After five years away, Atlanta’s Hoodrich Pablo Juan is back and better
Two days after Thanksgiving, ahead of his first major performance in five years, Hoodrich Pablo Juan seemed extremely at ease.
The Atlanta rapper was preparing for his homecoming concert at Center Stage later that night. He arrived at the venue for a sound check that basically turned into a hangout with roughly a dozen friends onstage.
“I’m just kind of regular,” the 37-year-old father of two told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the day before. “I just feel like I gotta go out (onstage) and have fun. That’s all. I don’t put too much pressure on myself in those situations.”
Hailing from Atlanta’s eastside, the rapper, born Sterling Pennix, gained recognition for his commanding flow in the city’s underground scene in the 2010s. Collaborating with artists like Lil Baby, Gunna and the Migos, he reached a career peak with the 2017 track “We Don’t Luv Em,” a song from his “Designer Drugz 3″ album. He later signed to Gucci Mane’s 1017 Records label but exited in 2020 because “I just felt like it was a better opportunity for me to start over again.”
That same year, Pablo Juan was arrested in Upson County and charged with violating Georgia’s RICO law, with prosecutors alleging he was part of a street gang called Rollin’ 20s Neighborhood Bloods.
He later entered a plea deal and was sentenced to 15 years (five to be served in prison and 10 on probation). In October, he was released from Jackson’s Special Management Unit, a facility (described as Georgia’s “harshest” prison) where inmates are under close security.
Many Atlanta rappers, from Quavo to Killer Mike, celebrated Pablo Juan’s release on social media. He later dropped his first post-prison single, “First Day Out” (which the rapper admits was technically made on his second day out), and accompanying video. The video, which has over 2 million views on YouTube, features the rapper shopping in his prison clothes, eating JJ Fish & Chicken and hanging with Lil Baby.
His homecoming show, which included fellow rappers like J Money and Rio da Yung OG, embodied that same familial, casual energy — especially considering at least 30 people were onstage the entire time. Celebrating life in the present was partially why RX Hector, Pablo Juan’s childhood friend and fellow rapper, persuaded him to document his first post-prison moments.
“I was telling him that wave that you have when you first come home will have everybody’s attention, so you can’t really just wait,” Hector told the AJC ahead of the show, where he also performed.
Following his prison release, Hoodrich Pablo Juan is clear on his goals: forming his new label, Money World, and “feeding the streets” with a handful of projects. For him, there’s no pressure to succeed. He’s only focused on being as authentic as he can.
The AJC talked to Hoodrich Pablo Juan about his next steps.
“Pressure bust pipes, but at (the) same time, I just feel like it’s cool to be yourself,” he said. “I’m only me. I can’t be more or less, regardless of what nobody want from me.”
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Q: How are you feeling right now?
A: I‘m just trying to get my feet back under me. I’ve been out long enough to where I feel like it’s time to handle our business now. Everything needs to be handled, as far as business-wise and personal-wise. You need to have your stuff together.
Q: What are some things you’re trying to get together?
A: I got a new label. My personal stuff, like, everything from a car to a house, to make sure you got your license, the bank accounts. I’m starting over from a long time ago, so I gotta have all that together — making sure I spend time with the kids and everything.
Q: Tell me a bit about your label. What are your plans for that?
A: I got maybe three artists right now (including RX Hector), and I just plan on signing artists and producers and just building from the ground up. I’m a good creator. I got a lot of ideas, and I get very creative, as far as project names and covers for artists, so I feel like I got to put it on paper and just kind of let the world know my ideas. If you ask me, you can give me somebody who don’t know how to rap, don’t know how to dress, and you leave them with me for two months, they’re gonna come back as a superstar.
Q: You were recently signed to Gucci Mane. Have you talked to him since you’ve been out (of prison)?
A: I haven’t. I need to talk to him.
Q: Even when you were locked up?
A: I couldn’t talk to nobody when I was locked up. They had me in some kind of like high-maximum security, so the communication is minimum. When I did call home, it was mostly to my kids. Everybody wonder why I ain’t calling, but it wasn’t intentional.
Q: How were you feeling in that strict environment?
A: I couldn’t wait to get up out of there for real. Nobody wants to be locked up, but let alone locked up and can’t really communicate. I had to kind of let go of everything in the outside world to get through my time because it’ll drive you crazy thinking about stuff going on, and it’s nothing you can do.
Q: What did you learn from your time away?
A: I had to learn that every choice you make is valuable. Every choice, every decision. I think about everything instead of just moving. I gotta outthink myself. I gotta think about every decision 100 times.
Q: Did you write or think about any music while incarcerated?
A: Not really writing. Ain’t my style. I tried, but I ain’t really go back to it. I just felt like it wasn’t me, like it was too put together. I’m more of a random, sporadic rapper — just say what’s on my mind, say what’s going on at the moment.
Q: How did your “First Day Out” video come about?
A: I really didn’t want to do it. I wasn’t in the rap mode, but (RX Hector) kind of threw the cameraman in my face, and I just went along with it, and they captured what I was doing. I ain’t had no clothes, so I went to the mall and bought some. Then I got dressed and went to the studio and just rapped about whatever I was doing at the moment.
Q: Did that first studio session feel weird?
A: Yeah, it did. (My friends) were trying to make fun of me at first, saying I can’t rap no more. But that’s when I ended up doing “First Day Out.” That’s when they stopped playing with me.
Q: Do you plan to release an album soon?
A: Yeah, I’m planning on releasing mixtapes. I wouldn’t call it an album. I think “album” got too much pressure on the word, so I ain’t even thinking about that right now.
Q: When are you dropping a mixtape? Like next year?
A: Yeah, maybe even before that.
About the Author
DeAsia is a music and culture reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She focuses on the intersection of arts, culture and diverse communities, as well as how emerging social trends are being expressed through the lens of the Atlanta aesthetic. DeAsia's work can be seen in Pitchfork, Essence, Teen Vogue, Elle and more.
