Pink Siifu
Pink Siifu
Pink Siifu is a rapper, producer and a songwriter from Birmingham, Alabama who found success in the late 2010s with his experimental blend of genres. He pieces together aspects of his wide-ranging influences and built an extensive catalog during the 2010s, releasing a total of 46 EPs, albums, and mixtapes throughout the decade.[1]
Early Life
Mathew LivingSton was born in Birmingham, Alabama, Matthews moved to Cincinnati when he was six years old. He started as a drummer in his high school band, then, he first began writing poetry and rapping during his freshman year of college. When college proved untenable, he dropped out to pursue rap under the name Liv Martez alongside several rappers from Cincinnati.
Weary of the violence and hardships he witnessed and experienced in Cincinnati, Matthews moved to Los Angeles. Though he was essentially homeless upon arrival, he embedded himself in the local independent music scene, befriending and collaborating with producers like Mndsgn, Swarvy, and Ahwlee. Since then, he’s lived a nomadic but no less productive life, residing in various parts of Los Angeles (Santa Monica, El Sereno) and releasing records several times a year. [2][7]
Career
Matthews has built a substantial catalog within a few years: He put out seven short projects in 2014, five in 2015, and ten in 2016. These rapid-fire releases allowed the young musician to demonstrate his versatility, moving between warped ambient (Zen), sample-splicing jazz (Black Food 1), haunted post-dubstep, and experimental rap (Let Go) quite deftly. Perhaps the most notable of these was 2016's Space Ghetto: originally intended as Matthews' debut album, the 24-track mixtape features everything from ambient to jazz, with Matthews dipping into the mix in a variety of vocal styles.
Pink Siife continued with the impressive streak into the late 2010s, where Matthews released a further 20 projects in 2017 and 2018.
Alongside a collection of genre-bending EPs, this period saw the release of his debut album Ensley, combining the works of Siifu and iiye, Ensley's varied palette of sonic textures and free-form instrumentation received nods from major music publications, giving the enigmatic musician his first taste of indie success. Moving into 2019, Matthews released EPs Black Food 4, Im Still., Grden.2, and Uptwn.3, alongside the Syrup EP as part of experimental neo-soul band B. Cool-Aid.[1]
His latest project "Negro" was released in 2020.
Negro is Siifu’s first attempt at combining these seemingly disparate sounds on one project.
A chaotic free-jazz session attributed to the late Los Angeles producer Ras G seeps into the muffled punk of “SMD” and “FK.” Beats switch abruptly, shifting between genres and perspectives on a dime. On “Nation Tyme,” a sped-up vocal sample dissolves into piano keys as Siifu groggily bemoans the police and a world where he’d rather die than pay rent.[3][6]
The album is definitely about the frustration of the Black perspective,” Siifu explains.
“I just feel like I convey Black trauma and our collective frustration, and, to me, that’s NEGRO.
A Negro is a Black American.”