Paul Thin: «Urban music has always been seen as a second-rate style»

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Paul Thin: «Urban music has always been seen as a second-rate style»

From the beginning of the last edition of OT, Paul Thin seemed to us to be the most interesting of the new batch of contestants. With his fixation on all facets of urban music, adorned with his deep voice, the artist from Granada reached second place and won the total favour of the public thanks to his versions of ‘Way Down We Go’ or Milo J’s BZRP Session. ‘Alondra’ is his latest single, produced by KIDDO, Gio and himself, now available on all platforms.

We spoke with Pablo Delgado about his unique proposal in the competition, the place that urban music has in OT, therapy and his new life.

How long have you been Paul Thin?

It’s been a while now, right? I think I started it when I was 16, but it was for a YouTube channel where I talked about movies. I analyzed movies and such, and that’s where the name Paul Thin came from. YouTube, Twitch, everything that is in the world of creating content, it has always been a deep part of me, so to speak.

When did you first become interested in music?

It was always there. I think I was four years old when I started taking piano lessons. The thing is that I stopped when I was 14. I went to study guitar. Then I went back to singing and then back to piano, for musical analysis. Music has always been there. After being in a Canal Sur competition, and they gave me a scholarship for winning, well, I was able to put a little bit of money into making music, but I couldn’t do any more, because in the end it’s a rather expensive industry.

What music did you listen to as a child?

I’ve been through a lot. I’ve gone through having Glee in my Spotify Wrapped playlist. I’ve had Taron Egerton pop up because of the Rocketman movie, or I’ve had Travis Scott pop up. My Top 3 artists of the last three years have been Taylor, then Rosalía, and this year I understand it would be Kendrick or The Weeknd, one of the two.

Well, how has your time on OT changed your life?

I think it looks better from the outside than from the inside. As I say, for me and for myself, my life hasn’t changed too much either, because at the time, what I did was think about what I wanted to do and I worked at the level of ‘I know I won’t be able to do this, but I work to do it’ and now I do work on what I like knowing that it will be possible. For me that is the biggest difference. In the end I am at home composing, but now I have to add the fact that I also go to the studio. In terms of lifestyle, I am still quite a homebody. I like to work from home with my piano, I really like spending some time alone with myself… Look, today I feel like watching a series, so today I am watching a series. Between episodes I have to work, even if it is at 9 at night? Indeed. I work 25 hours a day too, but I also like being more of a homebody and I have not lost that.

How do you get on with your family and friends?

In the end, I’m 500 kilometres away from my people, which means I don’t see them even 2% of the time I used to, but I’m also lucky that this year they’re finishing their degree, which I should have finished too, but for whatever reason, I couldn’t. But anyway, I’m lucky that some of my best friends are coming here. Next year, I have family who are coming to Madrid for work, so in the end it’s going to be a bit like Glee. You know how in Glee everyone went to New York? Well, the same thing happened to me.

Has this new life fit in with what you imagined the life of a full-time artist would be like? Has anything surprised you?

Look, I don’t think it’s a good fit, but it doesn’t surprise me either. I’ve let myself go a bit in terms of lifestyle, so to speak. As I say, I’ve remained fairly faithful to what my previous lifestyle was. I’m calm. Instead of going to the office, I go to the studio. It’s just another job, after all.

At JENESAISPOP and throughout Spain we have experienced your proposal in OT as something very unique and very exciting. Why isn’t there more urban music or more rap in OT?

I think there always has to be a first time. In the end, urban music has always been seen from a purist point of view as a second-rate style of music. And I think that little by little, thanks to artists like Rosalía, Bad Bunny, at least in the Spanish industry, I think it is being seen in a different way. In the end, albums like ‘Nadie sabe lo que va a pasará mañana’, ‘El Madrileño’, ‘El Mal Querer’, ‘MOTOMAMI’, I think they are achieving that point. They are achieving a little more of that respect that the genre needs.

In the end, talking about urban music is not talking about a genre, it is talking about something much more general, about a style, a way of seeing it, a point of view, I think. Because, in the end, talking about urban music does not make sense, because urban music encompasses genres, whether it is reggaeton, jersey, hip-hop, rap, house… There are a lot of genres within. In the end, it is true that we come from a time when music was understood as something more melodic, but in the end, thanks to these years of experimentation, artists have appeared who have known how to play a lot with the bases, with the instrumentation and thanks to that I think it is managing to get to a point of not only commercial respect, but also critical. As all the changes are happening little by little, it has been my turn to be the first as it could have happened to anyone else. I hope that in the 2025 edition there will be more people playing with urban music and that they have more luck with the rights and can get songs, for example, from American artists, which is perhaps more complicated. It is also true that if television did not take that step towards urban music, urban music would not take the step to be on television. It bites its own tail.

Would you say that OT prepares you well for what the real industry is like?

I think they prepare you well to do shows at the level that the industry demands of you. I think the industry is more than that, but in the end they also gave us composition workshops or people came to talk to us about the industry. On the other hand, they were classes, as I say, for performers, so to speak, and they were classes for what the artist is, for the moment when they arrive at a studio or get on stage. In the end, for everything else, for what is more industry-related, there is nothing that prepares you better than the street and being there.

He was also the first to produce his own version, as you say with Milo J. Would you like to continue developing your role as a producer?

Yes, 100%. Nowadays I am studying production on my own. I sit at the table with the producers looking for sounds. I am with the computer open next to me, because I think it is important to maintain that personal sound and I like to be producing with them.

What have you learned about yourself at the academy?

I think I’ve had a clearer idea of ​​what I wanted to do thanks to the academy. I think I’ve learned what I wanted and what I didn’t want to do with my career. I’ve learned a lot as a person as well and I’ve matured a lot. I’ve gained maturity and adulthood.

Looking ahead to your career, what has been the most useful thing you have learned from everything you have learned?

The stage part, moving around on stage and all that. I think that’s what I got most out of it.

I was really struck by the expressiveness of your performances, but you had already brought that with you a bit, right?

What I brought from home was what was most natural. In the end, thanks to those dance classes, I have also been able to mix what was natural for me with what I had learned. That is what I take with me, that mix of what I had to do and what I had to learn.

After OT, I’m sure the decision of what to release next wasn’t easy. How did you end up with ‘DONDE’?

‘DONDE’ was a song that came from within the academy and I spent about a month composing every day, until one day, while composing, I said: “This is it.” It was that kind of love at first sight that hits you at the moment. And with ‘Alondra’ it was a bit like that too, being in the session and saying: “This sounds like it needs to be released.”

I see ‘Alondra’ as a song about giving in to a night of debauchery and alcohol, hoping that all your problems will disappear the next day. What is it about for you?

You’ve got it pretty good, actually. It’s a song about the day before you start taking antidepressants.

I hadn’t caught that.

It’s about being lost at a party hoping that alcohol will save you, but sometimes it’s just a party and that’s it. The truth is that alcohol is just alcohol.

The press release says that the song has a dark side and a bright side. I actually see the dark side more. What is the bright side of the song?

Honestly, I think it’s a rather fatalistic song. It struggles to find that nice point. I think it’s a song that finds naturalness in anxiety and gets a little lost there. I think the bright spot is the fact that alcohol doesn’t save you from what happens to you in life, that in the end it’s like you try to go out partying thinking that it’s going to help you in some way, but what’s going to save you isn’t drinking.

What is going to save you?

Go to therapy. And take whatever you need to take if the doctor tells you to.

If you could choose to have your career be like that of any other artist in history, what would it be?

A career like Elton’s or Lady Gaga’s, for example. I think they are careers that have lived a lot and seen a lot. I think the beauty of music is to flow and not stick to just one musical style for your whole life. My audience will grow with me and I think it’s important that just as I mature, my music matures with me.

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Simon Müller

Simon Müller is the driving force behind UMusic, embodying a lifelong passion for all things melodious. Born and raised in New York, his love for music took form at an early age and fueled his journey from an avid music enthusiast to the founder of a leading music-centered website. Simon's diverse musical tastes and intrinsic understanding of acoustic elements offer a unique perspective to the UMusic community. Sporting a dedicated commitment to aural enrichment and hearing health, his vision extends beyond just delivering news - he aspires to create a network of informed, appreciative music lovers. Spend a moment in Mueller's company, and you'd find his passion infectious – music isn’t simply his job, it’s his heartbeat.