A NIGHT AT SIIFU'S
Any and every obstacle that you could possibly think of tried to get in the way of our trip to sit down and talk to Pink Siifu - car rental trouble, getting lost due to GPS, and last minute changes in how long we could stay in the city... all of this tried to get in our way. But we were determined to get to our destination- even if we had to turn right back around after we were done (which we ended up having to do). That’s what happens when you’re a fan. No matter what, you’re dedicated to show up and support the creatives that you believe in. That’s what makes GOTHIKAMAG so special: we’re willing to go the extra mile to build with the creatives we feature in our magazine.
GOTHIKAMAG was created with the eccentric, unconventional, broad, authentic, out-of-the-box kind of individuals in mind. What better person to meet & interview than Pink Siifu?!
Pink Siifu is one of the most phenomenal artists we’ve ever seen or heard. He’s someone who isn’t afraid to explore and experiment with more than one style or sound. Poet, soul singer and crooner, rapper, producer, dancer, and actor- Pink Siifu doesn’t have to pick a specific lane because he flourishes well in them all.
They say to be careful when you meet your heroes in person because they can turn out to be the opposite of what you expected. When it comes to our sit down with Siifu, he exemplified the very qualities we imagined he’d have and then some. Hospitable, down to earth, wise, friendly, and self assured- traveling up the coast to sit and chat with Siifu felt as if we were going to hang with our cool ass cousin for the night.
Sporting a hoodie from his ‘negro.life’ clothing brand collection that had just launched the night before our arrival, Siifu and his beautiful girlfriend, Audrey welcomed us into their charming home and talked to us…
- Mariah Scott (Peculiar Hippie)
Peculiar Hippie: What was the best thing you got out of living in LA?
Pink Siifu: Being close to hella producers. And umm...all the friends I developed in this music shit, I was close to them. So it was like a community aspect that I got from it...It was dope.
Hippie: Yeah?
Siifu: It was dope, yeah.
Pink Siifu for GOTHIKAMAG.
Hippie: Is that something that you’re looking to do over here now that you’re moved in on the East Coast? Building that community here?
Siifu: Yeah & no...Community is a strong word. So like, even the community that I got out in LA..I learned some things about it that I can’t really fuck with so it’s like..I dont know, community is a mad strong word to me. I’m not really trying to build what I had there but there are some relationships that I had there that I wanna continue now that I’m here, and there are some that I’m not. And moving forward, I’m just trying to be more intimate with the relationships that I have…
Hippie: Like you’re cultivating the ones you already have?
Siifu: Yeah, I’m cultivating the ones that I already have and not really letting new ones in..but I’m also not trying to be shielded off. Sometimes it gets just like, “...Why are we really doin this?” Other times it’s like, “Oh you’re cool..” so it’s cool, but is it honest?
Hippie: Yeah, I feel you. It sounds like you’re trying to be more intentional.
Siifu: Yea, you feel me? Like, I’m not trying to build that much of a community but I am tryna meet real niggas.
Hippie: I really feel that. Well as you know, we’ve all been real big fans of everything you do..
Siifu: I appreciate that.
Hippie: Oh yeah, man. No problem. But..I think one of the things we talked about on our way here was the fact we noticed that your styles are so...broad. You don’t have one specific sound. But even with all of the projects you’ve made...in the time you were creating, did you look at these as projects you’ve ‘always wanted to make?” Like ‘Negro’- is Negro a song you’ve always wanted to make?
Siifu: See the thing is, my nigga… I’m supposed to be actin...or dancing. If we’re talkin about art I always wanted to make, like on some kid shit, I was a dancer and actor before anything else.
Hippie: Word?
Siifu: I was a goofy nigga...I never rapped..I rapped when I got in college. So it’s like.. For me to even make a punk album is funny to me. It’s still funny to me because.. Like, I remember when I first heard punk [music] and I was like, “Oh shit, this shit crazy!”
Hippie: What was it that you heard?
Siifu: It was like some movie shit. I think it was like the Pixies. Maybe it was ‘Where is my mind?’ if that’s considered punk. But it was like shit I hear from movies. When I heard it, I thought the shit went crazy. And then I really caught onto Bad Brains through my ex. She was a huge Bad Brains fan. But when I heard them, I was like “yea this shit is craaazy!” And I decided like “Yea, Ima do this punk shit. But Ima do it my way.”
Hippie: Wow man..
Siifu: Yea it’s funny though- when I got into music, I got into it on some poetry shit. I was just writing poetry, I ain’t come in on some rap shit. I came into this tryna be like Prince. It’s this old interview of me where I tell them I’m tryna be like Prince. And I’m still tryna be like Prince.
Hippie: Prince had so many different styles too!
Siifu: I love how he did shit with Vanity. Then how he did shit with The Time..thats my shit, I feel! From Negro to all my shit.. I’m tryna do it in my style. Prince did it crazy, and I’m tryna reach that, you feel me? I’m tryna do a little bit everywhere. Cuz Prince got that shit in my nigga. Sun Ra got that shit in, George Clinton got that shit in. I’m tryna get that shit in! Forreal.
Hippie: I feel that man. What’s your favorite Prince album or Prince song?
Siifu: Probably Sign of the Times..like all the way through. That’s the one. I love the song ‘Joy in repitition’ too...Ballad of Dorthy Parker is the one too..then you got Purple Rain, obviously.
Hippie: of course!
Siifu: He got some other shit too! Art of official age is crazy!
Hippie: It’s this album I’ve been listening to a lot for the last few weeks...its an album called “Around the World in a Day.” It’s got this song called Pop Life & Raspberry Beret on it, that’s the album right there for me right now. I heard Pop Life on the radio and had to run the whole album back.
Siifu:What about Breakfast Can wait?
Hippie: Breakfast can wait with the Dave Chappelle cover with the pancakes?!
Siifu: You feel me?!
Hippie: Bruuuuh! Yes!!
Siifu: You feel me! Yea like… Prince is the one! My momma loves Prince.
Hippie: My mom loves him too. My best friend too, she has his symbol tatted on her!
Siifu: I’m bout to get that shit tatted on me. Im tryna see where I want it.
Hippie: Yea, you gotta get it somewhere visible.
Siifu: Hell yea, I wanna get that shit on my face lowkey. Like a lil teardrop or somethin!
Hippie: Yoo that would be kinda fire tho!
Siifu: You feel me?! Im tryna think.. A tatt on the face would be different tho!
Hippie: So, We follow you on social media and we see you talk a lot about- I mean obviously, You’re a black man. But you’re really about black empowerment. But I specifically, I see you go out of your way to speak about Black Women and your appreciation for us. I wanted to ask you what you thought about Black Love..
Siifu: Man, Black Love is so important. It’s so important for Black people to be with black people. Like it’s important for everyone to keep what they’ve got going. That shit is key to survival. Period. It’s the key to our existence. Its hella trauma we got between each other and it’s crazy. I’m trying to keep my shawty good, you know?
Hippie: Yea, I feel that!
Siifu: I’m tryna keep her good. I’m tryna have a baby with her. And Im tryna have us all be good. I’m tryna keep my blackness going. Cuz i believe in shit the way Sun Ra & George Clinton saw it. I believe in black futuristic shit. We can’t get to the future without these conversations and getting an understanding of keeping blackness going. It’s important as fuck.. You ever seen Dr. Frances ‘Black Love is a revolutionary Act?’
Hippie: I have! It’s been a minute since I watched it though, I need to run that back.
Siifu: It’s been a minute for me too! But when I watched it, I was like, “yea!” like I’m with that shit.
Hippie: What you were saying earlier about keeping blackness going & the importance of us having conversations...That reminds me of the conversation between Nikki Giovanni & James Baldwin. When they get into that back & forth? That conversation is so significant to me because those are two different generations talking...Like Nikki Giovanni was our current age when she was talkin to James Baldwin...she’s havin a conversation with an OG- someone she looked up to...It’s like...can you imagine having the chance to have a conversation about black everything with Sun Ra?
Siifu: No!
Hippie: You know what im sayin?! Or Like Prince?
Siifu: Bless the dead! Man, the niggz we supposed to be idolizing are gone.
Hippie: Yup! That’s so true.
Siifu: We not even supposed to be idolizing niggas, but the ones we supposed to be idolizing they all gone. Sun Ra & Prince were the ones to me… the only one left I really look up to like that is 3 stacks. 3 stacks, Big Boi & anyone from Dungeon Family, they the last ones I still look at like that.
Hippie: What are you currently reading?
Siifu: I aint readin shit. I got hella books to read that I gotta get into. I got this Sun Ra poetry book that I gotta get into.
Hippie: Yea I think I saw you post about that.
Siifu: Yea, this shit crazy, Amiri Baraka put it together.
Hippie: Amiri Baraka is an amazing poet.
Siifu: Hell yea.
Hippie: Yea that’s one of the things we were talkin about in the car. What we were reading, watching or listening to currently.
Siifu: Yea I been into the Sun Ra poetry book a lot..I listen to a lot of speeches..I also been listenin to a lot of jazz… a lot of jazz lately. Tony Williams been on my playlist heavy. Yall ever heard Tony Williams ‘Ego’ before?
Hippie: Nah, put me on!
Siifu: Oh yea he’s different nigga! That’s his best shit. It’s so crazy. Yea I been listening to Amiri Baraka and a lot of jazz. All the shit I was listening to while I was makin Negro, Im still listening to now.
Hippie: I love that!
Siifu: Yea… I listen to a lot of homies.. I listen to a lot of me.. I listen to beats and shit. And I’m workin on some more shit.
Hippie: A lot of artists are weird about listening to themselves after they make projects, is that something you experience?
Siifu: My girl will tell you, I bump my shit all the time!
Hippie: Do you critique or do you just enjoy [listening to] your stuff?
Siifu:...I enjoy it. My new shit, I been enjoying it! That shit fun.
Hippie: Yeah?!
Siifu: Yeah...my shit fire! My shit fun...I smoke to my shit, drink to my shit..it just sounds fun. I be fuckin with my shit !! I gotta fuck with my shit! Cuz if I don’t fuck with it.. Then nobody else will. It’s some songs that I got that I’ve been like “eeh, these kinda weak.” And my friends go “nah these kinda hard !” And I’m like “naahh “... but when I feel like they hard, I feel like other niggz really feel like they hard too & I go from there.
Hippie: So from here, I have a bunch of random questions, I hope that's okay.
Siifu: ah yea, fasho
Hippie: If your mood was a color right now, what would it be?
Siifu: Black
Hippie: Complete this sentence: I’m most happy when ….?
Siifu: uummm...when...I can play music.
Hippie: Without ___ , I’d be lost.
Siifu: ….love
Hippie: Last one: All the world needs is …..
Siifu: ….understanding.
Hippie: ooohh…yea… I can get with that.
Siifu: Yea.. understanding.
Hippie: Darien, you have any questions you wanna ask?
D: This is so legendary.
Hippie: Ha! You trippin out over there?
D: to Siifu: You have to forgive me, I’m a dork.
Siifu: You a dork? Man, we all dorks man.
Hippie: Yea man I’m over here cheesin like a little kid.
D: You have a song called ‘That Bag.’
Jahmonte: THAT BAG!!
Hippie: Legendary song
D: You don’t have to tell me but I wanted to know like where is this clip from?
Siifu: I was at church With my homie in Compton. His dad did a sermon but there was someone who went before him, that was where the clip came from. I just recorded the whole thing. It’s like an hour long and I just chopped it up & used that shit.
D: So I can’t get this clip from anywhere..
Siifu: Nah, you gotta go to church! But on the real.. I’m happy I made Negro. I was able to see that I can go crazy. I’m tryna go crazy, I’m tryna do what niggas did in the 60’s and 70’s. Like I’m not tryna emulate they shit. I’m just tryna go crazy my way.
Hippie: You ever think about getting locs again?
Siifu: Maybe when I have some babies. When I have some babies I’ll probably get some locs.
Hippie: Will your children have locs too?
Siifu: I don’t know. I don’t know what the hell they gon get...Ima let them do them. I don’t want them to cut their hair until they can make a decision for themselves to do it..but other than that, I want them to do them.
D: What is your haircare routine?
Siifu: Man, my shawty be putin me onto all that shit man. My hair care routine is havin a black woman by yo side.
Hippie: Yup that’s the best hair care routine!
Siifu: Real shit my nigga.. Period. It’s always a black woman showin me some shit about my hair. So I roll with that. I fuck with castor oil..Argan oil...other oils.. I just remember you gotta put shit on your scalp. Especially if you have locs. You gotta keep your scalp moist. Eats some pussy too.
Hippie: That helps.
Siifu: Straight up.
Hippie: Nina Simone has a quote where she talks about how she feels it’s the artists responsibility to reflect the times and [talk about] what’s going on in the world...do you agree with that?
Siifu: Yeah. I mean..nah…nah… I dont. But I do.
Hippie: Like, do you want the freedom to do what you want?
Siifu: Yeah everybody can do what the fuck they wanna do. Like it’s important for people to understand that you can do some George Clinton shit. Or Sun Ra shit. Like it’s important to take this shit somewhere else. So the kids and the adults can see that you can be an influence. I think you have to reflect the times all the time..but it’s cool if you at least do it once you feel me?
Hippie: Like do your due diligence, kind of..
Siifu: Yea. It’s dope if you do it once...cuz you can’t ignore the times, but you don’t gotta be a part of the times like in a way where you’re stuck.
Hippie: I know you have your circle, and you’re focused on building intimate relationships and stuff like that but..what would you like people to know about you? What do you want to be known for? While you’re here, and even after you’re gone, like...what’s your legacy?
Siifu: hmm… I wanna be known for...I dont know, I haven’t figured it out yet.
Hippie: I think that’s fine!
Siifu: Like...I mean, I don’t even have to be known. Like my niggas… I know when I die, they gon cry. Like..im just tryna..shit...I just wanna be known as a real nigga. I want people to say, “He was solid the whole way through.”
Hippie: That’s the best way to be known!
D: You have interesting taste in fashion.
Siifu: I do?!
D & Mariah: Yeah!!!
Siifu: Maaan, tell these niggas!! Tell niggas to run me a check!! Man my homie be modeling tellin me about it & I’m like “Put me on!” I appreciate that, thank you.
D: Do you have inspiration in your fashion sense? Anyone else's style inspire yours?
Siifu: Aunties..big sisters..baby sitters..lesbian couples.
Hippie: Style
Siifu: On God!!! Lesbian couples got swag! Especially black lesbian couples. They got crazy swag. I got so many pictures of lesbian couples in my phone just dripped out. It’s crazy. They shit crazy. The Matrix..Prince..3 stacks..umm..Macy Gray style is killin. I always loved Macy Gray’s style. I just like down south shit, I like country shit. Lotta country niggas dont give a fuck. I fuck with circus shit too. Im scared of the circus but i fuck with the circus. I just fuck with how they mix up colors and shit.
D: I don’t support the circus but I definitely feel you.
Siifu: I don’t support a lot of shit. Its just crazy cuz one day we really gon have to explain to our kids what the circus was cuz that shit probably gon die...but yea the circus is crazy as fuck but I fuck with the colors. I like how they put everything together. Like when the Dungeon family was on ‘The whole world’ shit, I thought that shit was beautiful. Fashion wise, I fuck with a lotta shit… women got style man.. Like I wish.. I wish I had small feet. Women got the best shoes man.
Hippie: YOU THINK?!
Siifu: Yes! To fight in? Yall got the best shoes! Women got the best shoes to fight in. I’m done.. I just want forces and shoes I can run in and loafers.. Them the only shoes I want. And women got the best shoes in all those categories. I love women shoes, yall can do a lot in yall shoes.
Hippie: Yea I wear doc martens more than any other shoe ever.
Siifu: Yall boots go crazy. Man stop it!
Hippie: I got my boots in the trunk right now!
Siifu: Perfect boots to stomp someone in.
Hippie: Well we appreciate you man for everything. Thanks for havin us and talkin to us!
D: Yea we’re really grateful, thank you so much.
Siifu: Fasho, it’s all love. When the homie Jahmonte reached out to me, I was already familiar with yall because of him, it was nothin to have yall come through. Yall can stay and kick it with me for a lil bit it yall want! Chill before yall head back down south...
