THE SOUL OF ACKWOOD: Pecks One

INTERVIEW KB Tindal PHOTO @mrphunky

Pecks One is the personification of what Hip Hop is. Not only is he a dope off the top of the head freestyle MC, but he also makes good music that resonates with the soul. He’s also a graffiti writer that can hold his own with some of the best legends to ever pick up a can of Krylon. He hails from Cypress California and carries his city on his back proudly. His flow is reminiscent of New York’s Boom Bap era of music with hard beats and rhymes. His latest project “Angels Carry Kings” has a slew of dope tracks and heavy bar work. Come chill with Validated Magazine as we chop it up with the Cypress CA aka Ackwoods, MC about his new project, his musical influences and his love for the art form of Hip Hop. 

VALIDATED: Where'd you get the MC name Pecks One from, how did that come about?

PECKS ONE: To make a long story short, pretty much when I was a youngster, I used to roll around as a little scrappy little kid with my shirt off, and the big homies would be clowning like, “Look at him with his little pecks bobbing around, we're going to call him little pecks.” Then I grew up and started doing a little bit of time and getting a little bigger so when I came out, it was just pecks. Then the one just derives from graffiti, so Pecks One. Just put the two together and I been rocking with it ever since.

VALIDATED: What's your earliest memory of Hip Hop culture?

PECKS ONE: My earliest memory, I would say is my older brother. He put me on to like some Masta Ace, “Take a Walk” to be exact. I'm going to say, maybe when I was 10, and like really young. He put me on to some Grimey, UK Hip Hop called “Like the Streets.” He put me onto a few small things that got me interested. I have been freestyling since I was like nine years old, like a youngster. Freestyling at the park. My brother made beats as well. I had an in through my older brother just hearing it in the house, him cooking up beats having artists come in and out of the house. I would say Masta Ace “Take a Walk.” That was my introduction.

VALIDATED: That's a good introduction to Hip Hop. Masta Ace, one of the original Juice Crew members out of New York and a dope spitter. Tell us exactly where you're from, about your neighborhood growing up and how it influenced you musically.

PECKS ONE: I'm from the city of Cypress. I lived in Cypress pretty much my whole life from 4 or 5 to now, I’m 26. How it influenced me, I’d just say like being in the neighborhood, tight with a lot of people in the city. I was around a lot of hustlers, so if you hear me talking about hustling, my block, we weren't like a gang neighborhood. It was a generally nice area, but there was a lot of hustlers on my block. At a young age, a lot of people got money.

You might hear me say Ackwoods, that was a phrase for the neighborhood that I grew up in back in the 90s, it was known as the Ackwoods. It had a big influence just because of the people I was around, the environment, the hustling, the graffiti, the street element things. Pretty much the things that I lived had a lot to do with the people around me and the environment I was in and I just happened to come up in Cypress. I represent my city to the fullest, we don’t have a lot of artists coming out of my city. I could go with a broad name and be like Orange County or LA, but I represent it to the fullest because I feel like I'm the only one really putting it on for my section.

VALIDATED: You’re a West Coast artist and you sound like a lot of East Coast artists in some aspects. Some of my favorites are Ras Kass and Planet Asia. Where does the flow come from? Did it come from hearing Masta Ace first, and then kind of patterning some styles after that, or just listening to mostly New York Hip Hop because that's mainly all there was early on, how did the style come about?

PECKS ONE: I wouldn't say only East Coast, but a lot of the early stuff that I listened to was East Coast artists. I really had a wide range. I wouldn't say it was just from that, but I definitely was heavy on that at a young age, and just underground stuff in general, like Jedi Mind Tricks, Sean Price, so much underground bar work. That's what I was like infatuated with. When I was young coming up, I remember it took me a long time to be open to enjoying like Lil Wayne. I couldn't even fathom him being like a good MC and now he's one of my favorite artists. But when I was young, I was surrounded by that East Coast bar work. That's what I listened to so much.

The influence, I wouldn't say it came from one artist in particular, but I take and learn, I study it. If I'm studying East Coast artists, or I'm listening to them in that time, you better believe I'm going to make some music that might have that flavor. Same way, if I'm listening to like, Cube and Dre, I might be doing some West Coast type shit. I'm just a fan of the bars. I'm a fan of bars and the style and watching East Coast movies, like “Belly”, and “Paid in Full”. These are the things that inspire me. So of course, I'm going to take what I see and learn something from it and put a little bit of that flavor in what I already got going.

VALIDATED: “Angels Carry Kings” is the name of the latest project. Why did you choose that title? Give me a background on that.

PECKS ONE: My first 4 projects were all ACK acronyms. 2013 I did “Above Common Knowledge”. 2014 I did “All City Kid”. When I met you, I was just coming off of dropping “All City Kid”, which was the last piece of the puzzle, last piece of the pie. I wanted to do 4 albums, all with the same acronym. It's a name for the team. So really, I'm just representing the team and just flipping it in my own way. I do believe that angels do carry kings. I feel like I'm surrounded by fallen angels and people who are no longer here anymore. They watch over me and keep that good energy and that positive survival full blast with me.

VALIDATED: “Bleeding Out The Pen” is hard. That track is crazy. LD on the cut, the video was shot in Brooklyn NY. How did that track come about and who produced it?

PECKS ONE: That's actually the first track I made off the album. I probably made it about a year ago, maybe like January. LD produced the track. He did the cuts and he mixed and mastered the whole project, and recorded it. The joint just came about really because we were just cooking. We had nothing planned. I don't even think I had a plan for it to be on the album. We just linked up at the last studio I was at. He just cooked the beat right there on the spot. I was kind of writing it while he was doing that. I think we did two verses and then we came back for a second session, and I added the last verse. 

I remember joking, like if I never do underground Hip Hop again, I'll be okay with this being my last joint. I was hyped on that joint and on the album, so that was a plus. We were on the tour this summer, “The Angels Carry Kings Tour” and we had a day in Brooklyn, and everything just worked out. LD ended up plugging me with some people. We're having a good time out there. We wanted to just capture something to look back on. That was my first time being in New York. And I'm a big fan of the Yankees. I always rock the Yankees hat. It was a big moment for me to go out there and paint and rock a show and have fans out there who got the merch and supported. It was just a blessing. So we shot the video like this is the best time, let's get something to bring home with us, to edit and drop. And that way we always have it to look back on the first time we touched down in New York, and we really killed it. We got a lot of love out there. I was super surprised. Because you would think a bunch of LA artists doing their thing, maybe not everyone's going to be so welcoming, because of our style, or just the way we carry ourselves. You could tell we weren't from around there. But I swear we got so much love on the art and on the music. I was surprised by real cats, we're doing our thing on the walls and OGs would be pulling up giving us mad love, which I was surprised because I feel like we don't even get that much love in LA when we're doing something like that.

VALIDATED: I'm glad your first experience going to New York was a good one. And you brought back some solid memories and had the kind of support that you deserve as an artist and as a graffiti artist. “Fallen Angels” featuring Gremlin, you guys talked about growing up in broken homes. How did the two of you come together and why did you choose that particular track to get so deep on and open up to the world?

PECKS ONE: That was another joint that I didn't have too much of a plan for it to be on the album either. That was one of the earlier joints that might have been the 2nd or 3rd song I had off the album. I had met Gremlin a few times over the years, nothing major, but I did realize he would always come out of his way to show me respect or shake my hand if it was at an event or whatever. I could tell he had a respect for my craft and looking into the things he was doing I was like, “Damn, this guy, he's killing it.”

He's no joke. He's really getting to it. And not too many people out of our area really make it to that level. So he's in that caliber with the few people who have really took it to that level. So that's why I knew it was a good track to get him on. I just wanted to do something different. It was a little bit slower than my usual music, it was a slower pace. I was kind of just easing into it, came with some melodies, came with some bars, but I just felt like it really fit his image and what he touches on, his style of music. I even made it with the idea of getting him on it and then he came along, and got on it. I have my other boy Real Dollars coming in and he did some humming on it. He isn’t even an artist. He just jumped on the track, and he got on it. Really, like vibe just in the moment, it created a crazy joint and it’s doing well. I was hyped to get it out because I felt like it was one of the most meaningful and stronger tracks off the album. That's how that came about.

VALIDATED: Tell me about the video and the track that you're releasing today. 

PECKS ONE: We are dropping a new video for a single that was off the album as well called “Apology Letter.” It's produced by a cat named Kells With The Heat. He's from the UK, I believe. And it's just another deep one off the album. Another powerful song. Really me just touching, apologizing, and touching on some subjects that I don't think I would have been able to make this song for the last 10 years. It's really like a mature owning up to some things I felt that I did wrong in my life and even apologizing for some things that other people did to me. I kind of flipped it in a different way. It's like half me sincerely apologizing for things I've done wrong and half kind of saying sorry things are what they are, but not everything is in my control, and I accept that.

We shot the video, everything was just in house, we do everything. We come up with our sets, I write the treatment, I do the edits.  I've done the last 4 or 5 edits of music that’s dropped. Everything's in house creatives, squeezing the dollar out of a penny, doing the most with what we have. We're bringing good content, I'm hyped on this video. Anybody who heard the joint off the album already know it's deep, it's serious. I'm coming with the bar work, coming with the metaphors, I'm coming with the melodies, the beat clapping, the visual shot by my boy Don Rose, he does a lot of my filming. People know what to expect when we are coming with that heat.

VALIDATED: On a personal note, I know you had said that you had gotten clean a little while ago. Is that something that you're still doing, are you still clean? And if so, when you were, how did it change your life and how did it help you focus on your art and everything else around you more than it did when you were using drugs?

PECKS ONE: I was 15 months sober from April 2020 to July of this year. 15 months, because I've always had a problem with using and I've abused drugs and alcohol to get out of situations or to cope with things I was going through. That's been something that was normal for me at a very young age. Honestly, besides doing time, or rehab or programs, I never really was sober at all in my life since I was a very young kid. Until I made that decision on my own not being forced or being incarcerated or something just to be like I'm going to fight some of these demons I've been having for a long time. I really do believe they hold you back.

They've led me to a lot of bad situations, like getting in trouble with the law, family problems and just problems within myself. I want to level up and grow. I felt like that was the starting point to get a clear head and put down all these substances that have been altering my mind for so long and I did that. I felt like, I made some of the best music ever when I was sober.  I made that whole album sober. I wrote the whole thing, recorded it all and I enjoyed it. I felt like I grew more in those 15 months, maybe than I did in the five years prior to that. It elevated me as an artist, but I mean, just as like a person, as a human with patience and self control.

Being an adult growing up, I felt like when I hit 25 I was like where am I going in my life. It's either prison, or it's going to be successful chasing these dreams. I just felt like, at my age, I'm still young, but I'm 26. I feel I can't do both. I can't party how I used to and be successful in music, art and chasing my dreams. I can't do both, it's one or the other. Right now, at the moment, I'm messing with a little bit of trees. I feel like that's the least. I believe in trees, so I don't discriminate against people smoking weed.

Personally, I like to go on these runs of not doing anything, just because I've abused drugs and alcohol so much in my life. I know, I need that. I check myself whether it's three months or 15 months, I've been trying to stay on that just to grow as a person and as an artist and put out quality music and be on point. I don't want to be slacking or on anything that's going to hold me back. I have to get rid of it.

VALIDATED: I can respect that. I know for myself, I put down the alcohol and everything, like six years ago, it's been different for me, and it was a personal choice. It was a personal decision. It had nothing to do with anybody else, but it was something that I felt that I needed to do. I continue to do that today so I can identify with that and I'm happy that you're on that path because it shows. It shows in the music. It shows in your personality as a person. It shows to other people around you. It's right there in front of you and you can tell the differences.

PECKS ONE: I believe it's hard to grow as a person, if you're using, drinking, smoking, whatever your thing is. If you're really trying to find some growth within yourself, and that's something you've been doing for a long time, I highly advise you and encourage you to try to get sober and to just see life for what it really is and enjoy it. Sometimes we get caught up thinking, we need things to enjoy life, and we don't need nothing, we just need to be ourselves and look around us and take in what's there. You don't always need something. Doing the most with the least is something I always press to the fullest. So that's what we live by.

VALIDATED: How do you feel you've grown as an artist, since you've come into the game? 

PECKS ONE: I grew up. I was a kid. I came in 10 years ago, so I'm not super new to the game or anything. I dropped my first solo project eight years ago. I just feel like through experience. I experienced a lot. I live a fast life. You couldn’t imagine the amount of things that I go through in a year, let alone a decade. But as an artist, I just think the music keeps getting better, the visuals keep getting better, you can hear the changes that I've made in my life through the music, you could tell when I'm in a dark place, you could tell when I'm up.

I feel like it's just more mature, it's deeper messages. The music is more mature, and it's just more professional. We're getting better, perfecting the craft. The bar work has been heavy from the jump. But I think now I'm just flexing my skills, and it's not always about being super serious. A lot of the stuff is more mature and serious. But also, I'm having fun with it and when you've been doing it this long, and you master the craft like that, it's easy. I'm coming in here, and I'm killing it. They know every time I get on the mic what to expect. Whether it's with a big artist who's got way more views than me, or it's just a single or I'm freestyling, it's always going to be the same genuine, bar work in my real life. I stand behind my product. I know we're out here, continuing to release quality music for the world.

VALIDATED: Your freestyle game is crazy. That's like the lost art nowadays. The freestyle art within the art of Hip Hop is kind of lost. I mean, really freestyle off the top of the dome. You get kudos on that.

PECKS ONE: Thank you, brother. That's where it started for me. I remember it was hard to write songs for a long time but the freestyles that's like my go to. I am heavy on jumping in the cypher. I'm not big on how people battle nowadays, I enjoy watching. But I enjoy unplanned, spur of the moment, off the top, people are cyphering and I jump in, and I am going to come for it every time.

VALIDATED: As an artist who's been in the game 10 years, what would you say to younger artists that want to pursue this as a career? What kind of sacrifices did you have to make or things that you had to go without because you wanted to invest in your artistry?

PECKS ONE: I will say countless time. I don't get paid by the hour. I might put in 12 hours a day, and not make anything that day. It's part of the game. I sacrifice time relationships, etc. But what comes with all these sacrifices is blessings. All that I put into it, it's given back to me in the sense of, I've seen people get 15 years, we did something together the day before, and the next day, they do it on their own, and I'm in the studio working, and they get 15 years or 10 years, or in a bad situation. Sacrificing my time and relationships, sometimes it was like a blessing because I was around certain things that were leading to death or prison.

I was blessed to have, like an outlet. When I was in those situations, I always felt that maybe I thought about it a little differently. I always felt like I don't need to be in this because I got something else. I got a place to be, I need to be in the studio. If I'm out, should I be using this money to party or should I be using this money to buy a beat and, be in the studio, and chasing my dream doing what I love? I sacrificed a lot. I was given a lot through the music. But I would say time, and relationships have been the biggest. You have to get used to betting on yourself, you won’t always win. I don't always win.

I know people win, win, win. Everybody's a winner. I don't always win. You got to be willing to take risks and take losses and learn. Enjoy the moment because I've been blessed to still be somewhat relevant for 10 years, I can tell you this, there's a lot of artists that I was rapping with 10 years ago, that they don't do it no more. Five years, they don't do it no more. They don't care. Nobody cares when they drop music, so the fact that I got people who care about what I'm doing always motivated me to the fullest.

VALIDATED: What does Hip Hop mean to you?

PECKS ONE: Hip Hop to me is painting a train. Hip hop to me is jumping in the cypher at the park and ripping it and the homies making the beat on the table. Hip Hop to me is a huge part of my life. It's something that's given me so much like I said, it kept me alive. I say music saved my life so much, kept me out of jail, helped me get sober. It's always been a friend of mine. It's always been close. I could say one thing. I never had anything so secure in my life, something that was so consistent. Hip Hop, once it came into my life, it has never left. It's always been there for me. Hip Hop is a big thing for me in my life. I say it's a blessing. That's what I call it.

VALIDATED: Same thing here, once it entered my life, it never let me down ever. It's always been there. As a Hip Hop artist, what do you feel your responsibility is to your listeners and to the culture as a whole?

PECKS ONE: My responsibility, for me not to be selfish, but it's important for me to tell my story authentically, to really paint the picture of what I went through, and not sugarcoat it, not add no extras on it, just tell people how I was living and leave something behind one day, I'm not going to be here in this form. I want to leave something behind for people to understand my life. To make something that people relate to, that's why I like talking about personal experiences with my music, because I feel like a lot of people can relate to them. Also, it's not just all about, hyping up the bad things we did, and promoting this nonsense and violence and sometimes it's just about telling my story authentically, but also, telling the youth about what comes with these types of activities. I am not going to be gassing up all this street activity that I'm about.  I'm going to tell you what comes with it. I'm going to be like, look, this is what we did, and this is what came out of it. You're not going to be on the block a superhero with a gun and a bunch of money and you think everything's going to go swell. Be ready to do time, be ready to maybe not get a letter from your family, be ready to lose people, this is what comes with this. I feel like my responsibility is to be authentic, remain authentic, and be a role model to the kids in a positive sense. If they can take something out of what I'm saying and use it and apply it in their life to make their life better. I'm all for that.

VALIDATED: I applaud that. Tell the people about your future endeavors, any kind of merch that they can get from you, upcoming shows, where they can follow you at. Give the people that information before we go.

PECKS ONE: Dropping a new video today, “Apology Letter.” It'll be out probably by the time this drops so everybody go tune into that. I got some new winter merch coming. Hopefully by next month, we'll be dropping some new gear, looking to do some sweats, hoodies, beanies. I'm going to continue to drop new music. I got mad music in the vault. I don't know about anybody else but I'm cooking. And joints you could look forward to, another project, another album probably coming out in 2022. We're going  to do a follow up album to “Angels Carry Kings” some crazy heat so be on the lookout for that. You can follow me @PecksOne on all platforms. Ack music, the movement, we're going to keep pushing that real life music that heavy bar work. That's what it's about.