Roo AOTD #4 PawPaw Rod

All aboard the hype train for Bonnaroo 2026! Only 126 days until we are all on the Farm again, can you believe it? It’s coming up fast, and we can’t wait to be dancing with all of you at Bonnaroo! Today’s Artist of the Day is the one and only PawPaw Rod. Learn more about the artist below. Don’t forget to check out all of our artist spotlights! Thank you for reading these posts!

Artist Biography

PawPaw Rod — born Rodney Hulsey in Honolulu and raised across the country as a self‑described military brat — is the genre‑fluid singer, rapper, and songwriter whose sound bridges the warmth of 1960s soul, funk grooves, and alternative R&B with contemporary rap cadence and house‑leaning rhythms. Growing up absorbing Maxwell, Prince, Bill Withers, and The Gap Band, Hulsey learned early how to fold disparate influences into a cohesive musical identity, a skill that surfaced with his breakout 2020 single “HIT EM WHERE IT HURTS,” an effortless fusion of old‑school warmth and modern swagger that propelled his A PawPaw Rod EP to over 100 million streams and turned heads across streaming playlists. Since then, successive EPs — Another PawPaw Rod EP (2022), This Must Be a PawPaw Rod EP (2023), and Doobie Mouth (2024) — have showcased his knack for layering groovy basslines, smooth vocal flows, and textured production that feels at once nostalgic and freshly inventive, a style that’s earned sync placements on shows like Outer Banks and Insecure and fueled headline tours across North America with deep connection to both club and festival audiences.

Genre

Alternative R&B

Scheduled at Bonnaroo

Friday (Link to Daily Schedules)