Pell Thinks Internet Dating is the Scariest Shit Ever

All photos by Ellie Pritts

“Are you serious? Are you fucking serious?! Damnit! Nooooooooo!” shouts Jared Pellerin at the top of his lungs, head tiled towards the ceiling, hopping up and down on one foot as if he'd just stubbed a toe.

The 22-year-old hip-hop artist, who goes by the name Pell, is absolutely not ready to fill out a faux online dating profile for the sake of an interview. But Pell is a genuinely nice guy, and an all-around good sport when it comes to surprises such as these. So he plays along. Adjusting the chain around his neck, a gift from a friend who runs a boutique in Manhattan, Pell comes back down to earth with a smile: “Where were we?”

To be exact, we are in the basement of Reggie’s Rock Club, an intimate dive located in Chicago’s Chinatown district. Since first opening five years ago, the venue has helped launch many a career. Just two years ago, Chance the Rapper sat in this very room anxiously preparing for the release show of his first mixtape. Pell’s eyes widen when I tell him this. Sitting on the cheetah patterned couches drinking canned beer, our topics of discussion include Nardwuar the Human Serviette (“He’s scary, dude!”), the 2001 animated Richard Linklater film Waking Life, and the very first song that Pell wrote at eighteen, which he recites in its entirety from memory. We also delve into the inspiration behind his first major project—the excellent Floating While Dreaming—which premiered last week via Spotify.

The idea for Floating… came to Pell in a dream. In the lucid episode, he was walking on water in either Louisiana, Florida, or Mississippi, when he noticed childhood friends standing off in the distance, anticipating his arrival at the end of the riverbank. Step by step, the water splashing between his toes, Pell inched his way toward the familiar faces when he noticed something horribly awry: “I kept ascending as I tried to go towards them.” Pell was floating away. “That’s when I started to realize I could control my dreams fully. I wanted to fly.” He began to soar, racing across the watery expanse until he was reunited in the arms of his friends. Immediately upon waking, Pell reached for his phone, documenting the dream in as much detail as his groggy state would allow. “I’m in control,” he wrote. Pell saved the notes and ran to his friend’s studio to begin recording.

That's the story of the album, but Pell’s musical journey began with a gift package from his brother Michael. Returning home for the summer from the University of Southern Mississippi, Michael heard of his younger sibling’s burgeoning interest in music and came packing copies of The Score by the Fugees, Welcome Back by Ma$e, and Kanye’s The College Dropout and Late Registration.

“It changed my fucking life: I’d heard Kanye before, but when I got in-depth with how he is as a person, and how he gives his all to his music…” Pell says this staring at a wall covered with the signatures of past musicians passing through. “I want to give my best to this. By the end of my career, I just want people to know that everything came from the heart. That’s all that matters to me, at the end of the day, that I gave my all to this shit.”

If Floating is any indication, Pell is definitely giving his all to this shit. It’s an unconventional melting pot of a record, that’s easy on the ears with a musical lineage that's easily traceable: the harsh synth jabs of Yeezus can be heard on “Kreation;” the racy, jazzy psychedelia of Chance’s Acid Rap is apparent in “Dollar Store.” There’s hooks, too. “Runaway” is the summer jam you never knew you needed and the rapid-fire “Eleven: 11” features a dizzying Kendrick impression. As a blueprint for Pell’s career trajectory, it’s no Blueprint, but it’s certainly an impressive first step.

Shortly after his performance, Pell and I discuss influences. “When I was first starting, there was a hunger for me to get to California and experience the ocean,” he says. The West Coast is magical, I agree. “Best Coast?!” he shoots back excitedly, mishearing my words. Pell is halfway through a comment on Best Coast singer Bethany Cosentino when he remembers our conversation is still being recorded. “Off record!” he snaps, laughing. “Off fucking record! Don’t Drake me.” Pell and John Taylor pointing at each other.

Age/Sex/Location/Status:
22/M/Starksville, Mississippi/Single

My self-summary:
An artist that creates to relate.

What I'm doing with my life:
Living it to the fullest.

I'm really good at:
Chess.

The first things people usually notice about me:
My personality. Also my clothes.

Favorite books:
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.

Favorite movies:
Titanic. Goodfellas.

Favorite TV shows:
Rugrats. The Newsroom, even though it got cancelled! Girls. Breaking Bad. Workaholics. Chapelle Show.

Favorite music:
Vampire Weekend, Banks, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Amy Winehouse, Erykah Badu, MemoryHouse, Crystal Skulls.

Favorite food:
Jambalaya, fried alligator, red beans and rice, salmon, sushi, gumbo.

Six things I could never do without:

1. Music

2. Sleep

3. Dreams

4. Sour Patch Kids

5. Books

6. Women

I spend a lot of time thinking about:
Life in general.

On a typical Friday night I am:
In the studio playing music or writing a song.

The most private thing I'm willing to admit:
I fuck with le skin flicks. And I pray before every show. Those two things go hand in hand!

You should message me if:
You want to make a cool video or have a swimming pool.

Having filled out his “profile,” Pell takes a moment to share his thoughts on online dating. He also had a few things to say about life in general.

I'm scared about my New Orleans show. I met a girl on Tinder. I'm petrified! So I went on Tinder about a month and a half ago. I've been busy, I've been traveling, and I made a mistake. I told her, “Yeah, we can definitely link up,” but we never linked up, and I gave her my number. And she knows my Twitter, and she knows that I'm going to be in New Orleans, so she hit me up, “Can I get into the show?” Me being the nice guy that I am, I said “Yes,” and she's coming to the show. We're supposed to hang out afterward. I don't know what's going to happen. I'm scared as fuck right now.

Make sure you know what you're getting yourself into. Whether it's online or physical, because some of these girls will be very pretty, and some of these guys will be very handsome, and they'll talk sweet to you, but you don't know who these people are until you get to meet them, until you get to know them for an extensive amount of time. So don't rush anything. Life is full of so many people, and there's plenty of good people, so you don't need to be wasting your time trying to find “The One” on the internet. There's plenty of time to meet people in person.

Dream big. If you're going to do anything that requires you following your dreams, make sure that you pursue it to the fullest in anything that you do, because life is too short to do anything but what you deserve. Give what you deserve. Give what you want in return.

Pell’s ‘Floating While Dreaming’ is out now

Pell Tour Dates: 5.28 - New Orleans, LA - Gasa Gasa - CD Release Show
6.5 - Chicago, IL - The Wire
6.6 - Joliet, IL - Mojoe's
6.8 - Memphis, TN - Mug Shots

John Taylor is a writer living in Chicago. He created this column, and has already deleted and reinstalled Tinder in the time it took you to read this story. Follow him on Twitter—@johntaylortweet

Ellie Pritts is a photographer living in Austin who knows better than to install Tinder on her phone. Follow her on Twitter—@elliepritts

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