Rapper, videographer and artist Phillex Stewart is here to put the music game on notice.
To be successful as a musician, work ethic, skill, and patience are key, but to make it in the music industry you have to be able to make your own music and market yourself if needed. Phillex Stewart, known to music fans as P.S. does it all. Embodying the hyphenate to the fullest extent, P.S does everything from writing to shooting his own music videos, all to showcase his talent and commitment to the craft. Three years after his first single, P.S. is here to remind you he’s next.
Located roughly thirty miles south of Atlanta, McDonough is a relatively small city, known for its comfortable standard of living. For P.S. it’s home and the place where he got his foundation both as a student and artist.
Born in Riverdale but raised in McDonough, P.S. grew up relatively comfortable which allowed him to be creative and focus on flexing his artistic muscles. Years before he even decided to pursue rap, P.S. found himself dabbling in a slew of things from art to martial arts.
“I grew up a smart kid with good grades. I was an artist who did poetry and martial arts since I was six years old, says Phillex.
As a kid, P.S. grew up listening to the sounds of Kirk Franklin and the Winans Family in the house and in the car, but as he became older and made the transition to junior high things changed.
”In middle school, everyone was rapping. We did freestyles, but this was around the time Hopsin came out. By high school though, I was listening to J.Cole and getting put on to rappers like Kendrick Lamar.”
Although rap inspired P.S. his major goal wasn’t to rap at the time. Instead, he focused his attention on college, earning admission to Georgia State University. Freestyling still offered him relief, but it wasn’t until he met his roommate that he decided to rap and drop a project.
“I didn’t want to fully put on the rapper moniker. After high school, I was done, but I always loved to freestyle. I met one of my roommates from martial arts class though and it turns out he was a crazy producer,”.
From there, the duo began to work tirelessly, producing beats and hosting their classmates in room 1009. In the beginning, P.S. struggled to learn the craft, readily admitting that his year-long apprenticeship helped him go from trash to smash.
Challenged by a mentor to create content, the duo locked themselves in the dorms for a month and created what would later be known as TenoNine.
“We had a mentor I met through my video editing work who said he wanted to work with me. He was connected to Gary Vee and he told us I have a meeting with him. I want to share your music with him, but you need a collection of tracks. You got a month. From there we went to work in the Georgia State Lofts room 1009 cooking up.”
The duo never met Gary Vee, but P.S. got his first taste of what success in music looks like. Using his video and photography skills to help his music come to life, P.S. began performing live and crafting music to expand his fan base, including his 2021 single, “My Energy”. His good friend, Stunt McCartney shot the video, but P.S. handled the video editing.
The collective weight of the pandemic and college affected P.S. who admitted he had to work his way through a mini-depression. Pushed into action by his friend PJ, P.S. went back into the lab and created an album that he credits with helping him overcome his depression. Over the course of the last year, he’s worked on expanding his producer skills, learning the basics of the piano as well as guitar.
With only 2 months of the year left, P.S. feels the sense of urgency to cement the momentum he’s garnered this year. Just last week, he released his latest single, “Neon Genesis” and he has plans to release a project before the year ends.
“I’m dropping by the end of the year. This project showed me I could do more than I thought I could. I’m in a new phase of my career and I’m excited, says P.S.
Wright World 