Canadian deep house DJ/producer Patrick Holland has issued a statement clarifying why he stopped using his former artist name Pablo Project in January.
In a post to Facebook and Twitter, Holland wrote,
In January I retired the Project Pablo moniker, and shifted to my given name, Patrick Holland. While I mentioned I’d done so to be more personable in my artistic practice, I omitted the fact that members of the Latinx community had reached out to me publicly and privately, to express their discomfort towards my moniker and educate me on why using the name “Pablo” is harmful and appropriative as a white, non-Latinx, non-spanish-speaking person.
Holland went on to write that he has “…contributed to white supremacy and consistently benefit from my white privilege; my ego has blocked me from recognizing this. Though I never intended to offend or misrepresent marginalized people with my previous moniker, the hard truth is that I did, and therefore my intention is irrelevant. I apologize for the harm that I’ve caused.”
Holland’s statement comes two days after DJ/producer Marea Stamper (a.k.a. The Black Madonna) changed her artist name to The Blessed Madonna after mounting pressure that included an online petition.
— patrick holland (@ppatrickholland) July 21, 2020
Image via Facebook