Meet Rollo Papers | Recording Artist & Founder of Rolled Souls

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rollo Papers and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rollo, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
As a recording artist the ultimate goal is to touch people’s hearts through the music, but there are many different ways to reach someone and have an impact on them through more than just making songs. A true artist is more than a musician, they represent an idea, brand, or way of life and hope that they can inspire others to partake or buy into the way that they see the world. My journey as Rollo Papers has brought me to realize that I can incorporate my story before the music industry into what I am now doing at the professional level. My new brand, which is more of a team, family and community, is named Rolled Souls. The Rolled Souls are a team, family and community of people who believe in themselves, believe in others, and believe in their dreams. We support anybody that promotes positivity and happiness. This is not a “good vibes only” type of atmosphere. It’s a team of people who are willing to put in the work even when they don’t want to in order to accomplish their goals. We are primarily based on the idea of combining the hip-hop, sports and cannabis communities into one happy family. I am a huge advocate in the benefits of the cannabis plant on many levels, more than just recreational use. It brings people who may not have ever thought they’d have anything in common together. That is a huge part of what inspired me to launch the Rolled Souls. We aim to show people that you can like different things but still have many things in common. The concept behind the brand is building a roster the same way a sports team does. We currently have football and basketball jerseys that anyone can purchase, and they can put their own custom name and number on their jersey. When spring comes around we will launch baseball jerseys and hope to expand into hockey and soccer sometime during the summer. The Rolled Souls are going to show people that you can be an athlete and cannabis consumer at the same time, all while enjoying some incredible music.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My music is primarily tailored towards the cannabis community but I provide a space for everybody to find something to enjoy. I am working to become the type of artist that helps prove to people that cannabis consumers are hard workers, athletes and intellects, despite what mainstream society says about the stigmas. But as my career has started getting larger I am aiming on connecting to more than just a cannabis audience. My music is very lyrical and while I have plenty of records to party to and perform at shows, I have quite a few records that really make people stand still and listen to what I am actually saying. Some of the most joy I find is actually in recording sad songs because its a form of therapy for me and there is a little extra something that comes with seeing people feel the same emotions as you instead of just making them want to turn up all the time. I’m at the point where if I’m recording it I know its solid, but it took years for me to be that comfortable in the booth. Every artist has more songs that they don’t want people to hear than songs that they drop. Now that I’m starting the Rolled Souls team to coexist with the music, I definitely see myself becoming appealing to the sports world as well as anyone who wants to become successful at life in general. The Rolled Souls will support you whether you want to rap, make beats, play in the NFL or MLB, start your own business, or work for someone else’s business so you have the time to be the best parent, spouse or community member you can be. No matter the pursuit, we are here to support you in your journey through the gift of community and the empowerment of music. A Rolled Soul is a person who is going to wake up each morning with a goal in mind, a plan on how to execute it, and the drive to make it happen before they go to sleep. It only takes one step at a time to keep getting closer to the life you dream of.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
First and foremost, eat Huey’s Chicken. Huey’s Chicken was founded by Bar1ne, the DJ out here who taught how me to be a professional artist and not just a rapper. I’m not just saying this because he is close with me, I genuinely absolutely love the food. I would say it no matter who owned it. What sets Huey’s Chicken apart is their signature Krack Sauce which has been sold at a few different locations throughout San Diego. I’m also a big fan of Hodad’s downtown and in Ocean Beach if you want a burger. Party wise, I’m the type you’ll see at a music venue more than a club. House of Blues, Music Box and The Holding Company are solid venues in San Diego to name a few. Other than that, I pretty much spend most of my time at my studio making music or working on my next moves. With San Diego comes the beach as we all know, and I recommend Pacific Beach because I spent a few years living there. I have a spot at the beach in PB where I go by myself. I’ve done a lot of my deep thinking and self improvement work just looking at the ocean there. A sunset in PB is like none other.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There is a long list of people I could thank for helping me achieve the success I’ve had in music. While I still have a long way to go, I do understand how lucky I am to have made it further than most people do in this pursuit. I have to say Bryan Palsi, aka Palz, aka Redd, was the first person to inspire me to really try to make this happen. He is a friend and former teammate of mine, we played college baseball together. He rapped in college and seeing him put the effort he did into making music inspired me to see if I could do it too. After college I moved to Pittsburgh to take an unpaid internship at Upstreet Studios so I have to shout out Justin Cicco for sure. He is the owner of the studio and an engineer who was the first person to introduce me to the professional side of music and still mixes all my records to this day. He connected me with multiple members of Taylor Gang which was life changing because Wiz Khalifa and his idea behind Taylor Gang was my biggest inspiration when I was a teenager and in college, with Eminem being my hero during childhood. After 2 years in Pittsburgh I moved to San Diego and worked a job with 2 people I have to shout out named Natali Bowers and Kayelle McConnell, aka Kayelle Justine. Natali is the sister of Ryan Bowers, a well-known artist in San Diego who left our world too soon at a young age, and Kayelle is a model and small business owner who is very well connected in the hip hop community of San Diego. They both played a part in connecting me with Carleton Overstreet, aka CEO, who is the leader of SDHipHop5K, a volunteer program that supports multiple aspects of the city. CEO is one of the most intelligent and connected people I’ve ever met and he has taken me under his wing in a mentorship role by teaching me the game of the music industry and most importantly that this entire business is built off relationships. CEO set me up with Bar1ne who many feel is the biggest hip hop DJ in San Diego. Bar1ne became like a big brother to me in the rap game bringing me around multiple famous artists who have already made it and a number of celebrities. He taught me how to act and carry myself as a hip hop artist and he has put me on stages in shows that I know I couldn’t have gotten without him. I’ve learned quite a bit from Marty Barker as well. He is the Regional Marketing Manager in San Diego for Live Nation which is the biggest concert company in America. I met him very recently and he’s already given me years worth of advice on how to continue to take myself to the next level and beyond.

Website: https://linktr.ee/rollopapers

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rollopapers/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rollopapers

Image Credits
Raygotskillz, Bianca Sanborn and Kayelle Justine.