“You got to fall in love with the work… there were days where there was no indicator that I would be performing at cool festivals—like I had faith that I’d be doing this,” PawPaw Rod tells me on our call.
Having made music for over 10 years and performing in bands since he was 15 years old, Rodney Husley says that PawPaw Rod is a testimony to not stopping. He made his debut in 2020 under PawPaw Rod with the breakout hit that captured hearts, ‘HIT EM WHERE IT HURTS’, a cathartic fusion of warm 60’s soul, funk and hip hop. An addictive groove that introduced PawPaw Rod to the world, along with his signature laid-back style and infectious feel-good musicality you can expect with every release. When he’s not mesmerising a crowd with his immersive stage presence, he’s on TikTok enjoying how people use his music as their own life’s soundtrack.
On our call, Rodney is brimming with positive energy as he tells me he’s about to facilitate his friend’s wedding for the first time as he just became an ordained minister. A singer, rapper, performer, writer, public speaker, actor and ordained minister, Rodney Husley is the type of artist you can’t pin down. Growing up as a military brat, he says belonging wasn’t always the easiest thing to attain. With family ties in Oklahoma that he carries on through square-toed boots and a Stetson hat, Rodney says that music has given him something to feel a part of. With his two self-titled EPs, A PawPaw Rod EP and Another PawPaw Rod EP, the LA-based artist’s sound has been likened to soul music godfathers Bill Withers and Gil Scott-Heron. PawPaw Rod, however, is very much authentically Rodney Husley and continues to cement his artistry.
In our conversation, Rodney gets honest about what his journey looks like behind the scenes; he talks about the power of self-belief and community and the growing pains of being a military brat.
Congrats on your new song, ‘Is It Magic?’ How are you feeling with it out in the world?
Any time I release a song or a project, it’s like my birthday all over again. And fortunately, I get to have a couple of birthdays a year so (laughs). There’s always excitement but also a slight sadness because something that you and maybe one or two other people had access to is now out into the world, so it’s like the end of something, even though it’s something new at the same time. It’s actually kind of emotional in a way but I love it.
I saw you recently performed at a festival over there in the States; how was that?
It was cool. I was in Michigan for Electric Forest. My first time out there. I feel like those Midwest shows, you get a lot of people super appreciative just for live music in general. Everybody was super, super happy and taken to the music, I feel like I’ll be out there again.
You have such pure, joyous energy when you’re on stage. What runs through your mind when you’re performing in front of a crowd?
Just overall excitement. I’ve been making music for quite some time, and it’s such a rewarding feeling to get to do the thing that you wanted to do, like truly get to do it, you know what I’m saying? I tell people it’s kind of like a family reunion and being a new kid at school all over again, all at the same time. I’m honestly overstimulated when it happens a little bit but after the second or third song I’m eased into what’s going on. It’s just kind of like a reflection because I’ve been fortunate to have people at the shows that are super happy and excited and it just kind of bounces right back to me, you know?
Was there a particular moment growing up that made you realise you wanted to pursue music?
Well, I have a bunch of different stories. When I was seven years old I got to sing in the church, this song called ‘Victory is Mine’, I was being a little shithead about it because everybody else in the choir wanted to sing a certain song and I was kind of throwing a temper tantrum. I was like, “no, we should do Victory Is Mine”. And I think the lesson was, “well, if you want to sing it so bad, how about you just sing it yourself”, thinking I wasn’t going to and I was like, okay, and I took the mic and started singing. I remember the next day, my Meemaw, that’s all she could talk about the whole day was the fact that I did that. She told all her friends, told my mom. I just loved that energy from it, like I had a hard time sleeping the next day because I couldn’t believe I was doing something like that. I think everything after that has always revolved around me being a vessel for entertainment or public speaking or some sort of writing, so I think it all led up to what I’m doing now in that way.
Your songs have been featured in shows like Issa Rae’s Insecure, Bel-Air and just recently Seth Rogan’s Platonic. As a TV appreciator, what was your reaction hearing your songs on these shows made by these great figures?
Though I don’t have much interaction with these figures, it makes me somewhat feel like I’m in the soup, like in the mix of things as a person who’s always grown up watching television and movies and loving soundtracks or looking up songs that I’d see on the end of stuff. It’s all a part of this entertainment business and again, I have aspirations to, if I wasn’t doing just music, I would be acting which I still want to do or I’d be like writing scripts or anything entertainment, so it just feels good to be a part of that in any way.
How would you describe your evolution in music, from performing at a young age, to your two self-titled EPs, to now?
Well, I have a fascination with Motown and what was cool about Motown back in the day, there was this like, artist development. From the biggest artists to the smallest artists, you kind of had time to just try different things. It’s just like, everything’s leading up to something, you know, those times where I was just not really going out and just writing and writing or like, playing shows where there was no one there or trying to convince my parents that music was what I was going to do, or taking the leap of faith of moving to places like LA and New York with no money, just off the idea that you know, I’d be doing what I’m doing now. Like it’s all for the cause. It’s all leading up to something, even this is leading up- like the fact that I’m doing a wedding for somebody, that’s just another way of what public speaking and music and using your voice can draw to you. Which I would have never thought to be a thing.
One of my favourite quotes is from a journalist named Dan Le Batard, he’s always talking about how you got to fall in love with the work, like whatever that may be, like the process. And that’s just what it is. Days where there was no indicator that I would be performing at cool festivals, like I had faith that I’d be doing this and I was always excited for the unknown because I knew what I was doing now, it’s a part of that story and part of that journey.
That’s a beautiful mindset to have. Even in your music, you emit this carefree positive energy. How would you say this mindset has helped you navigate life?
It’s almost a sense of like, there’s confidence there, but it’s almost a sense of delusion too because like I said, I’ve been doing these things, like trying to make music and do what I’m doing now for 10+ years. So that comes with the awkwardness of being overly confident when nobody knows what the hell you’re talking about. Or people saying like, yo, you should maybe think to do something else, aren’t you tired of like not having any money? [Laughs] It comes with all of that. That’s why community is so important because when you’re able to see other artists in any lane, whether it be an actor or a writer or you know, a musician, there’s always these stories of people succeeding at what you’re doing, failing at what you’re doing and kind of in the middle, like in the same place.I’m one of those people that still to this day, I love watching videos on YouTube of people’s stories, like on days where I feel like man, it’s a little harder or I’m a little confused or lost. It’s like, you’re not alone in this, you know what I’m saying? That’s important to remember, even if you need that reminder every single day. It’s important to just know that, because we’ll do something so long by ourselves with hopes that one day somebody will like, believe in it.
You strike me as kind of an old soul. You seem wise beyond your years. Where do you think that comes from?
I appreciate it. I think it comes from just hearing the good word in terms of this road because it’s so naive to feel like you’re the first person to do this, to take this journey. To use a boxing reference, everybody’s tough until they get punched in the face, you know what I’m saying? Until you put yourself out there and there’s one person at your show or not anyone at your show or like, the views on your song is still at 400 after a month or you’re late on rent and things, you’re gonna get tested along the way to show if you really care about something, if you really love something.
One of my favourite artists, the late Nipsey Hussle, would tell people that there wasn’t anything rare about what he did, other than he just didn’t stop. People will eliminate themselves just through lack of consistency or feeling like it’s time to do other things, and that’s kind of where I’m at with it. To do the things I’m doing now meant having to be very vulnerable and honest about my situations. Being in rooms where my voice was cracking but I still had to act like everything was cool, you know what I’m saying? I think all those things are important to tell somebody because everybody’s situation and path is different.
So you were mostly raised in Oklahoma, and this is something that’s reflected in your music videos, it’s very country, very cowboy. What’s the significance of Oklahoma when it comes to you and your roots and do you feel it’s important to take that with you as you progress more in your music career?
So my formative years were spent in Oklahoma. It was weird because when I lived in Oklahoma, I felt like the kid from other places because I was a military brat. My mom and dad were born and raised in Oklahoma. So for the most part, their stories of Oklahoma gave me something to resonate with as a kid who moved all the time and honestly, I was kind of envious of kids who lived in one place and didn’t move every two years like I did. So when I moved there, it was my first time being around like, born-and-raised kids and being around Meemaw and PawPaw like, it made me proud to just have something to identify with, when for the most part, I didn’t feel that way. I think now it’s just kind of in me because I always go back to Oklahoma to visit and I tell people like, I’m cowboy adjacent because my folks, especially on my dad’s side you know, they’re the ones that actually have horses and things like that. So when you see that stuff, that’s just me kind of putting on for them. Like when I wear square toe boots, that reminds me of my family. It seemed like that was a piece of clothing that was easily identifiable like, okay I got respect for you because you got the square toes, you know what I’m saying? So little things like that I like to carry on because I tell people my style is sorta like a wedding; something old, something new, something borrowed. That’s something that’s been in my family, it’s just like, you know, a Stetson hat or like, some gold teeth or some cowboy boots, that I kind of mix that with my own style as well.
I love that. I’ve seen people call you a Capricorn Cowboy which I love, and Capricorns are known for being quite ambitious so I want to know what is your dream when it comes to music?
I would say just longevity. Being able to really travel anywhere I want and play my music for people who love to hear it because the fact that I was a military brat, I think now I have such value and I cherish travelling. I love for example being able to go to a place I’ve never been to like Michigan, and really getting to immerse myself in that community, or the fact I could play a festival like that, and then be invited to New York for a Fashion Week event with something that I didn’t even think my music could go to. I think it was the lead singer from Coldplay who said that music is like a passport and it takes you to different places. It makes me feel like an ambassador of the planet in a way because if I’m gonna play overseas, for some people it might be their first time seeing an American performer or it might be somebody’s first show in general, and it’s a new experience to life and that could set off a whole bunch of different things for them.
I love the idea of being a soundtrack to someone’s life, like I’ll get on TikTok or something and I’m guilty, I’ll search my name and see what’s going on. I’m always amazed by like, where and how people are utilising my music, like I’ll see people riding horses somewhere, in some beautiful place or dancing or being with their family and it just feels universal. And I’d love to continue to do that for as long as I live. One day I was having a kind of a shitty day,and I had band practice but I wasn’t in the mood. Then I started singing my song. I think it might’ve been Beautiful, I was like yo, this song is like, it’s good energy when I made it, and like it got me out of that slump so in that moment I was like, I’m thankful.I was thankful that the intent I put into that song was something positive, because speaking positive words brought me back to life, and that just felt super powerful to me. And I want to be intentional in that way.
I remember you posting your Discord channel awhile ago and you found out you had a lot of Australian fans. Was that a surprise to you?
Yeah, it was ‘cause I don’t pay attention to it as much. I’m starting to pay attention to it a little more just like where everybody is, but it definitely was. When I played my first show in LA, we sold out The Moroccan Lounge and I was just so anxious to see for the first time what these people looked like who’re listening to my music because you think like, is this just bots or is this fake, like what is this? So hell yeah I was surprised to hear Australia is just like, bumping me randomly. Anytime somebody sends me a video of somebody in a cafe or something, it just blows my mind. I haven’t gotten used to that. I don’t want to get used to that. I think it’s super awesome.
Follow PawPaw Rod here for more and stream the new single ‘Is It Magic?‘ here.