Sagan Petr Smith & One Peace
It’s been a little over a year since I last sat down and talked with Sagan Petr Smith, the hip-hop producer and friend of mine, for November’s issue of MoxieMag. Sagan put me in touch with Josh, a.k.a. One Peace, shortly after. I tried to snag an interview with him dating back as far as June of this year. We never found a way to really make it work, until the two of them released “Fresh Out”. A single between the two of them.
The song is instantly catchy. Josh flows over the beat effortlessly, like he’s done this for fifteen years. Sagan’s production sounds clean and new, all at the same time. It’s like an instant duo made to work together. That horn loop will also get stuck in your head for days. Trust me, I would know.
Shortly after, they announced their album, A Glorious One, would release on Josh’s birthday. Sagan also allowed me to listen to the album two to three days before it officially came out. I got to listening, and I was blown away. The production sounds so professional, clean, modern, but old, all at once. It’s a blend of everything popular in rap right now. Trap drums, samples, boom-bap and 90s inspired, catchy word flows, and more. This album is great. And it came out of Fort Collins too? Even crazier.
Sagan put all three of us together in a group chat on Instagram, so I could talk to them about this album. We decided to meet early on a Sunday morning, as me and Sagan have work to get to later that afternoon. It’s windy and a stark 65 degrees outside when I get to the house. Odd for early December in Colorado. The house looks old and lived in, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s pale blue exterior contrasts with the large pine tree out back. The house is close to an area I’m familiar with, only a five or so minute drive from my new house.
We sit down out front, since Josh’s brother, Joey, is still asleep. Sagan and I do some catching up, talking about his trip to Los Angeles, and some of the projects I’ve been busy with. After some talking, we start the interview.
To start, how’d you guys meet?
One Peace: Well, I guess you could tell.
He notions toward Sagan.
Sagan Petr Smith: This is very funny. So this is back in 2019. He had just released his album Underdog, which was a pretty amazing project. There’s a song off of that project, the first song, called “Replenish Myself”. I remember one day I was scrolling through Instagram, and I saw this ad from Lion League music. I played the song and it was “Replenish Myself”. I lost my shit. I was like: “This is the hardest shit I’ve ever heard from a Fort Collins artist.” My dream is now to work with this man. Get a feature from him, or something. This is the best rapper that I’ve networked with.
OP: He hit me up, he was like: “Yo, I’m sixteen, I make beats. I’d just love to work with you.” I listened to some of his shit and I was like “this is hard”. Showed my brother, he goes: “Damn, he’s sixteen?” [Sagan] sent me a couple beats. Laid some shit down to a couple. They were some mixtape beats, you know, freestyles and shit. But then, he sent me the beat to “Fresh Out”, which is probably one of my most popular songs. Well, it is my most popular song, yeah. And I feel like with the recent exposure I’ve gotten from interviews and all that, that song did really well. And that was recorded two years ago. We did that, and then started recording a bunch of songs, not really with the idea of making an album, but then it became that. We had nine or so songs around this time last year and we were thinking about dropping it, but gladly, we kept working on it. Added a bunch of different styles to it. We ended up with a super dope project.
SPS: For real. I actually went back and pulled up the text I sent. I said: “Hey, my name’s Sagan Petr Smith and I am a sixteen year old producer out of Fort Collins. I really enjoy the music you guys put out, I want to be a part of it. If you guys are interested in hearing my music, I can send you some unreleased demos I have. If you guys aren’t interested, that’s totally fine too. Thank you for your consideration.”
OP: Real respectful right there, damn.
We all laugh, and Sagan continues.
SPS: That was like a musical shooting of the shot.
Sagan laughs again.
SPS: That’s how we networked and made some classics.
“Fresh Out” was the first thing I heard between the two of you, obviously, and it sounds so professional. Almost like you guys had been doing this for four or five years.
OP: Shouts out to JD, Josh Adams, he’s nice with the mixing and mastering. He made that shit sound super crispy. He mixed and mastered the whole album as well. Shouts out Josh Adams. Go follow. He’s about to release some shit too. He’s a super producer as well, and he’s got bars. Makes tight shit, fo sho.
SPS: Great artist.
So, it’s been about a year since me and you last spoke Sagan. How do you think your production has changed in terms of working with [One Peace] on this album?
SPS: Man, I remember last time we linked up, I was talking about all my influences and shit. I feel like I expanded my musical knowledge even further. When it came to the sample material, my process was just digging, like old school producers. Vinyl just had a certain sound to it that…
He makes a mind blown hand motion to iterate his point across.
I was trying my best to find these rare gems, and do some crazy experimental sample chops. I was trying to reinvent my own style that I was already used to doing. I wanted to take a different approach to this album and craft it carefully. The same way I produced my last projects, I was taking it really seriously but I wanted to expand my abilities. That’s kind of what’s changed. I’ve been more vulnerable as an artist. Be more willing to make fucking anything. I don’t give a shit about anything else. If I want to create, I’m going to create. That’s where I’m at. I think I would’ve told you the same thing a year ago. Honestly, I don’t think my expression side of me has changed much. My knowledge? Still going up and it can only get better from here.
Hearing the growth from the last time we talked, you were about to drop Wildfire Ether a year ago around this time. Just from what I heard in my car on the way here, I was just blown away. I feel like you’re really in your element. You’ve got this magnum opus on your hands with the production. It’s this collage of everything right now. The sampling, trap, boom bap all at the same time. It feels like it’s uniquely your own.
SPS: Those are very kind words, man. I wouldn’t have gotten that inspiration if it weren’t for him.
He notions toward One Peace again.
Being in the studio, locked in, exchanging ideas. Hell, not even talking about music, talking about self-care, basketball. Just life, right? That’s the thing, life makes us better artists. He shared a special insight into his life and how he took care of himself and his well being. That inspired me to help my well being out more. And with that, I was able to create some of my best material. Because he was bringing the best out of me the whole time. That’s how I felt. I was like: “I’m making this project because his energy compliments mine perfectly. That’s why I feel satisfied with this shit.
Well since I already know Sagan’s influences, what are some artists or creative influences that fuel what you make?
OP: Artist wise, I love some Isaiah Rashad-
His dog, Etta, interrupts us by standing in the middle of the three of us, tail wagging. She has a stick she keeps dragging around, making noise on the recording.
OP: This is who’s making all that ruckus: Etta.
He continues.
Obviously, 90s hip-hop, boom bap shit like Wu-Tang Clan, a bunch of East coast stuff. OutKast, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, West Coast shit. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony was the first group I ever fucked with. Did I say Isaiah Rashad? Yeah. He’s probably my favorite artist. Influence wise, besides [MF] DOOM, can’t forget DOOM. Rest in Peace. In terms of the influence of life though, I love to indulge in the cultures of other people. Food, literature, cinema. There’s all types of shit. Living life like a normal person gives me some inspiration, even more so than music sometimes. Because I’ll go on a vacation or something, come back, you know, all charged up to make shit and be creative. I feel like right now, I want to go into a time of absorption. I want to take in a bunch of different aspects of culture, maybe travel around a little bit, get back on my storytelling grind, you know. Get back to taking in life so that I can express it.
One Peace runs after Etta again, who’s started barking at some neighbors.
SPS: I will say this though, in terms of inspiration: Alchemist and Westside Gunn. I was listening to those two throughout the creation of this album. With that “Butterfly House” track, that’s the most Griselda shit I’ve ever made.
OP: That one’s fire.
SPS: Anyways, as you were saying man, talking about life.
Sagan and I laugh, and One Peace continues after sitting back into his seat.
OP: Life is great. Life is good. Here we are. Outside. It’s like seventy in December. It’s kind of nice though, I’m not really complaining. I work outside, so I could fuck with this.
Moving onto the album, I got through about the first three songs. Just the way you started out with “The LAW”. What was it like working on that song and how did it come to be?
SPS: That’s a great question. Straight up, bought a sample pack off of The Drum Broker, which is an amazing sample pack service. It’s where I get most of my drums from. I bought this sample and I found it in the pack and it was the most Madlib shit I’ve ever heard. And what I did is I put it through a plug-in called Gross Beat, which made this weird effect in the sample where it goes up and down at the end of the bar.
OP: Well we need to talk about how we made that song with it being the intro track.
SPS: Oh yeah, for sure.
OP: So we were thinking together, like: “How are we gonna set this off?” So he came up with that beat. I heard the beat and kind of got the melody or a chorus for her to sing. I had written that out in my head and I’d heard a girl singing on it for a long time. So when it actually came about that we recorded it and stuff, it was dope, for sure.
SPS: My bad, I started talking about the specifics more than the actual song.
Specifics, story, all of the above is great, so no worries.
SPS: So yeah, I sent him an audio snippet of it through Instagram and he was like: “This is some intro shit.” I was like, yeah honestly. This starts out with a bang when those drums hit.
OP: Yeah, then “Fresh Out” is the second joint. So we figured with that one; the people that already have fucked with my music will have heard that song, then they’ll hear “Fresh Out” second, that’ll hype them up. People who haven’t heard my shit, the people who discover me through the album, they’ll hear “The LAW”, which is a boom-bap introspective banger, and “Fresh Out” and it’ll hook them.
SPS: It’s that versatility aspect. But dude, you need to hear “The Pit”. You were one song away from “The Pit”. Oh my god.
OP: There’s some bangers. There’s some bangers.
SPS: Yessir.
So what was your favorite song to do together out of all of them?
Sagan leans back in his chair and inhales, then looks at One Peace.
OP: I like the song “RED WINE”. It’s got Siah on it, our homie. [Sagan] just sent me the beat- or I guess the outro track was dope because we dug for samples, and he made the beat on the spot, shelled it for a bit, and then it ended up being the outro track. Which we thought to ourselves: “Yo, we need something to send this out.” We went back and forth with a bunch of tracks, and then landed on the one we chose. It’s definitely a heater. That one was a dope one to make, cuz we were in the studio together making that. A lot of the stuff was maybe sent to me, then I recorded over it over here, or at Josh Adams’ house. But yeah, the whole thing was dope to make. It was a super back and forth, very involved process.
SPS: Yeah, I agree, one hundred percent. That’s such a tough question. The one song that I heard, that I witnessed, was “Moving”. That one entertained me the most. The one that I was absolutely satisfied with? That’s an impossible question. Every single song on this album I feel like is my favorite. You know what I mean? They’re all individual moments that stand out to me. It’s hard to just dial in on one. I guess the one that’s my personal favorite, if I had the album up right now, the first song I’d play for you on random would be “Butterfly House”. That’s boom-bap as hell. It’s Westside Gunn as hell.
OP: I wrote that shit in the woods at this place called the Butterfly House. It’s like a hostile on Highway 50 in the Monarch Pass. I was doing a two week backpacking trip with my mom, and we stopped at that hostile. The first day I had listened to music was that day and I had wrote that song in a hammock. It was like, I had been ten days without a phone at that point, so I was just charged up, ready to write some shit.
SPS: Hop out the river charged up!
OP: Yeah, hop out the river charged up. That was dope.
SPS: There’s a story to everything. Behind every single one of these. Every song.
I like that approach of everything being your favorite. I’ve heard that with some other people I’ve talked with. They don’t want one song to be their best, they want everything to be their best.
OP: It’s a lot of bangers. Sixteen straight bangers. We’ve been working on this shit for like, two years. Full length. Putting in the work.
SPS: Hours.
One Peace laughs.
OP: Days. All on this shit.
SPS: Weeks. Months. It’s crazy. It’s an amazing process, and I’m very proud of it.
OP: Fo sho.
Well I think the public is gonna be super happy to hear it.
OP: I think so.
On the note of songs, what song was the most introspective for you?
SPS: I’ll let him answer that, he wrote the poetry.
OP: I’d say I really like the first track. The way it kind of sets it up, what the vibe is going to be. It talks a lot about how I felt over the last, you know, year or two. A lot of the stuff has to do with how I was feeling during the pandemic. Friends passing. Introspective wise, the whole thing is pretty much- there’s some tracks that are strictly just wavy, or like, party banger type shit. But I’d say probably “The LAW”. Track one. Also the outro. I talk my shit on that one too.
Those lines on “The LAW” are crazy. It’s like when you’re listening to something and then “whoa”. It makes you want to listen to it even more. That’s what it was like for me.
OP: Oh man.
SPS: That’s dope. Thank you for those words.
The fact that I get to talk and interact with creatives like this is amazing. So thank you.
SPS: For sure.
OP: We need to tap in. Do some shit together. Fo sho. Oh shit!
One Peace stops, as a ladybug landed on his hand.
OP: That thing just came from the sky. Say what up homie. What’s up dog?
He holds the finger the ladybug is on up to look at it against the light and trees.
SPS: Dude, he attracts the craziest animals. Have you seen his Instagram story? These wasps pull up on him, mantises, all crawling around on him and shit.
OP: Yeah, I’ve always fucked with bugs and nature, especially. I would find, like, a hundred ladybugs and have a giant handful of ladybugs. I feel like one ladybug is hard to find, I have trouble finding one ladybug now. Or praying mantises, grasshoppers.
SPS: Bro, we get mad praying mantises at our property.
OP: They’re tight.
SPS: They’re so chill. They’re so chill. You see them, and you’re scared at first, but then you’re like: “No, this thing’s really chill”. He’s not gonna hurt me at all.
OP: Even when they do that-
SPS: Oh! The-
Sagan makes the notion of a praying mantis moving its claws and smiles, then looks over at One Peace, who nods in affirmation.
OP: Like they’re gonna claw you or whatever? It’s not that bad.
What sorts of things do you want people to take away from this album?
SPS: Fuck. I’m tired of people sleeping. Quite frankly.
OP: Facts.
SPS: I’m tired of people, and the scene, sleeping on the fact that hip-hop is very much alive and well in Colorado. It’s gonna change a lot of people’s minds on a lot of shit. I want this album to be kind of like a flare to everybody, like: “Hey, we have something here”. That was one of my approaches to the album. I wanted this album to be me in my fucking bag when it comes to beats. And I want [One Peace] to be talking his shit to the fullest. I texted him a few months ago, before we locked in and got the final shit done, like: “I want to bring the best out of you, for you to talk your truth to the fullest.” I’m willing to make whatever beat, whatever you want, to make that happen. Right? I want people to see that. I want people to understand that we’re real. We’re with this shit. We’re not parodies. We’re not fuckboys or whatever. Not mumble rappers. We’re people doing this shit for real, to create art for the people. I don’t know, people need to get onto this shit.
OP: I’d say for the A1 day ones, the real fans, the true ones? I especially just want people to listen to it all the way through. If you could just take your time and find a spot where you can listen to the whole thing. Because, like, it’s a whole rollercoaster. There’s lots of ups and downs and it kind of correlates with what the last several years were like. So it’s a journey. I was looking at all the lyrics, and I’m scrolling for a fucking minute, you know? It’s thousands of words over the course of several years about life, death, love, mastering your own conscience. And, you know, assessing your internal state. There’s a couple songs on it that I can see how it can impact people, like “Abandonment Issues”. Which is a remix of a track he did on another album-
SPS: Introspection Dialogue.
OP: It would definitely help someone who’s down bad on some depressed shit, I guess. And there’s a lot of shit in there that gives you insights and tools on how to think your way through some shit. Or, at least how I would think my way through some shit. Art is my release, my relief, so I gotta talk my shit. If I’m just sayin shit that everyone wants to hear, or that people’s already been saying, I get no relief and I’m still stuck with all this shit up in my head. Puttin’ the pen down is me gettin’ it out. I want people just to listen. Whatever they take from it, it can apply to your life, for sure. And it’s just good music.
SPS: I feel like, conceptually, A Glorious One is about facing adversity. Facing all these negatives in life, and overcoming that shit. Through love, through expression, and through straight up not caring what people think about you. Finding your own element, finding your own person and achieving glory. That’s what his poetry reflected upon me. It’s like I was going through his story with him while he was writing it. There’s a connection with the music, it’s amazing.
OP: Facts.
What’s next for the both of you after this?
OP: Rollin’ out the campaign for the album, drop some merch, and several music videos. Probably do three music videos. I wanna do a lot of interview shit. I wanna get out into the streets and get some people to fuck with my shit. Old school methods. Put up flyers, have Snapchat QR code stickers slapped up, I want to make this something that people know about for sure. Whatever people can do to help, like, you shoutin’ us out on a story. Simple shit like that goes such a long way. So it’s just [us] trying to spread the word, and visually representing ourselves. And yeah, just showing the people our shit. Showin’ the world what we’ve been working on.
SPS: Yessir. I mean, he said it amazingly. We’re gonna roll out this album. Get that shit crackin’. I’m always working on something. Always. Always working on an album. Next year, I’m definitely going to release some solo material, for sure. He’s definitely gonna release more shit, too.
OP: The gas that people give us from this album will literally just get propelled back into making shit. Obviously, we do it for ourselves, because art is relief, but I want people to fuck with it. I made it for the people to listen to as well, so. Them gassing us up saying “this is heat” is gonna put us right back into the studio more. It’s just a fuckin’ cycle.
“ I want people to use my music, and our music, as a resource to help themselves. And to bump it. Have a good time with it. ”
Last question, where do you see yourself in four, five years from now?
OP: Shit. I think the places I project myself, or imagine my future self doing, is being on tour. Playing a fucking stadium. Travelling. I’m a businessman, I wanna continue being creative. I would like the financial freedom and time freedom to travel and make music everyday and create with people. Do everything we do, but on a grander scale. With more freedom.
SPS: Honestly, I feel very similar about my path. I feel like success is coming. I feel like my workflow is unbreakable. So I feel like within the next four to five years, I’m going to be closer to where I wanna be. I absolutely wanna see more of the world. I absolutely wanna work with more artists. I think in four or five years, you’re gonna see a deep as fuck discography. You’re gonna see a way better version of myself, more expressive version of myself. You’re just gonna see an artist, like honestly. I’m just gonna continue to evolve and continue to get better. I see myself as a legend at that point. I know that’s a high ass plaque to put myself on, but how else am I supposed to look at myself? I know I’m a legend, people just need to know me more.
OP: I make shit for legacy, fo sho. I wanna help the world. I wanna heal the world. I wanna use what I’ve gone through, and help people navigate the negative of the world. I wanna curate the dope shit. I wanna show people what this life’s all about and guide people to being able to meet their potential.
SPS: That’s- shit, I couldn’t have said it better myself. All about self-expression. I just wanna make sure my momma is in a good spot, I wanna make sure my family’s in a good spot, and I wanna make sure I’m in a good spot. I want people to use my music, and our music, as a resource to help themselves. And to bump it. Have a good time with it.
OP: I wanna entertain and heal.
SPS: Straight up.
OP: I love to make people happy, I love to make people laugh, I love to make people feel good about themselves. So that’s the goal, you know? To entertain. Through making a living through entertaining, I wanna see my efforts, and cash money, help people.
SPS: Facts. I’m gonna leave it like this. Remember last year? I said to you, “Music brings an insane amount of color into my heart.”
I do remember that.
SPS: Still does the same shit for me. I want people to feel color in their hearts when they listen to my music. I feel like in five years, I’ll still wanna do that.
OP: And we’ll be on some whole different shit. I wanna know, like, three instruments, and have a ten day contract for the [San Antonio] Spurs.
SPS: Some Prince shit.
OP: I swear though, one day I’m gonna get a G League contract and play for a little bit. Just cuz. Just a quick flex. Or do the J. Cole thing, play in an African league overseas.
SPS: J. Cole’s tiny though. You could ball out.
OP: J. Cole’s nice though, I won’t lie. He’s got that super soaker.
Well, that’s all I got. Thank you guys, this was great.
SPS: Of course. ‘Preciate you, bro.
OP: Fo sho. Of course.
I then get a few film shots of them around the front of the house. Especially with Josh messing around with Etta. We sit and talk about work, life, and some creative ideas going forward before parting ways for the day.
Thank you to Josh/One Peace and Sagan for taking the time to talk with me about their new album. Also a big thank you to Sagan for convincing Josh I knew what I was doing.
You can find Sagan on Instagram as @producedbysps, and Josh as well, as @onepeacenugget. Their album, A Glorious One, is out now. Wherever you stream music, you can find it.
-M
