PROOF Dec 2018 | Page 21

21 Touch VERB The faculty of perception through physical contact, especially with the fingers Feeling. Physical. Caress. Affect. Influence. To produce feelings of affection, gratitude, or sympathy in [something]. Inspire. We’ve all been touched before. Touched, literally of course, but more importantly, touched emotionally. Spiritually. Those who are the best at what they do, all tend to have something in common — they didn’t do it alone. Someone, somewhere was there for them when they needed it. Someone inspired them. Helped them. Influenced them. And Puffy is no different. Whether it’s his manager Matthew, or his Mom — he’s been gifted with a support system that he can depend on no matter what. And as you can imagine, he wants to pay it forward… ZS: Who is someone who has ZS: What do you think would impacted your life deeply? make a real difference in the AP: My mom. She’s like my best friend. It’s actually really interesting, the relationship we have. I’m completely open with her. She knows everything about me so she is able to give me not only motherly advice, but advice as someone who has lived and experienced. So I consider her advice to be completely authentic. It’s the best advice I can get because, you know, she raised me — she knows everything about me. local Arts community? ZS: Name an artist who has influenced you? AP: Nuff b. J Cole, Kendrick [Lamar], Drake, Tupac, Biggie, Zedd, Flume, Diplo, Madeon, Calvin Harris, Will Smith. Especially Will Smith — and not just his music, his personality and everything. I mean it’s all random. I’m inspired by different things. THE SENSES ISSUE AP: I just feel like there is no environment for us [creatives] to be who we are. I think it would be amazing to have somewhere cool, like a centre for creatives. Somewhere that dope people could go and just be in the same space and vibe off one another. A place with fast internet, a cool environment, bright colours… It’s something I’d definitely like to see happen in Barbados and I’d love to have a role in developing or facilitating it. We need to give people spaces and opportunities that encourage them to develop their craft — It’s important to me, you know?