Paxxin is coming up! The 19 year old rapper got his name from a play on the words “Packs in’’ back when he was trapping. He started trapping for a little bit over a year which motivated him to set higher goals as he made more money. He reflected with us prior to taking rap more seriously. “I think it helped formulate my motivation towards bigger and better things, but as I’m leaning off of it I can reflect on how toxic of a lifestyle it was. Before trapping I really wasn’t anybody special”… “making [a considerable amount of money] made me really addicted to it and helped me set my goals higher than ever before”. We were interested by this statement! Lots of artists try to portray an image of something they are not. Paxxin is the exact opposite as he has lived a lifestyle lots of rappers try to portray, and even though the money was good from trapping he still noticed the toxic culture of it and has moved on to do bigger and better things with music. Many artists who trap also have similar issues when stopping because the money is very good. A mainstream artist who has done this before is Lil Baby as he turned 60 dollars into 100 thousand a week after getting out of jail from trapping. We got the chance to catch up with Paxxin and asked “When did you first start in music?” He had this to say. “I started ‘making’ music around two and a half years ago, but it never was anything special. I have a hidden soundcloud with a couple crappy/joke songs buried under a pseudonym that I hope nobody finds, but it’s still out there. It was mostly just freestyling with my friends, one of which truly does aspire to be a rapper but I’ve mostly cut ties with that group since I started selling because they cared more about my drugs than they did me. I only recently started taking music more seriously — probably within the past half a year. I’ve always been good with words and a decent flow comes easy to me, so I figured hell, I’ll give it a shot.” Lots of artists (or musicians in general) start music out as a joke or for fun, but after doing this some will take it seriously and start to develop a true passion for their craft — This is what happened to Paxxin. Even if his old “Joke song” page was found it would probably show lots of improvement Paxxin has made in the last couple of years. When we asked Paxxin “How did you first start music” He dove deep into his past citing things lots of people can relate to. From following outs with his mom to being locked up, Paxxin’s life has been a crazy story filled with the highest of highs and lowest of lows. Some of his life stories are similar to a movie you would see on the big screen! “As aforementioned, freestyling with my homies set a sort of foundation for my musical growth. Rapping about drugs, money, guns, etc. was commonplace in our freestyles but unlike them I actually made a lifestyle out of it. DMGA — drugs money guns association — was a name that I built for myself”… “As I began to develop and mature more, having undergone many gains and losses throughout [my life], I decided to put my experiences into music. That’s really where my passion comes from. I actively listen to my own music because it all relates to me. I address in my music the challenges of having seen people I consider family get locked up, having to have my mom find out about my hustle, the surge of violence that arose from this path, friends turn to snakes, and the true toxicity that money can bring. I try to shed light on this for other people included. A man whom I consider a brother has been bangin since he was 7, and I feel I’ve played a drastic role in convincing him to take a step out of that life and try to find a new path. That’s definitely (one of) my main goals — to help people and act as an inspiration to those who may be in a bad spot. Of course I love to flex though, who doesn’t. I really have built this life on my own. I love my mom now, but for a long period we would fight, I wouldn’t receive emotional support, and that led to intense isolation and a loss of sense of self. Sometimes in my lyrics I rap more so theoretically”… “my violent state of mind and the distrust for people that has followed has propelled numerous intrusive thoughts telling me to cause violence. All of this plays a factor in my lyrical ability, as it all comes from experience or the heart.” Paxxin is originally from Sacramento, California but him and his mom moved out to Idaho during his sophomore year of high school. She moved him to Idaho for a number of reasons, the main reasons being California’s high pricing and crime density. Paxxin remembers having a problem with authority early in life, especially in school. He said this to us when reflecting on his time growing up. “My mom moved me here to try and make me stay away from drugs, gangs, etc. Ironic, huh. That and the cost of living in California is insane. Having gone to at least 6 different elementary schools and bouncing from apartment to house to RV, it definitely isn’t suitable for a young single mom to raise a child. Possibily due to this craziness in my early life, I’ve always had troubles with authority — getting in dozens of fights, spitting on teachers, throwing chairs, or just being a general nuisance… I still haven’t quite got that in check.” Different artists enjoy different things about what they do and their lifestyles. The thing that Paxxin enjoys the most about being an artist is the influence he has on others. He believes that he has a mindset that is above the common man and could help inspire change in some issues. When posed with the question of why he wanted to get into music, he responded, “I’ve always wanted to be an influencer in some shape or form. I feel like my reasoning and common sense far exceeds many others, and I feel some major issues in society could be solved if I were in a position of power. If my words can reach and resonate with people, then I feel like I can make a significant change. I may rap some real bad shit that I don’t think people should replicate, but at the same time it’s my own outlet and creative expression. I want people to be able to listen and vibe with my words, but also see the bigger picture overall.” The Pandemic has been difficult for lots of people in different ways. The Pandemic is what pushed Paxxin to start trapping because of the difficult circumstances that were presented. Trapping would slowly turn Paxxin to better himself by starting to rap instead of being on the streets. “Frankly, the pandemic kinda set everything off for me. Nothing really changed in Idaho once it started, but it was the feeling of isolation and loneliness that made me want to break out and start my own life. This was also the year I graduated, so I wanted to try and figure out a way to set my life into motion. I was scrolling through SnapChat stories one day when someone posted on their story asking for runners. I had a working vehicle and a drive to make money, so I swiped up and we started business. That same night my mom left town and I met with him to pick up product. I sold all the inventory he gave me, went back for more, and sold half of that. Just after one night I was looking solid on cash and feeling like the top dog. Then I realized that there was a lot more money to be made selling my own shit rather than being someone’s bitch, so I reupped alongside him with my own money and started making over double what I had before.” Paxxin took notice of quality, and ensured that the product he was pushing was the best quality he could find no matter the cost. “If it’s not good enough for me to smoke, I won’t let anybody else,” was a code that he tried to abide by. Continued, Paxxin mentions, ”Trapping became my day and night. I would show up late to work, leave early, and not care about friends or family so long as I was chasing the bag. From there, everything took off and trapping slowly turned into rapping.” Paxxin has many creative inspirations when it comes to music. He first started listening to legends like Enimem, J.cole, Kendirck Lamar and many more. He then fell in love with a couple new school artists like Juice Wrld, XXXtentacion and Polo G. “I’ve gone through different phases of music. For the first 14 years or so, I would exclusively listen to those such as Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and Hopsin. Eminem especially, as he artistically spoke about the troubles of living in a shitty home, having no dad, and his troubles with violence. Honestly, I thought new age rap was trash until I came across XXXTENTACION’s 17 album. The words that he spoke and the emotion he portrayed really resonated with me”… “ [I then found an] interest in emo rap”… “I saw Lyrical Lemonade’s music video with Juice Wrld’s ‘All Girls Are the Same.’ From then I fell in love with Juice Wrld (RIP). The K.I.D.S album by Mac Miller was a part of my childhood but I never really delved into it. I came across his Swimming album and that changed my whole perspective. So for a good couple of years these were my main inspirations. As I slowly moved towards trapping, the lyrical ability and, once again, the emotion of Polo G really spoke to me and I’d say he’s my current living inspiration. If I were to name the artists who have impacted me the most throughout my life they would be: Eminem, J. Cole, Juice Wrld, Mac Miller, XXXTENTACION, and Polo G.” We, like everybody else, do not know what the future holds, but we know that it is important to have goals to be able to measure your success. This is why we asked Paxxin “Where do you see yourself in five years?” He responded with a very honest and straightforward answer. “I’ve never been one to try and predict the future, I can’t even plan my day out accordingly. I hope that I’m selling out shows, travelling the world, giving back to those who have helped me, and giving to those who were once in my shoes or in even a worse spot.” Paxxins most recent song titled “Cold” is available on all major streaming platforms. It is about his break up and close friend. He had these words to say about the track, “I wrote this just after my first major girlfriend and I broke up. I was really torn up about that but I’m chillin now. This was also at the time that my brother caught some serious charges. I started to reflect on the past few months, especially while in a relationship with her, and I think about how I’d given up a lot for her. I’d take her on trips, dedicate a lot of time to her, and practically give up the trap completely. I was too in love to care about anything else. I learned a lot from that though. I’m too young to be stuck in something for life. There’s too much to see, there’s too much to do, and soley dedicating yourself to one person (other than yourself) is gonna fuck you up in the long run. I like to be in love, so I really did have tunnel vision for as long as we were together. It’s so relieving to finally have the blinders off.” To end off the article Paxxin had a couple things left to say to his fans or anybody else reading this, we thought it would be best to leave his comments completely unedited! “I don’t want to list off all the things I’ve gone through in life or whatever, but I do want to make a point. Everyone’s problems and feelings are validated. Everything someone says should be validated. I’ve shown interest in what people have to say and given people unreciprocated love, and I wish I put all that love and energy into myself more than anything. This life is unfair but it’s also fair at the same time. We’ve all got problems, we’ve all got shit that we go through, but in the end as humans it’s about how we adapt to life and what we do with it that really distinguishes ourselves as individuals. If you can find happiness within yourself, everything else will fall into place, I swear.”