I fell in love with Hip-Hop as soon as I learned English. Picking up a dictionary to learn more meanings of words, finding cracked versions of FL Studio and creating something from stock sounds, and buying my own Pioneer DJ Controller to teach myself the hardware are all examples of how I truly created my own love for the art of music. Over the years, I’ve gotten better as an emcee and continue to sharpen my sword to this day.
Releasing a collaborative album with Prodby712 on October 27, 2023 titled “Life Is II Bizarre” I wanted to tell parts of my story and have fun. In order to make sure I wasn’t repeating past failures, I was convinced by Ariana Iverson with A.I. Media Solutions to create my own website and manage my own database of fans. I set out a plan to do exactly that. Launched PapaZaniel.com and started making more money from album subscription sales than streaming.
On the album, 712 produced 9/10 songs, and I produced the very last one, “MASH”. Receiving positive feedback allowed me to keep producing and stockpile more instrumentals. I’ll probably release a beat tape in the next year or so… We’ll see.
Shout out to DJ Koolie in South Florida. My guy gave me a hard drive filled with 450+GBs of music and kickstarted me with some very helpful information regarding Deejaying and the world within it. I have found myself being requested to spin as a DJ more times than I’ve been invited to perform as an emcee in the two months in purchasing the Pioneer controller. The DDJ SX2 has been the most intuitive piece of audio hardware I’ve seen in a while. Being able to mix, blend and pick apart stems is every producer and young music lover’s dream. Full control of musical playback is wonderful, given that you can make a room full of people dance and enjoy life for a few brief moments in time.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Finding a mentor…? Nah. That comes naturally. I’ve never really had authoritative figures in my life be mentors to me. Structure and discipline is indeed taught, but there is a level of self-exploration that needs to occur first. Me personally, I was able to find my network of people because I had time to get to know myself. All my friends like what I like but our relationships feed and water each other. I want to contribute more than I receive from the deeds of others.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had many wonderful people look out for me in life, financially, and spiritually (praying), but a mentor – mentee relationship is not one I’ve developed over the years.
What works for me is trusting that humans will be humans. You can’t put your trust in people, but you can trust that people will be themselves. Accepting truth and accepting others has definitely worked well for me.
Pricing:
- PapaZaniel.com – Hundred Dollar Hoodies $150
- Life Is II Bizarre (Album) $10
- Ghostwriting $25 an hour
- DJ (Spinning) $75 an hour
Contact Info:
- Website: PapaZaniel.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/papazaniel/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PapaZaniel/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/thepapazaniel
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@papazaniel
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/papazaniel
