Staten Island pop singer JopauL has been on a roll since the summer. Dropping hits like Party Started he’s created a buzz online with his tunes.

His “You Got It,” a collaboration with Dudley Stephenson boosted his online presence and got him 70,000 Spotify streams a month. Additionally, his “You Got It” has been viewed on Vevo more than 242,000 times.

A song writer, dancer and pop singer, JopauL previously choreographed and penned songs under the name Lyric Inforca. In an interview with Billboard Magazine in August, JopauL told Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson that he recounted his early days in hip hop and credited hip hop legend Ice-T showing him the ropes. “He let me appear in promotional runs for Icewear and assist with a jingle for his old energy drink,” he told Scoop B.

JopauL is christening the airwaves with his latest project, Got Me Open Remix that features Alus, DJ Doughboy and is produced by The Addixs. The song got spin by Hot 97’s DJ Drewski last weekend. Check it out.

For those still unfamiliar with JopauL, he sat down with The Source and chatted about his work and more.

The Source: How would you describe your music to someone who hasn’t listened to it?

JopauL: The best way i can describe my music to someone who has never heard it before is as if there were two freight trains, named “hip-hop” & “pop”, speeding towards one another from opposite directions with the force of their collision creating a sonic boom, breaking the sound barrier in a beautiful fusion of melodic and harmonious tones. Creative punchlines and intricate metaphors help to shape my own sub-genre which thankfully has been getting tremendous reviews. At the same time, i also dabble in different genres of music which has even earned me a milestone in my music career by having the world famous DJ Drewski play one of my hip-hop tracks on HOT97.

The Source: Are there any other upcoming collaborations we can look forward to?

JopauL: Being an independent artist limits who you can work purely due to budget, so I’ve had to take more of an innovative approach to collaborating. For me, right now, it’s not logical or cost effective to purchase a track from Timbaland or pay for a T.I. feature so I had to think outside the box. I’m a big fan of Indonesian singer Agnez Mo who happened to have a track produced by Timbo and featuring T.I., called Coke Bottle. I sought the creative mind of well known video director Joe Puma and we decided to not only remix the record but also remix the video which was originally directed by Colin Tilley. In only a few weeks the video has generated over 50k views and has been picked up by several blogs. I’m highly optimistic in thinking 2017 is going to be a breakthrough year in terms of joining forces with other artists. In addition to “Coke Bottle Remix”, I recently collaborated with renowned New Jersey DJ Doughboy and was blessed with the opportunity to remix one of his records featuring Alus on the track entitled “Open Remix” which should be dropping early January with the video directed by Moe Stafford.

The Source: What made you want to pursue music?

JopauL: Music is the greatest thing we have on earth and besides being too short for basketball and not big enough for football, what better way to enjoy life than making music and making people feel good while dancing their asses off. I’ve always had a passion and love for music that I could never really put into words unless they were lyrics. I’m just blessed that i can say that I do what I love and it’s taken me places the average person could only dream about.

The Source: You’ve already worked with legendary rapper Ice-T, what other musicians or artists have you dreamt of working with?

JopauL: I’d love to work with everyone. I want to change the status quo and reach
into other genres of music and collaborate with musicians from all walks of life as long as it comes out hot and relevant. I’d love to work with Jussie Smollet, Taylor Swift, JAY Z, Drake, Kanye, Eminem and every member of Wu-Tang being that I’m from Staten Island…I would even love to work with Pitbull. That’s my short list.

The Source: Where do you get your musical inspiration from?
JopauL: Inspiration is a funny thing. It can’t be forced in any way but it can be manipulated. There are times I’ll sit down totally uninspired to write a song but the second i hear the track it can only be described as when the power cord is stuck into the back of Neo’s head in “The Matrix” and all good vibes as well as inspiration are instantaneously uploaded. Lately I’ve been drawing inspiration to what means most to me in this world which is my family and I’m forever grateful to them for supporting me every step of the way on my musical journey.

The Source: What are your other hobbies outside of music?

JopauL: Outside of my own music I take great pride in working with up and coming artists and helping to educate them about the music business by being the VP of Artist Development for Eae Radio, helping them with the start of their careers. Aside from that, I’m just a regular guy who enjoys pretty much everything from watching a good movie with friends to partying until the sun comes up in the NY club scene.

The Source: What have you found to be most challenging being in the music industry? And how are you dealing with it?

JopauL: In a recent interview for Billboard Magazine, Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson spoke with me about the overwhelming resemblance and constant comparisons between myself and Pitbull and how that’s affected my come up. It’s been quite challenging to see past the bald head and aviator sunglasses in the eyes of some critics but I embrace the chance for people to get to know me as well as my music and eventually easily make the distinction and formulate their own opinions of me. The other challenges that every single artist can relate to is the money hungry scammers quick to try to pull the shades over people’s eyelids just to make a quick buck while disguised as normal, hard working allies who turn out to be manipulative, greedy, no connection having people who only talk a good game. So the challenge is seeing thru all the bs and being able to stay consistent while surrounding yourself with the right people who really have your best interest in mind and actually dig the music you’re pushing.

The Source: What’s next for JoPaul?

JopauL: Sky’s the limit. I’ve been approached by several different companies to be a part of their 2017 roll out for certain products – clothing lines, colognes, and even full stream multimedia service brand ambassadorships. Me as well as my label owner Dominic ‘Domwan’ Durham are open to all opportunities as long as the business is correct with like minded people that we will enjoy working with. I’m looking forward to my recent partnership with SuccessWithTeamwork party event planners in the NY area who will be throwing some gigantic events during 2017. In addition to that I have taken on the role as a brand ambassador for RadioPushersTv which is offered through the Amazon fire stick. The JopauLTV channel will be operational and available in the very near future. For now it’s business as usual, cranking out records and establishing my place in the music world one fan at a time. “We are all here for a small cup of coffee, I’m just trying to drink mine while it’s still hot.”