Jerrell Lanos
He took the name from a prosocial behaviour class. The idea stuck: make the thing somebody else is going to need to hear. What he is after, in his own words: “I want people to feel like they know me through my music.”
Pr0 Social is a rapper and singer in Buffalo, New York, raised in Rochester, who blends contemporary R&B with witty rap lyricism. In his words, the sound is unpredictable on purpose, and the writing stays on the realistic, relatable struggle of being an independent artist. He was brought up on church choir and school chorus, played in a run of bands, and started writing for other artists before he started writing for himself in 2018.
His debut mixtape Adience (2018) introduced a voice unafraid of being vulnerable. Frequencies, a collaborative album with fellow Buffalo artist Jedi, pushed the sound further out. Then In Due Time (2019) took on race, family, love, money, loyalty and mental health with a candour the genre does not hand out often.
2023's Things I've Buried was the breakthrough: 300,000+ streams across platforms and a feature from Jae Skeese, of Conway the Machine's label. Three tracks from it, promises, chainsmoking and still, were used in an NPR podcast series about a Buffalo cheerleading squad in the aftermath of the May 2022 Tops Friendly Markets shooting. That put him past regional and into national.
February 2025 brought some don't make it here.., a rap-focused EP about survival and community. He is now moving into EDM and bass DJing, with a first mix out on SoundCloud, a Nightmare on Elmwood, Vol. I, and an all-R&B album in the works.
The record so far
What is in the DNA
The soul side. Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, D'Angelo, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey. The church choir never really left the vocal.
The now side. KAYTRANADA, Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Frank Ocean, SZA, Isaiah Rashad, Mick Jenkins. Put him on a bill with Anderson .Paak, Mac Ayres or Smino and it makes sense. buffaBLOG put it plainly: if you like Frank Ocean or early Weeknd, you are already in.
The range. Afro-beats, dancehall, slow R&B, straight rap. He refuses to be boxed, and the catalogue backs it up.
The city. Buffalo runs through all of it. Free Music Party, Loverboy Rosaii, Jedi, Jae Skeese. Buffalo tastemaker sneakvibing media put some don't make it here.. on its Favorites of 2025. He credits the scene for being tight-knit and actually welcoming.
