El Prez: The Blog Era Veteran Now Running the Show. PayDay LA.
Photo credit: Alexander Coopersmith
West Coast Blog Era legend, El Prez is using his 20+ years of experience and forward thinking to amplify the voices of indie artists via PayDay LA
If you’re in LA, LA-adjacent or are just familiar with the city, you already know about PayDay LA aka “The Best Rap Show In LA”. Launched in 2018 by Blog Era veteran, El Prez, the platform was created as a way for him to hear new music and see what’s sonically good in the city. Since then, PayDay LA has grown through word of mouth, ultimately becoming known as the place to spot undiscovered indie rappers that conventionally fly under the radar, which is something El Prez is deeply familiar with.
Growing up in Inglewood, CA and attending the influential Westchester High School, El Prez started rapping during his late teens. It was around 2005-2006, when the Blog Era was getting started when he began posting his music online and meeting a lot of dope artists and creatives tied to the LA music scene. His career took of from there, making him a mainstay of the Blog Era.
Always staying 10 steps ahead of the game, El Prez fully took advantage of the technology and changing times, when blogs were looking for new Hip Hop artists and practically fighting to be the first to break new music. It was also during that time when El Prez found his West Coast tribe, composed of fellow rappers like Pac Div and Thurz, who were “doing more Hip Hop than hood sh*t”.
“Sometimes Hip Hop is like Vegas... It’s worth the gamble.”
Around that time, El Prez sharpened his digital networking skills by meeting multiple artists on message boards. Many who have gone on to do great things today. Artists such as, Glasses Malone, Bad Lucc, JasonMartin fka Problem, Chuck Dizzle, and more.
That’s not to say he was hiding behind a computer screen the whole time, because El Prez also got busy in the streets, connecting with people in person like, Dr. Dre, Freddie Gibbs, The Cool Kids, and a whole lot of East Coast and New York artists he met along the way. This led to him doing several shows with Black Hippie, Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, Dae One, Bishop Lamont, JasonMartin, and many others. El Prez made so much noise networking that he came to be known as an LA connect, which makes running PayDay LA an even smoother process today.
The PayDay LA General dropped his first mixtape in 2007, which catapulted his career after receiving mentions from 2DopeBoyz and HipHopDX. But, it was his ‘Prezanomics’ mixtape that really set things off. Featuring several buzzing producers of the time, like THX, 3AM productions, and Dale Danja, the tape took him out of state to perform at festivals and shows like SXSW, where he started getting a lot of out of town love.
When looking back, El Prez states, “People loved the whole LA style, swag, and flow. We had a way to represent that without coming off gangster and hood.” Seeing how his music impacted people outside of his city made him think for the first time ever that he could actually make a career out of the art form he loves, Hip Hop.
Photo credit: Alexander Coopersmith
From there, 2011 found EL Prez dropping 'Animal Style’ which opened even more doors and avenues, including plays on Power 106’s LA Leakers. His last big record, ‘PrezSport’ dropped in 2014 with producer Jansport J, who has also been making a lot of noise for the past several years. An independent release, sold exclusively on Bandcamp, ‘PrezSport’ caught a lot of attention internationally, especially in Japan. Since it’s in him and not on him, El Prez dropped a couple more albums, with his last being ‘Angels with Dirty Faces’ in 2021. And let’s not forget his new single, “EyeKnow U" featuring Blu that was released late this year.
Being an artist first with so much success under his belt, as well as witnessing the rise of many A list artists gives El Prez an advantage when running PayDay LA. For one, he knows how to run shows because he’s put together his own national tours as a independent artist.
“People loved the whole LA style, swag, and flow. We had a way to represent that without coming off gangster and hood.”
Two, El Prez highly values planning and preparation, quoting Murphy’s Law as a saying to live by, And three, he’s very detail-oriented, and analytical when it comes to his shows. Priding himself on professionalism, El Prez often goes above and beyond, taking it as a complement when artists, labels, venues, and sponsors notice his dedication to PayDay LA. Likewise, he appreciates every artist and supporter that goes out of their way to show appreciation for his platform and what it does for the Hip Hop community. Noting it doesn’t go unnoticed.
Like so many artists turned entrepreneurs, El Prez had to learn planning and preparation the hard way. Although he admits taking a lot of L’s along the way to get to where he’s at today, he regrets nothing. He states, “You’re taking everything that people are telling you and applying it to improve to be the best show and the best platform possible.”
Photo credit: Alexander Coopersmith
When asked for his advice for other ambitious artists, El Prez offers this “Don't be afraid to step outside. Even if you're just by yourself, you got to leave your friend group. Go discover new stuff. Don't be afraid to go outside because going outside is literally half the battle. Like GI Joe… It's just going outside, meeting people, saying what's up, and striking a conversation to see where it leads.”
He further elaborates, ”Sometimes Hip Hop is like Vegas. You know what I'm saying? It's worth the gamble. So, it's always things that we are afraid to do or especially [risks] to take that you need to just go ahead and do it because what you'll realize is that it's a lot easier than you think. And it was something that you were looking for that you might not have seen on the surface.”
Looking back from the Blog Era to today, El Prez is a 20 year veteran in the game that is literally now running the show. Just like he knows his flow isn’t conventionally West Coast. And his style always ahead of its time. It’s still trendsetting and impactful. El Prez has used this out of the box thinking and unconventional lifestyle design to carve out a lane all his own. One that other indie artist can follow via PayDay LA.
What gets him Hype Off Life? “Discovering new music and new artists. Hearing new rappers for a verse that just gives you the screw face or just make you want to rewind something back. Or hearing a beat that just makes you want to rewind it back or say, ‘Damn, why didn't I get that beat?'”
