One of the leading Toronto artists to watch, AR Paisley has a die hard fan base that’s continually growing. Following his On The Radar freestyle and recent release, we caught up with him to get familiar via this VIPER interview…

What five words define your sound? 

Original, timeless, impactful, diverse. 

Tell me something unique about your creative process.

I like to pace around the room while writing and coming up with different ideas 

Which song of yours would you like people to hear first? 

If I wanted someone to hear a song of mine it would be ‘Only You’.

What inspired you to make that song? 

Wanting to make something diverse that people around the world could all listen to no matter what their taste in music was.

What’s the most vulnerable you’ve allowed yourself to be when writing/making music? 

‘Family First’ from my ‘Timeless’ project and ‘Still Grateful’ 

What’s the best/worst experience you’ve had on stage? 

The best experience on stage I’ve had would be the Vancouver arena show for the Out This World tour, I also enjoyed Calgary on my Canadian tour. 

What is your favourite song to perform? 

‘Streets’.

Which artist/song/album made you want to make music? 

Ludacris.

What’s the meaning behind your name? 

My initials are AR and Paisley is the street I grew up on. 

If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing instead? 

It’s tough to say. I’d either be in sales or doing some sort of labour.

What’s success to you? 

Living stress-free with my loved ones.

What moment in your life/career forced you to change direction? 

I used to be a battle rapper. So I wrote a lot of my raps based on coming up with ideas that were negative about people. But I switched directions and started writing more songs because that’s what I truly wanted to be. A rapper who makes good songs. 

Where can people keep in touch with you? 

@paisley.family on Instagram is where my fans can reach out to me 

Photo by Kishan Mistry.