Recording Artist/Entrepreneur, Lu-El talks innovating the music industry, growing up in New Orleans & traveling to South Africa to build 'A Sound Foundation'.
It’s 4th of July weekend and I’m meeting with New Orleans based recording artist and entrepreneur, Lu-El at a coffee shop on the Westbank of The Crescent City. This is where Lu grew up. This is also where he met the individuals who would eventually help form the talented hip-hop collective, MadeGroceries, while attending Edna Karr High School, one of the city’s most storied public schools. Lu is a calm presence. I introduce him to my cousin and fellow recording artist, Luke Saint Drake who is in town visiting from Virginia. We order drinks, Lu hates his, but he doesn't trip at all. We begin catching up. It’s been a while because Lu has just spent three weeks in South Africa working on his new album, ‘A Sound Foundation’, a nine track project with an especially innovative twist. Right as we settle in, the sky opens up (as is typical in New Orleans), so we end up cooped up inside of this coffee shop for a few hours and I was able to understand my friend, one of my favorite rappers, and his ambitions to innovate the music industry on an entirely different level.
All nine tracks on, ‘A Sound Foundation’, were completely self produced by Lu-El over the course of a full year. When I asked him to describe the album’s sound to me as its sole architect, he described it to me as a sample heavy, unique and timeless reflection of where he’s at in life currently. It features his essence, his frequency, his vibe and soulfulness. He went on to talk about being influenced by Chicago bred super producer, Kanye West who frequently raps on sample heavy tracks that he produces for himself. “Do the rap and the track, triple-double, no assists..”. Lu, as a lyric driven MC, went on to explain how on previous projects he had been really word heavy, and how on ‘A Sound Foundation’ he worked to perfect his craft sonically, focusing more on the music. We talked about his trajectory as a producer dating as far back to his early days with MadeGroceries where he only dabbled with beat making, to now having the full confidence to self produce an entire album.
Speaking of trajectory, Lu-El had an early start in music. The “Art Peace” rapper credits a fifth grade teacher with getting him started in the craft. Together the pair co-wrote a rap that Lu went on to perform at a talent show, giving him the confidence that he needed to take the art form seriously. Lu continued to get better, and in high school, he began officially viewing himself as a professional recording artist. These moments did not come without challenges. During this time Lu had been introduced to a manager by one of his frequent collaborators, who ended up being a bit of a roadblock in his journey. It was this situation that helped Lu learn about the perils of the music industry early on. Despite the challenges, Lu was able to reflect back on how important it was to receive praise for his work at such a young age, and how much he benefited from having early buy-in from both of his supportive parents, and a supportive grandfather who created a sort of bubble for him, shielding Lu from some of the unhealthier sides of New Orleans.
Now, the talented lyricist is on a mission to innovate the music industry, and rid the youth, and those around him of some of the struggles that he’s had to endure. Basically, Lu wants consumers, artists, and businesses to get more out of the music buying and collecting experience. He views it as a triangle effect. In his business plan, he details the entire transaction as one that provides value to all parties involved. “Everybody eats”. To break it down further, he explains it this way: the consumer gets the music, plus the added value of exposure to a new business (one of the nine businesses attached to the project). Lu says that a lot of his childhood friends were becoming entrepreneurs, so he thought that it made sense to partner with nine of them to offer consumers a discount to each of their respective businesses per album track purchase. He asked himself this question, “How can my music, besides the lyrics and artistry, bring value to people?”. Another goal for the album is to help train consumers to become collectors again so that albums aren’t being released and then quickly “going into the void”. Lu’s dad worked at a record/CD shop, and Lu says that he saw music collection happening at a high level. It all came full circle when Lu himself became a digital music collector on the internet using the now discontinued file sharing software, Limewire to load music onto iPods for his peers.
Art Peace. | Lu-El takes a solo bike tour exploring the Durban, SA streets.
Lu’s travels to South Africa has also helped him to see the international scope of ‘A Sound Foundation’. He sees the album as a way to promote foreign trade for individuals who have historically been under the thumb of the oppressor. He believes that this is the perfect opportunity to use the internet to create a trading system between likeminded creatives and consumers who would normally be excluded from foreign trade. He also thinks that it’s a perfect chance for everyone to realize just how similar people who grew up thousands and thousands of miles apart really are. One unlikely connection that Lu discovered between himself and his peers in South Africa was their shared fandom of New Orleans born recording artist, Lil Wayne. He said that this one realization helped shift his perspective on the reason why he makes music. He said, “It showed me that there's more to South Africa, that hip-hop is universal, it’s still young and I can be apart of its history.”
Shaq: What are the values that you 100% believe in?
Lu-El: That exposure is important. Open mindedness. Detachment. Exposing yourself to the world, for yourself is a key value. Trust. Trusting in a higher power and trusting in yourself. Trusting that you can create your reality. Clarity.
Shaq: I know that you’re always reading, any current reads that you want to share?
Lu-El: I'm reading a lot about South Africa right now. Since making it back to the states, I'm going through a sort of… revelation? I don’t know. I’m seeing humanity differently. I'm in a breakthrough. I’m currently reading this book called Biko about Steve Biko, the leader of the black consciousness movement and an anti-apartheid activist. He was killed while in detainment. Growing up in America and being educated in the south, those kinds of leaders are hidden from us.
Shaq: What’s a message that you’d want to share with the youth who will read this?
Lu-El: I really want to build a blueprint for the youth to follow with their friends. This is what all of this is about. I want them to see their friends as more than friends. I want them to begin networking horizontally with their friends early on. Building a collective enterprise. It’s something that we need as a people, to build together. That’s the healthier alternative. That’s choosing positive peer pressure.
anti-juvie.