5 Year Anniversary: The Life Of Pi'erre 5

The Life Of Pi’erre 5 has reached its half decade mark. Oh, how the years slip away like tears in rain. For those who may only know Pi’erre Bourne through possibly the most recognizable producer tag in hip hop next to Metro Boomin and Wheezy (RIP Tay Keith) you might not know the depths of the treasure trove that is his long tenured solo career.  I wonder if Jamie Foxx knew his voice was sewing the seeds of history when he said,  “Yo Pi’erre you wanna come out here?”

As a cog in the machine of in-house producers constantly churning out and polishing other artists' songs, the soul of Pi’erre Bourne was being drained. “The beginning of 2016, I was about 3 months in with my job with Epic Records engineering for them. I’m doing a year, this is it. 12 months and I’m out. 12-6, 8-2. Everyday, except Sunday.”

The fruits of his labor were more of the intangible kind, “It was cool to see and learn and understand the process of song making and song writing, and the science behind it too.” It was these early days at Epic that gave Pi’erre, a South Carolina transplant to Atlanta with no real bed to lay his head besides the couch in his studio, a ripe opportunity to network within the industry. He would meet future collaborators like TM88 and Young Nudy, and would dedicate his Sunday’s at Epic to work on his personal songs. 

With his anxiety taking a physical toll and feeling like a prisoner at a label that was shutting down every opportunity to express his individual art, Pi’erre Bourne decided to ghost Epic and pursue his own projects in 2016. He dropped 3 mixtapes in the last quarter of that year, releasing The Life of Pi’erre on his birthday on September 19, TLOP 2 in November, and TLOP 3 closing out the triple feature in December. 

The Life of Pi’erre 4 hit streaming platforms in 2019 and stood as his debut studio album, the most polished and cohesive work to date of his at that time. The mood of that album and its romantic melancholy is perfectly reflected by the soft violet cover art. A chill oasis in the clouds to rest a broken heart. 

In June of 2021 came what may be considered his finest work, The Life of Pi’erre 5. Top to bottom, cover to cover; this project flows like a continuous river from track to track, transitioning seamlessly through songs. His transitions are a staple of his album production. The ending of one track fuses effortlessly into the next where soon when you hear a song by itself on shuffle your brain is Pavlovianly trained to expect the next song on the album to play. The lines become blurred between where one song ends and the next one begins. His production is so detailed, managing to weave such catchy beats through a series of different moods. And like The Dark Side of the Moon (indulge me, okay), TLOP 5 creates the illusion of sounding like one piece of music containing different movements within like an hour long orchestral piece. 

“Intro” sets the scene with a phone call between Pi’erre and his grandma, who humbly asks her grandson for a used budget car just to get her around town. “Your grandma is tired of bumming rides!”, she warmly jokes. There’s a calm assurance in Pi’erre’s voice as he talks to her before flowing into “Switching Lanes”. The bright emotion of the two opening tracks makes you feel like he’s finally made it. Made it from sleeping on the couch in his studio hating his job to running his own imprint label, SossHouse (but we don’t need to talk about SossHouse, unfortunately overextending himself as a producer trying to put lesser-knowns on and now the brand exits more as a solid merch line than an actual label). 

Let there be no hyperbole in saying this; “HULU” should have been included on the Voyager spacecraft record archive. That angelic synth harp lures you into the track and pulls you above the stars before the gravity of the 808 kicks in. That’s the sunshine of Jay P watching over the beat. Pi’erre’s 808 patterns are simple yet incredibly hypnotic and EQ'd to perfection, to the point where even playing it on my iPhone speaker as I type this it still hits the ear with buoyancy. Simply put, shit bangs.

“HULU” naturally interludes into “Couch” with warped and distorted vocals that sound submerged in a lake. He reminisces on his humble beginnings of couch surfing while basically homeless and the nature of growing apart. 

“I remember sleeping on my brother’s couch, yeah

With a couple thou

Now look at me now, we don’t even be speaking no more”

That twinge of lover’s heartache in the album’s mood begins as it bleeds into “42”, “Biology”, and “YNS”, a block of tracks that fuse together beautifully. But wipe those tears, because after possibly the hardest transition on the whole joint, Lil Uzi Vert enters the fold next on “Sossboy 2” where the energy and BPM get a shot in the arm. “Practice” continues the pace with its slide whistle-like synths before taking it into an even higher gear with “40 Clip”. A wrestling reference is truly the key to my heart, even if it only makes sense in a Pi’erre way. 

“This a humble flex, WWF, yeah yeah yeah

Like The Undertaker I just resurrect, yeah yeah yeah

I go Booker T, when I get my check, yeah yeah yeah” 

If you’ve made it this far into both the article and the album, we’re all aware that the Purple One isn’t exactly Shakespeare. Bless his heart, but he sure says the darndest things. Speaking of:

“Shakespi’erre, Romeo and Juliet, she might die for the kid” 

“Stack this paper like fill out form” 

“We was just outside like a fence” 

“She pop up at my place, Jehovah Witness”

“Smoke a half to waste some time but we don’t do division, That’s So Raven with the grind you know I got these visions” 

I could fill a textbook of Pi’erre bars that are sort of trash but somehow genius. He’s the epitome of a chill guy, Jordan just feels like one of us. He doesn't seem to smile much, also relatble.

“Used to work Walmart, Target

Now I’m recording artists— while being a recording artist

Swear this shit retarded” 

For context, the latter line was from TLOP 1 at a time when a frustrated Pi’erre was in the Epic Records factory house engineering for other rappers while getting his own personal projects downplayed. Coming full circle now, the career of Pi’erre Bourne is marked by both the stellar catalog of hits he’s produced for others along with his consistent solo output. Cooking up "Magnolia" for Playboi Carti in 2017 was a cultural milestone and a defining moment in Pi'erre's career. Although I'm sure a current freshman in high school is already writing off anything before Whole Lotta Red as ancient scrolls.

After “40 Clip” is where the high energy takes a breather and things start to get sexy with the dreamy recollection of young lust with “Retroville” and the straight and to the point “Drunk and Nasty”. “Amen” is then a chill reprieve before jumping back into a fun beat with “Groceries”, a bouncy track that just carries a lot of whimsy. It’s a nice call back to Pi’erre’s days in retail. 

“Butterfly” and “4U” bring The Life Of Pi’erre 5 to a close, his wispy synths creating a melancholic dreamscape. It is an album with excellent pace that knows just when to ebb and just where to flow. The project is seamless and stands as some of Pi’erre Bourne’s best production and signature transitions. The monochromatic violet cover of TLOP 4 perfectly encapsulates the soft mood of that album, and the popping colors of Murakami plush flowers and SossHouse merch captures the vibrance of the 5th entry in his self titled series. 

Next year Good Movie will get the 5 year anniversary treatment, see you next fall.