Powers Pleasant

“Got the beat by Powers and we just made a banger!” If you’re tapped into the genre-blurring sounds of hip-hop and pop music today, then chances are you’ve heard that producer tag often in the past few years.

It’s the calling card of Powers Pleasant, the DJ and producer with the chameleonic style who has lent his talents to an elite and wide-ranging collection of collaborators such as Denzel Curry, Princess Nokia, BTS, $not and, most frequently, his Pro Era brethren Joey Bada$$.

Born and bred in Brooklyn, NY, Powers co-founded the Pro Era collective that reinvigorated New York hip-hop in the 2010’s with the late visionary, Capital STEEZ and wunderkind Joey Bada$$. While attending Edward R. Murrow High School in New York City, the teens bonded over a shared appreciation of music of all kinds. Powers (yes, that’s his real name) was a gifted drummer and percussionist, raised by a jazz musician father and a music-loving mom who introduced him to his biggest musical influences—The Neptunes and Kanye West—and helped him get his start making beats. “College Dropout came out when I was in fourth grade,'' Powers explains. That was the first rap album my mom bought for me and that inspired me to be a producer.” Powers’ dream of becoming a producer became more tangible when, at 16, his father bought him his very own laptop with Gargeband loaded on to it. “Ever since then, I've been trying to bring people together with like minds to get to our goal [of making music professionally].”

In the decade plus since then, Powers has evolved from bedroom beatmaker to platinum producer, earning his first plaque in 2018 for Joey Bada$$’s breakout hit “Devastated,” which he produced alongside fellow Pro Era member Kirk Knight and Adam Pallin. The hit marked a turning point in his career and his approach to making music too: “I used to produce, for other producers or myself and my ego,” he admits. “I would make the hardest, scrunch your face, craziest beat ever, but now I produce to make the best song ever.” This bit of ego death in his creative process is the key to what makes him a sought-after collaborator—everything he does is in service of the listener. “It's not about me, it's about how can I assist in making the best song, so it's less about me just showing off and more about the team and coming out with a dope product.

His song-first mentality and gift for collaboration has yielded crew love classics like Beast Coast’s “Distance,” Denzel Curry’s standout collab with 6LACK, Rico Nasty, and Dreamville’s JID, “Ain’t No Way,” and “Please Forgive” off his Life Is Beautiful project earning him a reputation as go-to guy for the modern posse cut. When asked what the recipe is for successful posse cut he responds matter-of-factly, “A hot ass beat and some ill ass rappers.

It’s a simple formula that describes his latest body of work, too, the star-studded follow-up to his 2018 project Life is Beautiful. Powers Pleasant has partnered with Mass Appeal for his next album due this year.