INTERVIEW: Upcoming album from Perpetuate The Struggle

There are some artists use music to escape reality but Perpetuate The Struggle comes at it from the opposite direction, using every release as an opportunity to confront it head-on. Originally from Odessa in Texas, and now based in Lexington, North Carolina, the independent artist has built a creative world around perseverance, self-examination and the belief that even life’s most painful experiences can be transformed into something meaningful. Blending profoundly personal songwriting with an unconventional production process that incorporates AI technology, Perpetuate The Struggle is crafting music that’s just as much about emotional healing as it is artistic experimentation.

At the heart of the project is complete creative ownership where every lyrical, compositional and production decision begins with the artist, who develops each song from original ideas before using AI to generate the music and vocal performances. Those elements are then carefully filtered through digital audio workstations and specialised production tools, resulting in finished recordings that reflect a highly DIY ethos from conception to completion. Moving in tandem with human creativity, the technology becomes another instrument within a wider artistic process driven entirely by personal vision.

That vision was sparked from an intensely personal moment; following the tragic passing of his mother in September 2023, Perpetuate The Struggle found himself searching for a way to process grief that felt honest and constructive. Music became that outlet and taking cues from the role hip hop had played throughout his own life, he began writing songs with the hope that they might offer others the same sense of comfort and understanding that music had long provided him.

Every individual faces personal battles and while some are overcome, others become repeating cycles that continue to influence our lives. Through his songwriting, the artist explores how those private struggles often feed into larger collective experiences, connecting individual pain to wider emotional realities shared by countless others. This reflective outlook forms the framework of his upcoming hip hop album titled The Good Fight, arriving on the 25th of August.

Serving as an uncompromising account of some of the most difficult periods of his life, the record transforms highly personal experiences into stories designed to strike a chord beyond autobiography. Opened by “Black Curtain,” the album starts off with the flicker of string and shuffle of percussion which gives was to emotive vocal leads and strummed guitar chords before slipping into a grooving hip hop jam that rolls with pattering drums, slick rapped flows and bouncy instrumental pips to deliver a gripping hip hop jam that pairs vocal intensity, poignant lyricism and intricate instrumentation.

Title track “The Good Fight” follows with an infectious outing brimming with memorable vocal hooks, rustling drums and bright arrangement, serving up a pop-focused hip hop anthem that’s sure to leave a lasting impression. Among the album’s most defining moments is the track “Mom,” an especially heartfelt tribute inspired by his late mother. While based in personal loss, the song also carries a wider message about the importance of maintaining meaningful relationships while there’s still time. It encourages listeners to repair emotional divides with loved ones before distance becomes permanent, giving the track a powerful emotional context.

Other highlights on the record include tracks like “You Never Know” with its fluttering acoustic guitar work, punchy drums and tender vocal elements cut with breezy rapped moments and warm instrumental textures. “Doubt Me” flows with lively vocalisations and grooving percussion which jumps into an engrossing hip hop experience that blends razor-sharp vocal leads with flashes of bright brass pips and stunning instrumental flourishes, resulting in an epic musical moment that’s instantly memorable and thematically profound from start to finish.

The album also features a series of remixes which reframe twelve of the tracks in thrilling new settings to add to the cinematic quality of the release. The circumstances surrounding the album’s creation make its emotional impact even more affecting, with much of The Good Fight written and produced during work breaks inside the artist’s car before being further developed at home using his computer and phone. The album represents the first instalment of an extraordinary long-term plan that will see the same body of work reimagined across seven entirely different musical genres. A second album is also set to receive the same treatment, resulting in seven genre variations of that record as well.

Through grief, innovation and a steadfast mission of telling his story, The Good Fight stands as the opening chapter in an incredibly ambitious artistic journey. We caught up with Perpetuate The Struggle to find out more about his musical journey so far, his upcoming album The Good Fight and what he’s got lined up for the future. Check out our interview with Perpetuate The Struggle below.

Hey Perpetuate the Struggle, how’s things?

Going pretty well. I am working on multiple releases for my release schedule that should cover about 3 ½ years, as well as a special project that will be separate from but presented by PTS.

Is there a story behind the name?

Yes. I know, that traditionally, perpetuate the struggle has been more of a call to action/rebellion in the social/political realm. For me..I started this journey while still very much mourning the loss of my mother. On that journey I had a lot of time for introspection, deep critical thought about a lot of life issues and how the experiences I was going through and have gone through in my life are shared. We all don’t have the exact experiences and events in life that shape us but many of us, if we knew what others went through, most likely would share a sense of empathy for their pains and struggles. Along this line, for myself, and also for many others there is a phenomenon where a lot of us often do perpetuate our own struggles literally. That concept was the basis for the name. We all have our own hardships and other hardships that we share as a whole in our communities, regions, countries, etc. and have a habit of increasing our own hardships.

What’s your earliest memory of making music?

I wouldn’t exactly call it making music, but I have always had a deep love for music, all kinds of music and so from an early age I have often sung along to all my most favorite songs and as an adult enjoyed lots of karaoke singing. It wasn’t until I discovered the ability to write my own songs and also compose and produce the music I make from those songs using AI while trying to get through the loss of my mother that I began to make music between the end of 2024 and beginning of 2025, although there are those that would say i am not making anything..but that’s a whole other story.

Which artists do you draw most inspiration from?

Too many to count. I have a pretty eclectic taste in music and so I have gathered to artists from all kinds of genres/styles/elements and gotten so much enjoyment from them all and used a lot of them to get me through the most difficult times in my life. I mean, as an example I could have a playlist where I listened to Flaming Lips, Megadeth, Counting Crows, The Offspring, Seven Mary Three, Daya, NF, Killswitch Engage, Twenty One Pilots, Tripping Daisy, Eminem, Collective Soul, Creed, Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Veruca Salt, Green Day, Reel Big Fish all back to back..and I could probably go on and on. When mp3 players had their reign I would have thousands of songs from all different artists/genres all playing back to back a lot of the time.

How else do you find inspiration for your music?

I find inspiration for my music in the hopes that I can help others with the music I make. I didn’t have the hardest childhood, but it was up there pretty high and it just seems like as an adult the haymakers just never stop. I know that hardship is a shared experience and even though my experience/perspectives…just life in general might be different from anyone else’s experience…a lot of us out here in the world have known intense pain. Whether physical, mental, spiritual or any combination of all of those. Pain is something that is shared by all of humanity and I just want to do my part to try and give people an outlet to bleed off some of that pain and/or frustration through music. I know that so many artists and their music helped me through so much…i don’t know that I would be here without their collective works keeping me afloat. The other source of inspiration for me is that…when thinking about my mom’s life after she was gone and also looking at my life..i know she had hopes and dreams me and my siblings never knew about and were never realized and in my life I have been pretty much following that same track…so I made a silent promise to myself..a commitment to honor the memory of my mom by trying to take hold of my own dream and fulfill it not only for myself but in honor of my mom’s memory.

What do you love about your local music scene?

I am not really into the local scene here, so not sure what it really is.

What would you say is the perfect setting for listeners to enjoy your sound?

Wherever they are most comfortable in any given mood. I feel I have high energy and low energy songs that can be enjoyed anywhere and I also have more emotionally intimate songs that might be able to bring listeners some sense of solitude or emotive outlet when they are able to find time alone for themselves.

How has your own style and sound evolved since you started out?

Well, it is pretty simple, though someone on the outside looking in might think it complex. Since I use AI to help bring my musical vision to life and technology is constantly evolving…it’s kind of like primitive man discovering fire and creating the wheel and now looking around with all the technological advancements in all this time, it’s just an amazing thing. In regards to that in my music, the technology is growing, expanding all the time, not only in music but in all areas. I have had to scrap what I was doing a couple of times and completely revamp my whole approach because I found that the tools I had available to reach my vision for what my music to had grown far beyond what I had to show for it. I don’t really have a particular style. As kind of an idea of what is to come. I actually have 2 full albums completed. This album and another. There are 7 different full versions of each, which I am currently in the process of prepping for release or working on composition/production for so that they can be D.A.W. edited and mastered. Aside from this first album almost none of the songs on any of the other albums are remixes of other versions of my songs. Each Album is it’s own distinct genre version created from the ground up with completely different compositional elements. Not going to go much more into it other than to say that the first release of my second album is all completely Ska releases.

Who would be your dream artist to collaborate with?

I am not really sure. I don’t think there will be much collaboration with other artists. I have seen some others making music like or similar to the processes I use to make my music but I am not sure that musicians/regular artists as a whole would be very keen on collaborating with those of us that use AI to help us reach our musical vision.

How did you find making your new album ‘The Good Fight’?

Well, since I had been working on some versions before more tools became available I have had a process that works well for me for the most part, so when I had to make a decision to kind of..i guess you could say do a soft reboot, I had a solid foundation already. But, since my process is so different, it has been a lot of work..with still a ton of work to do. I typically will be working on a genre version of a release but may remember something i need to do on another genre or there may be a new way I can do something that means I have to fix a song or songs somewhere so a lot of the time I might be working on a number of Pop tracks and then also flip between Metal, Ska, Country, or one of the other genres I have in my roster I work on.

What message did you want to get across with this release?

The message is just a show that you (the people out there) are not alone. Life is hard and it kicks us and keeps kicking us when we are down. We get angry, we get frustrated, we try to hold back the waves of tears, the happy times and the smiles are usually far to few..but we all keep putting one foot in front of the other. Humanity is a shared experience and I just want people to know that they aren’t alone.

What artist have you been listening to most recently?

Well, I am very much always trying to make sure I don’t miss anything while getting music ready so I haven’t really listened to much regular music since I started this journey. I almost always have something of mine on my earbuds, car stereo or computer…..basically always in quality control trying to make sure that my music holds up over time, that i don’t miss mistakes(although there are some that might be perceived as such that are deliberately there). And since it isn’t my own vocals(i would not be able to do what I do if it was) A lot of the time it is just nice to have music that I can 100% identify with completely because it is my life.

What’s the main thing you want people to get out of listening to your music?

My main hope is that people can find something in my music that helps them get past something difficult in their own lives.

What’s been your favourite live performance so far?

Rush. They are my favorite band of all time and I got to see them in 2003 in Virginia Beach, VA.

Who would be 3 artists to headline your dream festival? And where would it be?

That is an absolute beastly question for me….There are just so many…to put a definitive 1, 2 and 3..This will by no means be an absolute top 3 but taking 3 artists that have helped me through a lot in my life, in the same way I hope to do for others.. Counting Crows, Twenty One Pilots, and Rise Against.

Do you have any advice for a new artist wanting to follow your footsteps?

Don’t let anyone tell you what you can or can’t do and don’t concern yourself with what they think of what you do. What they think doesn’t matter. Your vision for taking a journey like this is what you should hold onto.

Finally, what do you have lined up next?

I kind of alluded to it earlier, but my second album is called More Than Just Good Or Bad and the first of 7 genre version for release will be Ska. It will be coming soon after the first Volume ofr The Good Fight officially releases. My schedule will alternate between Album 1 and 2 with all the different genre versions I have for them until they are all released.

Pre-save The Good Fight (Hip Hop) here