HoodRich Pablo Juan only wants the finest things in life—but that doesn’t mean he’s not grounded. Born Sterling Leroy Pennix Jr. in 1989, the Atlanta-via-New Jersey rapper was raised in a strict Muslim family environment. Juxtaposing that upbringing against a partiality for street life, Pablo Juan combined his experiences and poured them into his art. In 2015, he released the first installment of his Designer Drugz series, home to the boasting, high-energy “Givenchy Me” featuring Atlanta MCs Offset and Peewee Longway. Pablo Juan went on to drop Hoodwolf in 2017, a joint mixtape with trap producer Danny Wolf, highlighted by the trunk-rattling, flex-heavy “Zombamafoo,” which would be remixed later that year by Philly extraterrestrial Lil Uzi Vert and hip-hop mischief-maker Lil Yachty. After briefly signing to Gucci Mane’s 1017 Eskimo label, he and Mane joined forces on the whimsically produced, gloriously excessive “We Don’t Luv Em” single in 2018. Pablo Juan followed up those high-profile collabs with an equally star-studded lineup on the theatrical BLO: The Movie album from 2019, featuring artists like the idiosyncratic Young Thug and go-to vibe provider Gunna. In 2021, Pablo Juan unveiled “Choose You First,” a vulnerable love song that ventured outside of his usual style, but remained squarely in his realm of authenticity.
