With co-signs from J. Cole, Tyler, The Creator and Chance The Rapper, La Reezy eyes hip-hop greatness.
For La Reezy, the lyrical mutant birthed in New Orleans, where the spirits of Lil Wayne and YoungBoy run laps around the city, he’s slowly embracing his stardom while remembering the person at the center of it all: Khayree.
Explore Chance the Rapper J. Cole Kendrick Lamar See latest videos, charts and news.
Despite his superhuman wordplay, La Reezy, you can say, is having his Spider-Man moment. With praise from Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and Tyler, the Creator, Reezy had the holy trinity of rap co-signs before he was even old enough to legally drink.
Mixtapes such as Welcome La Reezyana Vol. 1 showcased his promise and dexterity, while his debut album, Skiddle Bandana, prided itself on colorful storytelling, charisma and the unwavering charm of a young Black man growing up in real time.
With Kendrick Lamar’s Section. 80 in mind, Reezy scribbled down everything he saw from the steps of his mother’s house and gave fans a front-row seat to New Orleans.
Billboard chatted with La Reezy about how Section. 80 influenced his debut album Skiddle Bandana, imposter syndrome, family life, touring with Chance the Rapper and more.
Lil Wayne and YoungBoy are considered two of the biggest stars to come out of Louisiana. Who are some of the state’s dark horses that inspired you.
I’m gonna say Neno Calvin, Rob 49 and recently Mac Phipps. Those are the main ones I can say right now.
Macc played a role on your debut album, too, right.
Yup. Macc is on the title track Skiddle Bandana. The reason I say Macc for context is he’s part of No Limit [Records] and he was like the lyrical conscious rapper in the group.
Then, he got arrested over some lyrics and was incarcerated for over 20 years. He’s still a very genuine, positive, forward-thinking, supportive guy. To hear that there was a version of what I do back in the day, but wasn’t able to evolve due to the system – from the pigs – is [crazy].
Macc’s super supportive and we really resemble each other a lot.
Do you think storytelling and lyricism still carry the same weight with your generation? Where do you think you fit within that conversation.
The world is an evolution of stories told and the words that stick in time the longest are stories – the phrases in a story. Think about the bible, the Quran. Christopher Nolan just put out The Odyssey – that’s a story.
Stories are just artistic ways to depict the world and how we see it today. Some people decide to be intentional with their stories and are disciplined in getting their thoughts out.
Some people don’t. I play the median. It’s necessary to have it, but, sometimes, it might not be a deep story. It might be a culmination of different words put together and you make this story.
For me though, it’s necessary that I just keep forward-thinking substance at the forefront.
Were there any debut albums that you studied or kept in mind while creating Skiddle Bandana.
Section. 80. That’s it. That year seeing Kendrick Lamar at his highest, I’m always like, “How did he get here?” So I’m always diving back and paying attention.
From the Kendrick Lamar EP to Section. 80, how did the love songs evolve? How did the hype songs evolve? What makes this such a thing? How was this received when it was released.
Watching the live streams when the album was released [and] really searching the web to see what was going on around that time. Paying attention to the videos like, “Oh.
He probably had some bread, but he didn’t have a super-big budget.” I can relate to that. [Making the music], but leaving room to grow and still making it sweet on the ears.
Your family plays a major role in your life, especially as you highlight on “Family Bizzy.” As your career continues to grow, what responsibility do you feel toward them.
My mom told me, “You make me very proud.” If you make your mom proud then that should be enough. If you make her proud, then you’re doing it because what more would you need to do if you’re a product of love.
You’re doing something. That’s all you need.
Imposter Syndrome. It can get bad. You just really be in your own mind and sometimes, you’ll be in your own way. I think music and creation is my way of knowing where I’m at in life.
Sometimes, you don’t have that. So it’s still having an existence outside of La Reezy.
You’re on tour with Chance the Rapper. What are you hoping to show new audiences about La Reezy, and what are you hoping to learn from Chance as a performer.
I wanna learn how Chance manages to keep the vocals warm. That’s a huge thing that I’m learning right now and then I don’t know what I wanna learn. I just wanna learn.
I don’t wanna have an expectation. I just wanna watch and study.
From the fans, [I wanna show them that] hip-hop is still alive. That notion is curated from people that don’t understand the artform and it’s paid campaigns when people say that.
I just wanna show them that it’s real music and I’m here. I want them to invest in the potential.
You’ve gotten co-signs from Cole, Kendrick and Tyler. Which one caught you most off guard, and why has that moment stayed with you.
Kendrick Lamar. To be at the BET Awards and I didn’t know that he’d be there and then I just got the balls to go and say what’s up. I did it with the intent that in 10 years I’ll meet him and hopefully tell him that I met him.
For him to know me around that time while I was putting out my mixtapes like Welcome to La Reezyana Vol. 1 and stuff like that [was crazy].
When I met him, I was making Skiddle Bandana and studying Section. 80. That was the ultimate confirmation. All of it’s been lit. Tyler, The Creator inspired me to hone in on the skill more and dial in on the craft.
Care about my art. Anything from the people, I’m just grateful.
There are already a lot of heavyweight names attached to your story. What do you think people still misunderstand about La Reezy as an artist.
That I grew up listening to ’90s music — and I didn’t. I think that’s something. Honestly, it’s weird, bro. It’s almost like if you saying something with thought, it just gets boxed into “conscious.” Everybody’s conscious.
We’re all conscious of our thoughts. I don’t know even know how to explain it. Because I’m conscious of the words I’m saying on a record, it goes into the left side of conscious, but it almost feels degrading.
This could be my 21-year-old thoughts and I’m gonna learn from it, but why the labels.
I get it, though. That’s how you contextualize stuff. I think it just comes with. I just love people hearing the music. It’s a blessing. You can label it a funk album.
I’m just glad you heard the album. [Laughs.] Label it what you need to. As long as you like it.
If Skiddle Bandana were placed in a time capsule and discovered 100 years from now, what would you want people to understand about who you were and the world you came from when you made it.
Imagine you were a dog, right? And you didn’t realize you were a dog until you were 21 years old, because for 21 years you were dyed in pink fur and you were not in dog nature.
You were jumping through hula hoops and walking like a human, but you’re a dog and you ain’t realize you were a dog until 21 years old [laughs]. That’s Skiddle Bandana.
I didn’t understand the value of being Black until a year ago. That’s the comparison.
Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *.
Want to know what everyone in the music business is talking about.
Fontes
Informação baseada em material público de Billboard, reescrito pela redação ULTRA NOTÍCIAS.
