Prado isn’t compromising her truth for the comfort of others; she’s evolving, in the middle of a damn pandemic. Naturally, the Vancouver songbird is that bitch. She’s free-spirited, yet equally modest and in no rush to appease the opinions of others. Hell, if it wasn’t for the ears of her inner circle of friends, Prado would have no problem keeping her catalog of hypnotic melodies to herself. “I’ve never made music with thoughts of releasing it”, she admits.
Thankfully, the STRIP composer has had a change of heart. Whether she’s sharing perspective over bass-heavy beat patterns or taking her brother’s BMW for a spin, Prado makes lifestyle music. Her lyrics sound like emotionally-charged affirmations about self-love, divulging into the complex narrative of existence. Thirty seconds into “STEPHEN” and you’re entranced by angelic hymns before the click of a rifle conjures up Prado’s sardonic humor.
“The whole track has so much divine energy attached to it. It was the first time I was building a world of music for myself and going in and directing all the bass lines and shit like that”, Prado continues, revisiting that one drunk night at songwriting camp that resulted in crafting the free-flowing anthem.
The TMWRK Records signee is on the verge of self-discovery, but not because she’s lost or trying to find her way sonically. In fact, it’s the exact opposite, Prado has always been in control, possessing real ‘If I want to, I will’ energy. She embodies a divine feminine power unlike no other, accented with a blend of lo-fi rap and chaotic bliss.
After a 20-minute conversation with the eclectic talent, we both came to terms with the fact that Prado isn’t a pop star by definition. We covered the release of her double-sided single, what it means to be ladylike and more. Check it out below.
To Prado, when you hear the word “women”, what comes to mind?
Women are so complex. I can’t even define women. That’s all I have to say. I grew up around a lot of women. I literally only have 2 male friends at a time. Women are not one dimensional people, as people would assume or try to project.
Speaking on life growing up, what moment do you feel like played an integral role in your overall development as an artist?
I’ve always done music. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a CEO and work in an office type shit. I started making music when I was like 14, putting out shit on Soundcloud. Even then I wasn’t serious. Only when I was 19 or 20, I realized I really love this energy. I can’t think of a turning point. This is just what I love to do [haha]. Some people like to sleep until 3:00 p.m., hop on the phone with a complete stranger, 3 hours ahead, and talk about their songs, it’s crazy.
Do you consider yourself a pop star?
I wouldn’t consider myself a pop star until I have pop star money in my bank account. That sounds crazy but that’s the truth of the matter. I’m just an artist. I’ve been an artist forreal for such a long time. A lot of people use that word, but that’s just because they’ve never heard squeaky vocals. You hear my voice and think that I have such a sweet voice, but I have a real greasy-ass fucking voice, plus I just woke up. I can’t wait to see what you write when I drop the EP, that’s what I’m thinking. I just think it’ll be a totally different verdict. “STEPHEN” and “DRIP” are like cousins in music; I wrote them around the same time. They had to come out together. I wanted something really beautiful for my first release. I make a lot of crazier stuff, so it’s like I wanna give them “STEPHEN”; I love “STEPHEN”. The song is one of my favorite tracks. The label was going to do a Pop-ier type track, which will come out later, but yeah.
Let’s talk about “STEPHEN” a bit more. Personally, it sounds like you’re going against the grain and speaking your truth. Since releasing this record, have you received any backlash for your expressiveness?
I think people are always going to say something, but that’s the point — right? Yo, literally, at least they [listeners] hear something different and spark some sort of reaction. I look at some comments that are like, “This song is trash — it’s always trash music and trash artists”, and I’m just like okay [haha], at least they felt compelled enough to leave a comment. I’m not mad about it. I never thought about this part, with reception. I feel like a good artist is only going to piss off more people; it’s only going to get worse from here. I’m ever-changing, but for now, “STEPHEN” and “DRIP” are blonde Prado; Prado Monroe for sure. I know my final form is 50-year-old Prado DJing Tomorrowland; just like fucking playing Chief Keef and jumping around, that’s my end goal; that’s my evolution pattern right there.
What exactly does it mean to be ladylike?
I literally said on the track, “Bitch, I’m so ladylike”. I feel like a good woman knows what they want, they don’t compromise. The whole track has so much divine energy attached to it. It was the first time I was building a world of music for myself and going in and directing all the bass lines and shit like that. Honestly, the recording was me drunk at the songwriting camp. My engineer was telling me to redo the vocals, but I like the way I was singing it. I don’t know how the fuck I did that the first time, so I had to keep that same energy. All the chants and stuff is literally the group of girls that wrote the song with me. It all just sparks from a story where we’re all in a room talking to each other; we’re in a very beautiful location. The song just flowed out. The original production was real slow and we just kept building around it with guitars. A lot of people would say the structure is a bit crazy but the way it turned out, I can’t go back. Once I do something, it’s on ink. The song was actually called ladylike before, but I just think “STEPHEN” is what I said. I can barely think about my lyrics because they were really fast if I’m being honest. That’s my brother’s car in the video; that’s an outfit that I wore every day. It was literally me implementing I want this to be about my everyday life; this is where I’m at right now, mid fucking summer — what’s the most we can fucking do. I wanted a very still intro and just chaos afterwards. For the director, it was really different for him. I’ve never been a conventional bitch, so they shouldn’t expect anything like that from me.
All things considered, is your music personal or is it more emotional?
I think as an artist I can’t shake both of those things. I take things personally and emotionally, it’s just who I am. I’ve come to realize that a long time ago. The type of music I make is always emotional, personal to me. If people like it, that’s a bonus to me. I’ve never made music with thoughts of releasing it. I didn’t think about it that way. It was solely for me and my friends; it just felt good making it. If I like it and my friends like it, I’m pretty content with that. That’s what I’m living off of; this public perception or whatever, I didn’t think about that; I didn’t think about playlisting or anything like that. When a label’s interested in stuff, literally the only thing I could think about is okay cool, I’m getting paid to make this now. I am smart, I do see where it’s going to go eventually; I have a plan for myself obviously. I’ve always been that bitch though, I really don’t give a fuck.
It’s clear that you have no problem letting people know what bad bitches don’t do — they never wait and they never stay — but I just want to know, what exactly do bad bitches do?
Everything else. They never stay, they never wait; unpredictable bitches. I’m speaking for myself; if other bitches relate, then maybe they’re like me. Overall, I’m like — yeah, bad bitches do what they want, that’s the message. It’s not in anybody else’s hands. That’s the point there. That’s a secret I’ll never tell. It’s something only the girls know. Listen to the song again [haha]. Other bitches will tell you the whole exposé on bad bitches. I’m not the one to do that.
