Pass The Aux: Poo$ie, 'Words Don't Hurt'

Welcome to Pass the Aux, where KQED Arts & Culture brings you our favorite new tracks by Bay Area artists. Check out past entries and submit a song for future coverage.

Give me a simple kick drum, a snare, and some uplifting words and you’ve got my ear. End the song with cute kids clapping and singing about love and I’m sold.

Poo$ie’s 17-track album Still Ain’t Easy contains notable features, uptempo bangers and joints to ride to. But he chose “Words Don’t Hurt” (featuring Pimping P & D. Marie, and produced by OG Jarin) as his lead single because it represents where he is as an artist at this point in life, he says.

“This song meant the most to me,” Poo$ie tells me of the a catchy, uplifting track. “It’s my favorite song off the album.”

Poo$ie’s three-year-old son Zavion (or “Yuckaman”) is one of the children featured at the end of the song, as well as the video, shot and edited by Sean Muniz. “The chant at the end, my son came up with that part,” says Poo$ie. “But he didn’t want to be in the video until the other kids came; when his cousins came, it was over.”

Poo$ie, originally from New Orleans’ 8th Ward, is as family-oriented as his son. After Hurricane Katrina, he found a second home and extended family in Oakland, particularly through attending McClymonds High School and within hip-hop circles in the Bay Area.

All of that influence comes through on Still Ain’t Easy, an album sprinkled with references to family and friends and guest appearances from talented people in Poo$ie’s network. With praise from established artists like P-Lo and recent shows in Oakland and San Francisco, Poo$ie’s profile is on the rise.

“Bruh, this is my biggest project,” he tells me while discussing his latest album. “This is a life changing moment for sure… people are resonating with the music.”

Poo$ie performs on Friday, Sept. 9, at Cornerstone in Berkeley. Details here.