We Chat With Prado About Her Self-Titled EP ‘Prado Monroe’

Brought up between Vancouver, Canada, and drawing inspirations from all over the world, Prado is a multicultural and multi-talented artist. Although a fresh face for many, Prado been making waves behind the scenes since she was only 14-years-old under the producer alias AlienKanye. The now 22-year-old is now stepping out on her own light and all eyes are on the rising star.

Prado’s forthcoming self-titled EP Prado Monroe is slated to drop later this month on June 18th, boasting six flavorful tracks that fans alike will love. It contains pre-release singles such as “Men in Black” and “Gucci Store,” which like much of music, places her outside the box in every bar and punchline. Other records like “Stephen” and “Drip” also appear on the project; the two songs found Prado breaking a hiatus in 2020 and making a major splash in the process. So far, her catalog is shaping up to be pretty incredible.

We had the opportunity to chat with Prado about the upcoming release of Prado Monroe, style, and influences amongst other things. Check out the conversation below.

You have your debut EP coming out in June, what has the experience of putting that together been like and have you learned anything about yourself in the process?

It was quite hectic, on the music front it was easy. Putting it together for release was pretty hectic which is just natural for me at this point. I’m just like it’s always going to be like this I think. I didn’t know that I wouldn’t be happy unless it came from me 100%. I didn’t think that I was the diva type to really give a fuck like that but come to find out I am.

When people listen to this project, what impression do you want to leave on them in the process?

I honestly want people to… I always wanted to put out Pop music first. I can rap, I can produce, I can do it all. I want people to takeaway the fact that all of these songs are very individualistic and I think in that same respect, people can relate to them more. I just want them to know it was delivered.

As far as your music goes, I notice that it’s literally impossible to box you in. What drives you to keep stepping out of the box rather than sticking to one genre?

I don’t think I’m a one-genre person. My whole life, I’ve felt like I always liked different genres of music. I was born in ’98 so the whole concept of one-genre is just never going to happen for me. That’s why earlier in my career, I thrived on SoundCloud and Twitter because I got to reinvent myself so often.

Did the pandemic add any challenges to the making of this EP?

I was ready to release before the pandemic. It was my first-ever like real label deal. And come to find out, I would never sign to a label again unless my terms were very very small. Maybe I sound like a dick for saying that, but at the same time it made the process so much harder. I feel like all of this is virtual so I’m doing more work and picking up more of the load. I think that you would’ve heard my music either way.

This is probably a difficult question to answer, but what is your favorite track on Prado Monroe? Can you tell us the story behind it?

“Louis Tee” It’s not a difficult question for me, I felt like I’ve sat with the rest of them for about six months. I feel like as an artist attached to a label, I sit here and think like that’s not enough content. This is six tracks and I’ve been releasing music for free since a jit. I did SoundCloud releases once a week for like three years, this is a little too slow. But “Louis Tee” for sure, final answer.

Did you idolize any artists while growing up? Have they influenced your sound in any way?

Growing up, I was like a huge Kanye West fan. Like ridiculously, all day. I was a Lana Del Rey bitch so I was like oh my god, I want to make music about smoking cigarettes’ and fucking older dudes. Then by the time I got into ghostwriting, I was just writing for men so all the time it was constant. Now all I do is listen to rap music. I wake up and listen to Chief Keef, I don’t give a fuck! I love that man.

You have a really unique sense of style too. How important is it to you to use fashion as a vehicle for self-expression?

Well I wore all Balenciaga in the “STEVEN” video and I tried to make a note of it. Just the city where I’m from, Vancouver, it’s all fashion rich kids and shit like that out here. All of that shit is annoying, but I’m wearing the Croc UGGs right now, the collab ones. I only just want stuff that I give a shit about. I can’t wear anything that I don’t care about; a pair of jeans will always just be a pair of jeans. Most of the hoes get stuff from Fashion Nova anyways so who am I trying to compete with?

What advice would you give to your peers or fans that look up to you?

I would say no one is going to believe in you more than yourself so don’t ever take anyone’s word. Especially if they’re not as successful as you so keep that in mind. You kind of have to look crazy before you look smart.