“Going back to my early days, the only way I really stood out and got people’s attention was to encompass my music in a happy vibe, even though there are deeper meanings to the songs. I like contradictions,” said stalwart L.A. rapper Pigeon John when I interviewed him about his last album, “Pigeon John and the Summertime Pool Party.” He continued, “Simon and Garfunkel are great at it, and the Beach Boys are the best. I’m a big fan of movies, and Wes Anderson is phenomenal. His films like ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ seem like comedy, but then there’s suicide and divorce. He finds a way to case it in a candy-coated shell.”

Pigeon John first came up as part of the heralded hip-hop scene at South Central's Good Life Café in the early ’90s. Since then, he's developed a style that’s fun, funny, but still full of substance. “That’s the way I do rap music,” he said. “I’m most into hardcore hip-hop like early Mobb Deep. But when I try to make straight-ahead rap, it comes out totally different and kind of weird. It’s not really my purpose, but I just can’t help it.”

While he can hold his own against such imposing rappers as Brother Ali (which he does on the track “One for the Money”), John's knack for insistent pop hooks is never far from the surface. He whips up peppy pop tunes like “Brand New Day,” and then cleverly flips a sample of “Hey” by the Pixies into the lonely-heart lament “Money Back Guarantee.”

“I listen to all music through a hip-hop mind; everything is loops. My hope,” he stressed, “is to go back to where there are no lines, where it’s just music. Someone like Beck is amazing at it. What he makes is just good music that everybody can enjoy. That’s my goal.”

Catch Pigeon John at the Knitting Factory Fri., April 4 at 8 p.m.

Scott T. Sterling is Music editor for Metromix Los Angeles.