The Bapti$$ is the new project from multi-instrumentalist and artist Joseph LaPlante. It’s a musical

cleansing and rebirth, a blank slate for a veteran musician and songwriter—a mid-career baptism

of sorts, hence the name: The Bapti$$.

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This project arrives fully formed and years in the making with a debut EP, Pop Cult(ure). As The

Bapti$$, LaPlante, who is from Saskatchewan but is now based in Haida Gwaii, has created a

world of warm, lush, 808-driven acoustic indie-pop and cozy, stripped-back singer-songwriter

R&B. There are romantic, late-night love ballads, booming hip-hop vocals and verses, rootsy

folk sing-alongs, gritty country-noir slow-burns, and spacy, electronic astro-pop. It’s wholesome,

comforting music, made for everyone from Gen Z to Boomers, but especially for the people on

the margins who need strength the most. The Bapti$$ brings calming waters in a chaotic world.

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Before creating The Bapti$$, LaPlante made his name in hip-hop as Joey Stylez. His music

earned widespread recognition: The Weeknd called Stylez a “big inspiration,” and his songs

have been featured in high-profile productions including Yellowstone, Mayor of Kingstown,

Reservation Dogs, and the film Wind River. (LaPlante maintains a longtime, close and

collaborative friendship with director and producer Taylor Sheridan.) Stylez worked with artists

across the genre spectrum, from electronic darlings Dragonette to superstar American rapper Ty

Dolla $ign; he shared stages with Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, and Billy Ray Cyrus.

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LaPlante went on to open his own Ble$$ed Street Studios in Haida Gwaii, a creative hub where

he can welcome and mentor other artists. This is also where he created The Bapti$$ and Pop

Cult(ure), the debut seven-track EP. The wisdom, patience, and faith on Pop Cult(ure) didn’t

come easy. They’re hard-won victories over circumstance and struggle, the reward of coming

out ahead after years of hard living. “There’s some stuff I’m not proud of,” says LaPlante.

“I use my music to talk about what I did to overcome those obstacles and come out ahead. A lot of

people don’t come out ahead. A lot of people come out with a jail sentence. A lot of people

come out with a permanent injury, or in a grave.” LaPlante wants to use The Bapti$$’s work to help

youth stay on the right track and away from those sorts of traumatic outcomes, but he also feels

deeply connected to the people still stuck living rougher lives. “Once in a while, I do get through to some

of those guys and they start living their life better," explains LaPlante. He’s focused on pulling people

out of the cycles of darkness ruling their lives: “I heard some great advice from someone. They said,

‘If you want to be a solid dude, be the person you needed when you were a little boy.’”

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To build the EP, Saskatchewan producer and musician Matt Stinn sent LaPlante guitar tracks,

which he would sample and piece together with 808s and other instrumentation, then send back

to Stinn to build fills and leads on top of the bed tracks. Lyrically, LaPlante bares his soul on

these songs: “My Father’s Sins” tackles the brutal nature of intergenerational curses and the

strength required to break them; “Crosses” imagines going back in time to reassure his parents,

as kids, that things will be alright; “Icebergs” and “Wear and Tear” are love songs dedicated to

LaPlante’s wife, the musician and artist Carsen Gray.“I get calls every month from my friends in

prison, and I tell them, 'You know what man? The most solid thing you can do is take care of your

family. I’m not telling you to be a chump and back down.

You got to hold your ground. But the thing is to love."'