Tiago PZK on The Legacy He Wants to Leave With His Music

Life is what we make of it, and what we do in it oftentimes leads to the legacy that we will leave behind once we are no longer around.

For Tiago PZK, his wish is for his music to have the same effect on his fans today that it will have on later generations who enjoy his songs.

He tells People Chica, "The truth is that I want that when my body is no longer alive, [and] my soul goes somewhere else, my music is still here, and something of me is still alive on earth. I think that at the end of the day, that motivation that I am giving a lot of people—I hope that someone will remember it tomorrow, and I can continue transmitting that to them. I think that's one of the things I want to pass on, you know?"

The Argentina-born performer also details why a path as an artist was something he had been emulating since he was a small child and how he achieved massive success (both commercially and creatively) with his album Portales Deluxe Edition.

The path to becoming a musician and artist is not one that is easy. What was the moment when you realized that this path was the one that granted you the most fulfillment in your life?

I believe that one projects oneself as a human being in every sense, even in bonds, in relationships, [and] in everything—one projects oneself in others. You always see your defects in others and your virtues in others, because you are always feeding back on others.

So, I think that since I was a child, I'd see these artists I admired at that time as examples. I was already seeing my future and seeing myself in them because I knew that I was learning something. So I think from the time I was six [or] seven years old, I was a music fan, it was the moment of projecting myself as an artist since then and growing up at that point.

This year you released the Portales Deluxe Edition—an album that reflects your artistic soul and combines reggaeton, r&b, pop, and rock. What is the thing you are most proud of regarding this project?

I think that what makes me feel proud is that without planning, any kind of moves, without planning any kind of release to reach the public, it happened—an album was released that was one of the best debut albums in Argentina. An album that has almost one billion streams on Spotify and that was not planned at all. It wasn't an album that I said, "This album is going to be super ambitious in terms of how it's going to reach the public."

And that is what makes me proud because it makes me feel that I innately have something that is part of my essence [and] that it's what makes my music reach that. And knowing that it makes me feel that I can improve it day by day. So, at the end of the day, I think that's what I was most proud of.

Because the rest was just a reflection, you know? [It was] more than an album that had an end to it, a destiny, a strategy—it was simply an internal search to say, "Well, how do I compose in my own way? What is the voice I have to use? Let's see what genres I can get into?" It was more of a search than anything else, and what I ended up finding was success and being able to tour several countries and present what the album was and transmit the energy live to a lot of people.

You got your start within the discipline of freestyle—a form of lyrical poetry that is honest and powerful. It is also a style of song that is very well-respected. What do you love the most about this style of expression?

How spontaneous it is. That's the most beautiful thing because I think that's what [your] spirit is dictating to you at that moment and how you transmit it. It is a skill at the end of the day, you know? Because you have to find the simplicity for the other to understand; [the] mental speed—there are a lot of mental games. The coldness inside you.

But at the end of the day, the heart of it is what you are conveying in [those] moments. If one is happy, one transmits happiness to you; if one is angry, surely anger is transmitted in the middle of the freestyle. And [the freestyle] doesn't necessarily have to be a chat between two people, you know? Sometimes it is self-talk, too.

Your life has had its highs and lows, but you embody the ideal of growth and progression. What legacy do you hope to leave with your music?

The truth is that I want that when my body is no longer alive, [and] my soul goes somewhere else, my music is still here, and something of me is still alive on earth. I think that at the end of the day, that motivation that I am giving a lot of people—I hope that someone will remember it tomorrow, and I can continue transmitting that to them. I think that's one of the things I want to pass on, you know?

But legacy will change with time, because today, I can tell you one thing, but tomorrow my mentality may change to a point where I want to transmit something else. So the legacy I wanted to leave with Portales Deluxe Edition is not the same as the one I want to leave now, nor the one I will want to leave tomorrow. So, at the end of the day, legacies are made with actions and with thoughts, and by example.

Most of all, because everything is done by example—that's the way I see it. The only way to demonstrate is by example. So I believe that with these new songs that I am going to release next, I believe, that they are much more profound than all the ideas that I have released up to now; they are more thought out and have a much more mature message. So at the end of the day, only time will tell what the legacy I will make [will be].