Rayvon Rollins has never let fear of imperfection hold him back from releasing music. But time after time, others have gotten in his way.
The 36-year-old rapper, known as Purple Kloud, has been burned by the music industry far too often, he said. His work often amounted to tracks that never got released. Rollins grew frustrated with producers and collaborators disrespecting his time.
So, in September 2025, Purple Kloud Records was born.
His self-titled company serves as a reminder that Rollins has autonomy over his music, and the artist’s latest EP embodies that mindset.
“Risk Arena” released Thursday and marked the rapper’s sixth EP, joining his lengthy existing discography of seven albums and over two dozen singles. The record’s two singles, “Slowburn (Air it Out)” and “Love4Sale,” were released in February.
Rollins said what sets his new record apart from the rest of his music — and from what other local hip-hop artists are doing —- isn’t necessarily the EP itself, but rather the sense of independence surrounding it.
“With ‘Risk Arena,’ that's when I wanted to decide to take matters into my own hands, take more risks, bet it all on me versus somebody else's contract, because their way of winning is already in place,” he said. “How I win is based on chance or luck. I’d rather make my own luck.”
Rollins knows record companies come with uncertainty. After watching Martin Scorsese’s “Casino,” Rollins realized labels are like casinos — both are high stakes wagers that must run as well oiled machines.
But neither Purple Kloud Records nor “Risk Arena” were built overnight. The idea for Rollins’ latest record came about during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was then the musician knew he wanted to collaborate with producer California Terry.
Rollins first recorded with Terry around 2015 after meeting him at The Jam, a since-closed Gainesville music venue. They never finished the track they were working on, but a decade later, Terry got a call from an eager Rollins, ready to start a new project. The pair got to work on “Risk Arena” soon after.
Terry hasn’t seen many artists throughout his 20-year-long career work harder than Purple Kloud. Nor have many been able to bring a tear to his eye in the studio.
During the very first “Risk Arena” session, Rollins effortlessly freestyled over all of Terry’s premade beats. The producer was blown away. He said every song was a hit.
“He's a force,” Terry said. “He's got this amazing, strong voice. His rapping ability is like a combination of all the greatest rappers from the ‘90s.”
Terry said “Risk Arena” felt like a greatest hits compilation of his own work, too. All of the beats for the EP’s eight tracks were prerecorded and span over a decade of his work.
The beat for “Hot Damn,” for instance, was recorded around 2010 on a friend’s kitchen counter back when the producer was crashing on his futon in Hollywood. Rollins was the only musician to see that beat’s potential.
Terry said “Risk Arena” features some of his best and most complex bass work. There were some beats that none of his prior artists could handle —- notably “Slowburn (Air It Out),” one of two singles off the EP — until Purple Kloud came along.
Though his work is mostly his own instrumentation, “Risk Arena” features around three samples, namely a George Harrison sample on “Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful,” the EP’s last track. Terry was impressed at Rollins’ ability to write over such a slow melody.
But what the producer loves most about Rollins is his punk mentality. The rapper isn’t nitpicky, he said, and he leans into an unpolished sound. Still, he’s a hit-making machine, Terry added.
For “Risk Arena,” Rollins said he built the metaphorical people, and Terry built the city. Mixing engineer Thomas Swanson built the story.
Swanson — who started out as a producer by setting up mobile studios with a tupperware box of gear — has worked on thousands of records with artists from all over the world. He’s one of the few mixers Terry and Rollins trust.
The engineer owns The Stu recording studio and has been producing professionally for the past decade. Purple Kloud and Swanson first worked together on “Spoken Herbz,” the rapper’s 11-track album released in 2023.
Swanson hasn’t encountered many artists with Rollins’ ability to control a mic and understand every nuance within the recording process.
But as Rollins said, his latest EP comes from a place of cinematic imagination, not sonic imagination, and that’s something his engineer admires most.
“What I like about Purple Kloud that you just are not going to find in other artists, or even some of the great artists that I would listen to as a child,” Swanson said, “is Purple Kloud brings this element of storytelling that you actually want to pay attention to.”
Contact Isabel Kraby at ikraby@alligator.org. Follow her on X @isabelgkraby.
Isabel is the The Alligator's Spring 2026 music reporter. She is a junior studying journalism at UF and is from Ormond Beach, FL. In her spare time, she loves going to concerts, crafting and practicing guitar.
