P.S. 4080 Music Label Co-Founder Bryan Hahn Talks His Inspirations
Bryan Hahn is the Studio Video Producer at The FADER, a New York-based magazine covering emerging music and lifestyle. Hahn has paved his own lane as an entrepreneur and now is the co-founder of a music label called P.S. 4080, which is a creative collective that recently released a compilation EP titled, The Eve. The EP features talented artists such as Teejayx6, Jo Jackson, BrandUn DeShay, Michael Millions, and more.
Inspired by the likes of DJ Clue, Green Lantern, and other mixtape gurus, P.S. 4080 has developed a collaborative body of work to highlight Hip Hop artists around the globe. P.S. 4080 initially started out as a blog, but eventually morphed into a music label once Hahn had the idea of providing a larger platform for artists around the globe.
As an entrepreneur, Hahn is a huge believer in creating your own opportunities and surrounding yourself with people who are just as passionate as you. In a recent interview, Hahn advised all young entrepreneurs not to wait for opportunities.
“Don’t wait for an opportunity,” he said. “Make your own. Also, find people who are as passionate as you about what you’re doing and make sure their voices are heard.”
Keep reading to learn more about Bryan Hahn and how he created P.S. 4080.
Tell us about who you are and where you are from?
I’m a video producer for The Fader and co-owner/A&R for P.S. 4080. I’m passionate about sharing stories from artists who make music that influence the next generation of creatives. That includes making sure that the music from some of those artists reach the masses via my label. I grew up in New City, NY which is a suburb of NYC. Hot 97, Power 105, and Kazaa/Limewire raised me. I currently live in Bed-Stuy.
How did you get your start in the industry and what do you currently do?
I started writing for a music site Audiocred, interning at The Source, and interning at Fools Gold Records. I kept working, doing what no one else wanted to do, and networking to eventually build up the resume that I have now. I learned what I was good at and enjoyed doing by trying new things. Failure was one of the best teachers I had.
Tell us about P.S. 4080 and how/why you created it?
P.S. 4080 started out as a blog with my friend, James, that eventually morphed into a label. We were tired of seeing blogs recycle the same news from each other and wanted to report on new artists who weren’t getting enough attention. From there, I had the idea of creating a mixtape of new music similar to DJ Green Lantern and DJ Clue?. That’s when we started putting out our compilation albums of exclusive music from artists around the world. Before Spotify playlists, there was a missing format of being exposed to a slew of new artists in one place from a trusted voice. We wanted to be that voice.
How would you describe what P.S. 4080 is in your own words?
It’s a creative outlet for us to make things we’d like to see in the world. Instead of complaining about the current state of the music industry, P.S. 4080 gives us the opportunity to attempt to fix the problems. While major labels and others worry about rules they essentially make up in their heads about genres and playing numbers, we just do what feels right. We look at it as the home to all the misfits and artists doing amazing things who don’t get the love they deserve for whatever reason.
What was the mission behind starting P.S. 4080?
We wanted to create a “school” that had multiple departments that all fed into our mission of helping artists. The name of the label is a play off of the public school system in NYC and the Tribe song “Check The Rhime.”
The EP was recently released. How did it come together and what can fans expect from it?
Each album we put out has a theme to it. Our 4th album, Airplane Mode, was about curating a playlist to play through your headphones during a long trip somewhere while your phone is on airplane mode. So we figured our next project would embody the destination for that long trip but instead of a physical location we picked an abstract one. We asked ourselves what if the world ended when you landed? So we decided to run with the idea of the apocalypse. Mind you, this idea was formed two years ago so the timing in 2020 is a little spooky with the protests and pandemic.
The first EP we released, The Eve, is the first of 3 EPs we’ll be releasing as a part of The Complete History album. The music on each EP will reflect a different phase of the apocalypse. The first is the world as we know it while foreshadowing something terrible about to happen. The second will be the first day of the apocalypse and the third will be the post-apocalyptic world. The music will definitely go from pleasant to darker, more experimental territories as the EPs progress. We also chose different visual artists to create each EP cover to match each phase.
Do you have any role models or influences that have guided your journey?
A few role models would be DJ Clue?, Rick Rubin, and Jason DeMarco from Adult Swim. They all have done something in their careers that put them at the forefront in their fields and thus influenced a lot of other folks. They’re not afraid to take chances on people or concepts.
What goals do you have for P.S. 4080 in the future?
I’d like to continue to put out great music from new artists from every corner of the world. Maybe we’ll put together a tour one day with the artists we feature, whatever that looks like in a post-Covid world.
Any other things we should be on the lookout for from you?
The second and third EP from The Complete History will be released later in 2020. Follow @ps4080 for more updates.
Stream P.S. 4080’s The Eve below.
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