SNS meets Pasto Flocco

SNS NYC sat down with up and coming rapper Pasto Flocco from Rockaway, Queens. We chopped it up about his new record, growing up in Rockaway and his balance between recording an album and being in High School.

SNS: We're here with rapper Pasto Flocco from Rockaway, Queens.

PF: Thank you for having me. Thank you very much, yes sir.

SNS: What's it like coming up in Far Rockaway, and what makes it different than most?

PF: To be honest like, that’s not where anyone comes from. It's like no one comes from there. No sports players, no musicians. It's not that easy, we secluded.

We're the last stop on the A train, that shit all the way over there. Coming from here, it's fun being different. All the hype is in Brooklyn, feel me everywhere else. And then you come from Far Rockaway, and they're like oh, where are you from, Far Rock? Yeah, that's where I’m from. All the way from the middle of nowhere.

SNS: Did you go to the beach much there?

PF: Nah, I never go to the beach. I don't want to see who is at the beach. I don't want to see the people over there.

SNS: (Laughs) No? And so you just graduated High School, right?

PF: Yes sir.

SNS: How was it like leaving High School and transitioning into a full-time rapper?

PF: So like the life even in High School feel me, it was just funny. Like people I was cool with, I was close to, they started moving funny. Like those types of people, they took they step back, they didn't want to look as if they were being fans or something.

People, they ain’t want to support, be gatekeepers instead. And the people, like the same people who used to post my stuff when I started, those not the people posting my stuff today, feel me? Like those are definitely not the same people posting my shit.

So like from that shit, from High School to like out of it, my music started getting lit in 11th grade, 12th grade. So now that I’m out of school and shit, it's shit just popping. This is exciting for me, I’m like what's next? Some videos coming in.

And I’m about to drop my project. So for me, that isn’t hard, it's more fun than anything. Because getting out of school right into this was the process.

SNS: For sure. And what high school do you go to out there?

PF: I went to New Visions, it's a charter school.

SNS: So you were a senior in High School during the pandemic, with a full-time job as a rapper. How did the pandemic affect you?

PF: When the pandemic came, that shit fucked up my shit. Like it took away from a lot of people. For me, it took away my work ethic, my motivation. I wasn't in the studio as much, but it's not like I wasn't in the studio, it just wasnt as much as it used to be when I was 15, 16 and in the studio as if I didn't have any school. That’s how much I was in the studio.

So when the pandemic came and I wasn't in the studio every day, I just lost my work ethic. Because certain engineers don't mix well, and my music isn’t sounding clean, it's what gets me mad, pissed off, and frustrated but yeah. (Laughs)

SNS: So with the pandemic and everything, it kind of made you lose ambition?

PF: Yeah. It slowed down, yes. It made me not even care about what I cared about, and I lost my mindset, you feel me?

SNS: So what would you do?

PF: I’d just be chilling, making beats. Because I learned how to make beats, so me, J6, and my boy Sean, we just make beats and chill.

SNS: Wrote songs?

PF: Nah, I never write my shit, I always freestyle.

SNS: Oh, you just freestyle?

PF: Yeah. I always freestyle because a long time ago, I thought about what if I get on Hot 97 and they asked me to freestyle and I don't know-how.

But then I forget that freestyling is writing, you can put it on anything because it's a freestyle. But I just started freestyling, that's it. We'll be chilling all day, and I'll be chilling with my bro, making beats, getting money, that's it.

SNS: Very cool, man. Teen angst, doubters, emotions, pressure, Far Rockaway settings, how did this affect you in the making of Disturbing the Peace?

PF: Shit, like all that feeling, put in one, that's the sound that I got for this tape, the whole approach with this tape, it's like a rowdy and clean put together, like rowdy and clean, crazy and soothing at the same time.

But I put all my feelings and all this shit that happens in my neighborhood, and how I look at that. It is all reflected in my music by the sound. I throw a little bit of realistic lyrics and gritty lyrics in there, every once in a while, I put a little crazy bars too and referred to my neighborhood.

But that shit makes me preach that more in my songs, makes me talk better in my songs from what goes on in my neighborhood, put it to music. I said “all the people in my hood is dying that I grew up with. Somebody just passed away a week ago” like RIP to him.

And I said that in the song, like a month or two before, and somebody I know close to me just passed away. So RIP JOEL. Feel me like, that's how it is. Like what’s going on in my neighborhood, and what I sing in my songs is real life, real-life stuff in Far Rock.

SNS: What are some summer plans? What can we expect on this album? Any features?

PF: Yeah, I got one feature that's it, you feel me, Blixky da Blixky da Blixky. But the album is all singles, everything else is a bunch of singles from me. And what you can expect on there is a whole lot of car tunes breaking the speaker.

All type of stuff that I need to be breaking speakers, volume on 101. All the volume got to be on 101 for me, a lot of energetic tracks, there's a few plug tracks on there, a lot of rowdy tracks where I’m yelling.

There are a few tracks where I’m singing, then there are a few tracks where I get into my bag and I started speaking on my neighborhood and stuff, you feel me? The real-life stuff, it's all type of stuff on there.

SNS: How did you meet your videographer for R2, Qasquiat?

PF: Yes, Qasquiat, he worked with Uzi a lot and for me, he's from Queens too so we locked in, I DM'd him and we showed love to each other stuff, and he worked with a lot of fire local people for me, but not local to others. It's only local to me because I’m from Queens, I DM'd him and that's why I fuck with him, OD. He hard, Qasquiat the truth.

SNS: Right. And what are some designers and brands and people that influence you?

PF: Shit. Brands, man when I was in like seventh grade and shit, in eighth grade that's when I wanted all the shit, you feel me. Like a bunch of streetwear, but it's not even crazy now, it's not adventurous like you feel me?

I had Balmain and shit like that, the little crazy shit. All the designers, Givenchy, all type of shit. But now I don't even really care about fashion anymore like I’m just cooling. I just make my music and get my money and that's it.

I don't really care about fashion anymore, but for my music influences, I like Nebu Kiniza a lot, you feel me? That's one of my big inspirations. He's the guy that made gassed up. Man, I like MadeinTYO a lot.

I love Future, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne. I mean that's where a lot of my field come from feel me. I like Future a lot, Lil Uzi That's about it, them right there.

SNS: What are some of your favorite sneakers?

PF: Top sneakers? I don't know if you all want me to go into colors or I’ll just name my formation of sneakers, like my favorite look. I love 4s, Jordan 4s, Retro 4s. I love me some Yeezy's, but I’m picky bout my Yeezy's feel me. I need one of the first pairs that came out with all type of stuff like that, not the new ones. For me, Air Force Ones can never go wrong. What else? I like, shit, it's not that much. It's dead not that much, I just love all Retros, 6s, 4s, 12s, flu games. I just like a bunch of them, feel me. I’m back on my retro stuff, seventh, eighth grade was when I was into all that shit. I had those Odd Future Vans with the donuts on them. I don't know, I was just feeling like that a long time ago, All types of colorful stuff, I just used to love colorful stuff, I don't know why. (Laughs)

SNS: Is there much music coming out of Rockaway right now?

PF: To be honest, no, it's not. But I’m going to tell you this when I started rapping in Ninth Grade and my principal put that mic in the music room, a bunch of kids became little fake rappers trying to make songs with the last period of the day, trying to rap and shit, feel me? There are rappers from my hood s/o Sha Billyen, Khyybanks , that's about it though.

SNS: Lastly, So I heard you love Martinelli’s Apple Juice, what's the Martinelli’s lifestyle.

PF: Hell yeah, Martinelli, like Martinelli’s, that's the greatest lifestyle man, they sending that package for me. They sent me boxes of apple juice, I love it.

SNS: The sparkling?

PF: No. I got the sparkling before, they gave me a case of that. But they sent me like boxes of apple juice, like just the regular apple-shaped apple juice. But I had the sparkling apple juice before, the apple cider.

SNS: That's my go-to.

PF: Yes, I had that.

SNS: (Laughs ) Cool, is there anything else you want to talk about?

PF: Man, Disturbing The Peace, OTW feel me, big STK Surf gang shit.

SNS: Thanks Pasto Flocco for coming down to SNS NYC and sharing your story.

PF: Thanks for having me, appreciate it. Shout out to SNS.

Interview by Cody Simons Photos by Yulissa Benitez @Yu.lez