P-Lo

Bay Area rapper/producer P-Lo might have gotten his start constructing hits for other artists, but his charismatic performances and high-energy, old-school-informed tracks have brought him into the spotlight. After working behind the scenes on songs with Yo Gotti, Wiz Khalifa, Sage the Gemini, and countless others, P-Lo found new audiences with his 2017 track “Put Me on Something,” a slinky West Coast rap groove with a verse from E-40. From there he continued producing, but also steadily released new music of his own, like 2019′s Shine and 2022′s Stunna.
Growing up in the suburbs of California’s East Bay, Paolo Rodriguez began making beats while still in high school in the early 2000s. Before even graduating, Rodriguez found himself more and more immersed in the world of hip-hop. In 2008, he co-founded the HBK Gang (also known as the Heartbreak Gang), a collective of producers, rappers, and video directors that grew to include more than ten manically active members. By this time, he had taken on the stage name P-Lo and was making beats for members of the HBK Gang and others. In 2013, he offered up the well-received mixtape MBMGC 2 and crafted the beats for Yo Gotti’s minor hit “Act Right.” With momentum building as both a rapper and a producer, P-Lo continued to score higher-profile collaborations, working extensively with mainstream success Wiz Khalifa and producing tracks for Flo Rida, Iamsu!, Sage the Gemini, and others. In 2017, after many mixtapes and countless smaller productions, P-Lo released a proper debut in the form of More Than Anything, a massive collection of club-ready tracks featuring cameos by G-Eazy, Kool John, and E-40. A follow-up album, Prime, arrived in 2018 and featured the hit “Same Squad.” P-Lo returned in June 2019 with the EP Somthin’ Light, which featured the Jay Anthony-assisted “Hella Fun.” A few months later he issued Shine, a full-length album with guest appearances from Dom Kennedy, Mozzy, Kehlani, and others. Multiple singles bridged the gap between albums for the next few years, and in 2022, P-Lo released a new full-length, Stunna. Stunna included more examples of the kind of sunny, bass-heavy production P-Lo had become known for, and its guest list included contributions from Larry June, Michael Sneed, Oakland rap legend Too $hort, and others. A deluxe version of Stunna expanded the album with bonus material in 2023, and P-Lo continued releasing new singles. ~ TiVo Staff