Phillip Johnson Richardson on Breakout EP: ‘hurt ppl squared: in da summer’

In an industry replete with gimmicks, Richardson strives to be the poster child for new-aged authenticity within contemporary R&B.

After establishing himself as a rising luminary of contemporary theater, Phillip Johnson Richardson, also known as Phil, seeks to make his own fervent claim in R&B with the release of his latest EP, hurt ppl squared: in da summer. Since skyrocketing on Broadway with generational hits like The Wiz and Hell’s Kitchen, Richardson is adamant about demonstrating that he truly knows no bounds when it comes to showcasing talent at the highest level.

Whether on stage or through music, Richardson has never found solace in playing small and has upheld a knack for executing at the highest level.

“I don’t view it as a transition into music rather than an addition,” he says. “I still plan to continue my journey as an actor, which is only now more informed as a more well-rounded artist because of music. I get to add on really cool elements, such as what music my characters listen to/if they play any instruments, etc. It has exceedingly expanded how full I feel as an artist.”

Over the course of this year alone, the North Carolina native has carved out his own lane of consistency in terms of independent output. “back n’ forth,” “don’t know nun,” and “picture perfect” are among some of the tracks to arise from his newly minted vault.

Stemming from the popular adage “hurt people, hurt people,” the multihyphenate has sought to keep his aesthetic just as sincere as his music. In an industry replete with gimmicks, Richardson strives to be the poster child for new-aged authenticity within contemporary R&B.

“hurt ppl squared: in da summer” develops from the phrase ‘hurt people hurt people,’” Richardson says. “It’s something I heard a lot in my early 20s *cough* I was wilding *cough*. It’s a phrase that stuck with me for a while, and I knew I wanted to name a project that I've been working on for some years now, probably around three years. And most of my music currently revolves around heartbreak, love lost, and things of that manner, so it just ended up working this time around with all these songs. The ‘in da summer’ part is an attempt to set up a bit of a recurring theme in my music and its catalogue. I do a lot of research on other artists and how they began to build, and some artists started out with a series that’s continued throughout their catalogues.”

Out of the various moods that exist on his debut EP, Richardson finds “21” to be his most vulnerable undertaking.

“The song ‘21’ is the most vulnerable,” Richardson says. “As I told you in our meet up, this EP is fully recorded in my dressing room for Hell’s Kitchen or at my apartment in Brooklyn with my engineers, Lucho and Flex. I recorded the vocals for ‘21’ in my living room in 2024, after my last Broadway show, The Wiz, which was my Broadway debut. I didn’t write a single word down. I was sitting right next to Flex (drinking a glass of red wine), we crafted a loop, and I was coming up with this story about a version of myself reminiscing about my last relationship, but from the perspective of myself when I was a freshman in college. I already know the shit sounds kinda nuts, but for some reason, I was able to lock into that. By the time we'd finished, I loved it. We made about four remixes of that song, and then I left it alone for about a year. I came back to it randomly after I had already submitted my tape to my distributor and was like, ‘Hold the fuck up, I need that on the tape.’ I worked on a version of it, including my homie from high school (keys and bass), Luther Allison, an amazing trumpet player named Brandon Woody, and my dawg, Aaron Day, on guitars. We recorded most of the live instruments in my dressing room before a show in two sessions, and then I submitted it, and it felt like exactly what I needed on the project.”

Rather than seeing his theater background as a hurdle, Richardson embraces it as a source of synchronicity, finding a natural, almost effortless harmony between stage and studio — two worlds that, for him, flow seamlessly into one another.

“I would say I use the same muscle to approach writing as I do with a character,” Richardson says. “It always starts with me and my instincts. Whether it’s a line that I’ll say over and over to try and get the character in my body, or it’s a part of the beat that I continuously listen to to try and get something from it, I jumpstart from a place of what my body, mind, and spirit react to. Then from there,  it's all the meat and potatoes work.”

When it comes to maintaining authenticity, Richardson makes it a cardinal priority and doesn’t plan on compromising. 

“Authenticity, in my humble opinion, is actually the key to making something more universal,” he says. “I've attempted to make myself/things I do more attractive to everyone, and that dilutes me and my product. It also reduces the ability for people who would like you to hear you and your perspective, and really fuck with you. That’s why I put songs like “love @ first link” & “way2much” on the project, they aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but for people who know me and know I love doing so many different genres, they genuinely like those songs and consider them standouts on the project.”

In the grand scheme of his career, Richardson has established himself as a true artist with various dimensions under his belt. At the end of the day, men lie, women lie, but talent can’t be hidden. It’s either you have it or you don’t. There are names like D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, H.E.R., Brandy, and Anderson .Paak and more that have traversed these waters. His legacy intends to exist in the same rarefied air when it's all said and done.