J. Nicole – “Peace Of Mind”

When their co-producer sent the instrumental that became “Off Topp,” I.K.P. (the Infamous King of Positivity) felt “enlivened.”

“I noticed there was a choir kind of loop going in the background, and I felt that almost divine energy, the fact that it was a different approach to the way I normally hear trap music,” said I.K.P.

“You definitely hear different types of trap and southern hip-hop that incorporate motifs from Christian music, gospel music, and I love that stuff. But this one was a harder, edgier track that I got from P.A.”

P.A. is P.A. On The Track, the producer I.K.P. has been working with for several years.

“The hook was made up on the fly. I went and demoed that hook almost as soon as I heard the track.”

Still get bitchy if I feel like
Let me find out you ain’t the kill type
You just build hype
RealPEEZY in the field, big stick ’longside
While you head for the hillside

The trap alt-rapper heard the mix of the “icy drums and an ambient gospel choir in the background and loved the guttural hardness in it.”

They made the arrangement fit what they wanted to talk about in the trap universe, a mix of references from their time in the Marine Corps, time on the streets, their sense of spirituality.

The title incorporates a lot of the references. I.K.P. said off topp, the phrase, has layers of meaning. It could mean “from the beginning, from the outset.”

“Or it could also mean, like it says further in the hook – point-blank, as in a killshot.”

Or a lot of things between those two extremes.

“How does the lyric go? I still get bitchy if I feel like, let me find out you ain’t the kill type. You just build hype. Real Peezy in the field. Big stick, ’longside.”

I.K.P. uses a cane, handmade by a veteran craftsman, because of an injury from their time in the Marine Corps. But a big stick is also parlance for a machine gun or a rifle, and in the field can be playing the field or in the field, like in the military, or being outside generally speaking.

“So, I’m out here protecting myself, and in survival mode. I’m translating that sense of hypervigilance in the hook. That’s where ‘Off Topp’ comes from, that combination of street knowledge with military experience.”

They left the Marines after five years, in 2008, and began putting out music in 2011. They have put out four independent albums, an anthology and a couple of mixtapes.

The goal is to get on the Billboard charts, especially the Hot 100. For them, this is not only an artist’s ambition, it is also a result of being a student of pop music.

“I study pop history. I’m really into it. I want to crack the cheat code on how people top the charts, or how people break through with certain records. It’s definitely something that I’m intentionally putting out there.”

The “Off Topp” music video is the beginning of “Mic Check,” a video series based on mood rather than visual or cinematic concept. I.K.P. also has an EP, Psyche, coming out in the first quarter of 2026 and intends to include a “visual EP” encompassing a video for each of the EP’s songs.

When they were starting out, they were more straight-line rap — just them, the beat, the bars and hooks. Now they fuse rap with alt hip-hop. In their early days they collaborated with other producers, who would build on a beat or an instrument loop from I.K.P., “and that might be the end of it or I might go further.”

But their work with P.A. On The Track is special.

“I love this guy,” said I.K.P. “He’s so creative, so out of the box. He tries every idea under the sun, and he works pretty relentlessly, so I get a chance to listen to so much. A few years in and we’re still working together.”

On “Off Topp,” “P.A. came up with basically 90 percent of the track, and I would take it apart and be like, ‘Okay, I need the intro to be this long. I need the verse to be this long. I like what you did with the transition from the verse to the hook. Let me sweeten that up, see what happens.’ And little things like that.”

But what P.A. gave in the beginning is “what sparked the fire.”

“That’s that new crack” – P.A.’s way of hyping up the urgency. I.K.P. responds readily: ‘I feel that high right here right now. So, let’s get to work.’”

I.K.P. comes out of two cultures. One is their heritage from the history of the Garifuna people of Honduras by way of St. Vincent and the Grenadines of the Caribbean. They briefly describe the ancestral origin of a ship with its cargo of African slaves wrecking on St. Vincent. The native Carib people took them in, and the mix created a new people.

One result of the Garifuna people’s resistance to European colonization was that about three centuries ago, many of them were exiled to Central America after losing the final Carib war. I.K.P.’s parents immigrated to the United States from Honduras to New York, where I.K.P. was born.

“I’m an ’80s baby, and hip-hop was burgeoning in the ’80s, so it was natural for me to get into hip-hop and combine that experience with my homegrown culture of being first-generation.”

Another part of their experience is queer culture.

“Queerness is basically just as much part of me as anything else. I definitely struggled with my queerness. I always knew I was queer since I was a kid. As much as I struggled, the empowerment is so much greater and I like to represent that in my work.”

Their service in the Marine Corps was under the don’t-ask-don’t-tell rule, and that was part of the struggle. When they got out, the queerness “was the thing that I led with.”

“Because I never saw the benefit of hiding exactly who I was. I always thought that was going to create more suffering than necessary.”

This, it seems, is another part of the meaning of the song “Off Topp.”

“Never be afraid to be yourself. Never be afraid to accept glory when it comes because it could come at any time and it could come anywhere.”

“Off Topp” is available on all streaming platforms, with promotional support from Starlight PR.

Connect to I.K.P. on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.

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