Alexander Roman (born July 18, 1997), known by his stage name, Papikaiser alias PK, is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer-songwriter, and model. His music is often defined as Latin urban music, Reggaeton, Hip-Hop, and Pop, but he also incorporates a variety of different genres into his music, including R&B, Rock, and Soul.
At the age of 12, Papikaiser, moved to New York with his family for better opportunities. He adapted quickly to his new environment and perfected his English, which he now utilizes, along with Spanish, fluently into his music. After graduating high school, he enrolled at SUNY Sullivan, NY, where he found inspiration and passion to write songs. After one year in college, he decided that he wanted to pursue his music career and postponed college and enrolled in the Recording Workshop in Ohio to learn how to record music and video.
Papikaiser began to write his own songs during his time in college, and he started to record and mix them in his room back at home. He then began to release his songs on Soundcloud with a nice following. In June 2019, Papikaiser released his first single and video, “Matando,” as an independent artist. The video was filmed in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. He filmed the video in Puerto Rico to show everyone that even after the hurricane the island where he was born was still beautiful. In November 2019, he released his second single and video, “Cura.” He then released his next single with a young talented artist, Cilla Ramos, called, “X100PRE,” with a video in February of 2020. In July 2020, he dropped his first EP with Cilla Ramos titled, “La Mezcla,” which generated a lot of traction with his single, “Busca.” The video for “Busca” got 200,000+ views. At the beginning of 2021, he dropped his first English only solo track called, “Focused,” which has opened a new fanbase for the young talent.
In June 2021, his single, “Me Gusta,” was released and quickly hit #19 on the Latin Billboard. KB Recording Group & Drew Right Music have partnered with Sony Music Entertainment to distribute the project as well. The video for “Me Gusta” was released on YouTube in June 2021 and generated 250,000+ views in its first month. The song, “Me Gusta,” is currently sitting on the Latin Mix 100 at the #9 spot. He then dropped his latest EP, “Mi Tiempo,” which means “My Time” in English in September 2021. The latest hit off of that EP was “Last Night,” which got 1 million+ views in three weeks. Since then, Papikaiser has been performing throughout New York City and the surrounding areas, and has been interviewed by Telemundo Acceso Total in Puerto Rico and Miami.
With his single and music video, “Last Night,” out now, we took some time to hear more from Papikaiser. Read below to learn more about Papikaiser, the story behind his latest single, and what’s to come.
Hi PapiKaiser! Let’s start with how did you get your artist name?
So, how I came across my artist name is quite funny. In high school, my nickname was Papito, so I decided to keep the Papi and added the Kaiser. But, the mystery behind why I added the Kaiser was because if you search up Kaiser, Kaiser is the head of the Holy Romans and my last name is Roman, so the name “Papikaiser” actually holds a lot of meaning behind it when you piece it together.
What city are you from and where are you based now?
I grew up in a small town called Salinas, which is located in Puerto Rico. Then, when I was about 12 years old, I moved to NY with my family and still live in NY ever since.
At what point in your life did you decide to pursue a career in music? How did you get started?
I decided to pursue my musical career while attending college. In college, I met some guys that were into music and ever since that day I fell in love with music. Once being introduced and falling in love with music, I began to make music, write songs, and started releasing the songs on SoundCloud, but truthfully that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted my music out everywhere, so I began to dig deeper into this musical path and figured out how to drop my music on every platform, not just SoundCloud, but platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, etc.
Has your upbringing played a role in shaping who you are and defining your sound today? If so, how?
I don’t think my upbringing took a role in me being an artist. I just found the path that I love. Everyone loves music, and I love making it.
How would you describe your sound to readers who may not be familiar with you?
A way that I would describe my sound is that it’s different, new, and unexpected. I am a very diverse artist. You never know what’s next from me because I don’t classify myself into one genre of music. I’m into all genres! Not everyday we wake up feeling the same or with the same goals. Music to me is the same way. Not everyday I’m into making the same music!
Do you have any hobbies outside of music? What do you do to stay creative?
Other things I do besides making music is hang around with my loved ones and play sports like basketball and boxing. Things I do to stay creative is pretty much live my life everyday to the fullest. Going through life itself gives me a lot of things to write about in my music, especially relatable topics.
Who are some of your main musical influences?
Some of my musical influencers are Marc Anthony, Daddy Yankee, Usher, Lil Wayne, and Michael Jackson.
Who would be a dream to collaborate with?
Dream music collaboration would be with Mark Anthony. He’s one of my all-time favorites.
What are some of your future music career goals?
Some of my future music goals are to be a multi-platinum recording artist. Thankfully, in 2021, I achieved one of my goals of having a song hit the Latin Billboard, but another goal that I have is to tour the world and share my music with the world.
Now onto your release, “Last Night.” What inspired this song?
“Last Night” was inspired by the new Urban Pop and Reggaeton sounds. I wanted to combine Pop with Reggaeton, and “Last Night” is the outcome of mixing those two genres.
What is “Last Night” about in your own words?
“Last Night” is about falling in love again. Falling in love again with that person that you already know. It’s finding yourself again with this person that you can’t be without. It’s a topic that’s very relatable, people fall in love.
How did the music video for “Last Night” come about? What was your vision for the video?
The music video for “Last Night” was shot in Puerto Rico because I wanted to show the beautiful, enchanted island and give it a tropical vibe. I felt like the video needed to have that warm feel and those tropical island views of the ocean. I also wanted to show the viewers how you can fall in love while spending some great moments on the island.
What message do you hope fans take away from your music and from “Last Night?”
The message of “Last Night” is that you can always comeback and fall in love again. Sometimes you can’t deny love. This is the all-around message I carry with my music for my fans – do what you love, this life is yours!
What’s one of your proudest moments of your music career so far?
One of the proudest moments in my musical career has to be placing on the iTunes Charts and Billboard’s with the top Latin artists right now. It shows you that with hard work, dedication, and consistency, you can achieve anything, but you always have to have a goal and always have to look at ways to attack that goal.
What would you say are the greatest lessons you’ve learned so far?
One of my greatest lessons in my music career has been that you have to have a team around you. Music isn’t just about making music. It’s also business. In a sense, speaking for myself as an independent Latin Billboard artist, I had to learn how to promote myself and other things that are behind the scenes. It’s a lot of hard work and sacrifice. I couldn’t be more thankful for my team.
What’s next for you? Are you working on any upcoming projects that we should be on the lookout for?
What’s next for me is a lot of big things. Aiming towards Grammys and Platinum records. I’m always aiming high, but also expect new music for 2022 – different flow, different rhythm, and a new look.
Where can we follow you on social media?
You guys could follow me:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmKL4wDww39eY6vstfXZuVQ
https://www.instagram.com/papikaiser/
https://www.facebook.com/Papi787/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2b25861Avzuf3X6KB8KFDw
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/papikaiser/1465178367
https://www.papikaiser.com/music
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Image provided by Alexander Roman
