The Break Presents: Hoodrich Pablo Juan

Hoodrich Pablo Juan has been embedded in Atlanta's hip-hop scene for years now, but he only started rapping around 2015, when he dropped his debut mixtape, Designer Drugz. One of the songs from that tape, "African Diamonds" with Peewee Longway, started catching on, and soon Pablo was building a loyal online following.

He's been cool with people like Peewee, Jose Guapo, Skippa Da Flippa and other ATL rappers for awhile, but it was when the Red Dogs (a group with Atlanta's Police Department that maintains an "aggressive police presence in areas that have high incidence of street drug sales, use and drug-related crimes") kicked down the door to his crib that he finally decided to start taking rapping seriously. Mixtapes like Designer Drugz 2 and Master Sensei have only helped strength his already-sturdy fan base since then.

With Designer Drugz 3 and a project with Danny Wolf on the way this year, Pablo stopped by the XXL office to talk with us about his past, present and future.

Name: Hoodrich Pablo Juan

Age: 27

Hometown: Newark, N.J. via Atlanta

I grew up listening to: "Boosie, Gucci Mane, C-Murder, Pimp C. I was more into the ‘80s, [Soul for Real's 'Candy Rain'] 'Candy Coated Rain Drops.' I like that era for some reason."

Most people don't know: "Most people think I'm kind of aggressive or meaner than I actually am. I'm actually very smart. I graduated high school early. I'm a people person. Unless you give me a reason to be that type of person, I'm not that type of person. It just comes across like that in my rap, because of what I've went through and the energy I'm giving toward it.

"I'm not a judgmental person at all. I don't think you have to be from the streets to be cool. I respect everybody for what they do and what work they put in."

My style's been compared to: "I had a lot of comparisons, but I wouldn't agree with them. I had a couple Pimp C [comparisons]. They're trying to compare me, but Pablo is Pablo. I grew up in my era, I didn't grow up with the big T-shirts like Pimp C. That's one of my favorite rappers. I love him, I always say Pimp C in my raps, but Pablo is Pablo. If I was being Pimp C, I don't even think I could be Pablo. It wouldn't be original.

"Shout out to all the websites but I don't look at WorldStar, YouTube. I don't keep current with all the music. The music that comes from Pablo is from my experiences outside and me hanging with my friends and what I really do."

My standout records or moments to date have been: "It's coming day by day. A lot of people reach out and I'm very humbled."

My goal in hip-hop is to: "My first main goal, I want to just make enough money to provide for everybody around me who's hard-working. I want to be able to provide jobs, and it's not about buying everything you want, but it's about living secure where you know you don't have to worry about things as much. When I rap, it's my job, so it's like putting overtime at a job. Main goal is to just feed my family. I want us to go to Dubai."

I'm gonna be the next: "I'd probably be the next Louis Farrakhan. If you break the game down, Jay Z is doing good for his angle, even people like Ludacris, he doing good, might have T.I. doing movies, but no one's doing what Farrakhan does. If I make enough money, I'm gonna buy my own water, I'ma have my own cows to get the milk, I'll have my chickens that grow the eggs. I'm gonna take it a little deeper than any rapper I can say."

Follow Hoodrich Pablo Juan on Twitter, Instagram and SoundCloud.

Standouts: "Man Wit the Plan"

"Master Sensei Intro"

"Fortunes"

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