On P.O.S.’ “De La Souls,” a selection off the rapper’s critically acclaimed 2006 album Audition, the emcee, named Stefon Alexander, addresses his short-lived relationship with his father.

“Product of an East German Black who kissed the neck of a pretty woman named Grace,” P.O.S., who is also a father of two boys, raps on the track. “But he left my life just a little too soon / Didn’t see me catch the Doomtree fame.” 

P.O.S. recently spoke with HipHopDX about the “De La Souls” line and his relationship with his father. 

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“He just left,” P.O.S. says. “He moved to [Las] Vegas or some such silliness when I was like five or six, but before that happened, I was already used to him just not being around. And again, it’s something that I had maybe like a little bit of anger about for a year when I was 15 just as a part of my normal 15-year-old anger, but it’s never anything that I’ve dwelled on. I’ve never tried to find him or anything.” 

As a kid, P.O.S. found ways to celebrate Father’s Day without having his father around. 

“When I was a thoughtful kid, I would get [my mother] a Father’s Day present,” he says. “But again, we’ve never been super big on any real holidays. We do Christmas. We do Thanksgiving. But it’s always, in my family, been real secular and real family-based instead of tradition-based. That’s just how we always were.” 

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As a result, P.O.S. has the following view on Father’s Day.

“I like Father’s Day as much as I like any other Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, you know, any day,” he says. “I grew up not really dealing with Father’s Day because I never had a dad around. But also…it’s never anything that I dwelled on, really. It’s always been just kind of a part of what’s going on and how it is. So you deal. And when you’re a kid, unless somebody’s like, ‘Hey, are you sad that your father’s not here all the time?’ You don’t really think about it or I didn’t anyway.” 

Now, P.O.S. has two sons, Jake and Lincoln, and they provide a reason to view Father’s Day in a different light. 

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“My teenager is too cool for Father’s Day for sure, and that’s fine, ‘cause I’ll probably just find something cool where I could enjoy myself,” P.O.S. says. “And my youngest guy is too young. So it’s mostly a day for me as I get older, to think about my life, think about what my life’s been about, think about what my dad might be up to, if he is still alive, think about how lucky and blessed I am to have such good kids.”  

P.O.S.’ 2009 selection “Optimist” off the rapper’s critically acclaimedNever Better album features a cameo from Jake, the emcee’s oldest son. The track also includes a line about teaching his “son how to reach.” The song’s music video is below. 

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