AKRON, Ohio — The Highland Square Neighborhood Association held its ninth PorchRokr event.
The music and arts festival brings in hundreds of artists, some of whom perform on the front porches of houses in Highland Square.
One of them is Pablo Speaks, a rapper from Akron.
Despite it being his first time performing at PorchRokr, he drew a large crowd that spilled onto the sidewalks and across the street.
“The energy was really good,” he says, “It was really loving and friendly, it’s nice when you know everyone in the audience.”
He performed songs from his new EP called “Word of Mouth.”
“My favorite song, let’s see, I really, even though it’s my most popular song, I really like ‘Lonely’ just because it was the first song that I kind of opened up and got more vulnerable,” said Speaks.
After taking a couple of years off from music, Speaks said he is back in full force.
“So I disappeared for a few years, honestly and just started releasing music again in 2019 and now I don’t want to stop. I want to keep going,” said Speaks.
He hopes his listeners can take something away from his new songs.
“For me personally, I hope they feel a connection. I hope they feel good and I hope they feel it’s not the same cliché as everyone else.”
If you ever feel discouraged or nervous about going after your passion, he has some advice.
“I’ll actually quote something from the song, ‘It doesn’t all happen in one day and it’s OK to fail it’s OK to be sad for a day,’ but if you really want to do something you put in the work and you can get out of it what you put into it. And I like to say, if I can do it so can you,” said Speaks.
You can listen to Pablo Speaks on all music streaming platforms.
