Interview: L.I.F.E. L.O.N.G.

Written by Jenna Thursday, 18 May 2006 18:32

To this day, New York City proves to be the spot where the hip-hop scene seems to be alive and well, right in its own roots constantly spawning new artists to add a little flavor to the music scene. Many artists such as Run DMC and Tribe Called Quest got there start as part of the underground music world of the ZooYork, a place where people who feel the hip-hop scene go to play. A new artist straight from the streets of the concrete jungle has recently been brewing up his floetry concoction of raw beats and sound just dropped his album on April 25, his name is L.I.F.E. L.O.N.G. Life was born and raised in New York City and got his yearn for hip-hop at a young age and is finally living out his dream. Here is an interview with L.I.F.E. L.O.N.G. and some of his words as he tries to make his way into the ever so changing hip-hop world. After reading the interview, check out L.I.F.E. L.O.N.G.'s tracks on his MySpace page and get his taste in your mouth.

Jenna Micheli: Where are you from?

L.I.F.E. L.O.N.G-I am from New York City the rotten apple, originally born and raised in Jamaica Queens, Cambria Heights. I currently reside in Brooklyn however, I rep New York in a whole not just one place!

JM-How long have you been rapping for?

LL- I have been rapping for over a decade professionally, appearing on records since 1999. My first appearance was on Scienz of Life's first L.P. on the label sub verse called "Coming Forth By Day".

JM- How would you define yourself as an artist?

LL- The definition of me as an artist is Life its self like my name.I try to bring my listeners in to everyday situations that the average person can relate to.

JM-What is the message that you are trying to sending to the public through your lyrics?

LL- Pure conscious music with substance. Music for the nine to fiver, for the average head!

JM- What inspired your new album that is dropping soon?

LL-The album that I have just dropped Cuts & Collabos, is basically a discography of a lot of the featured tracks I have been on in the last 3 years. The other record I have dropping in the fall has a lot of things on there that have inspired me. The 9-5 grind, the grind of an artist, basically life in general is usually what inspires me most my everyday life!

JM- Who do you look up to or relate to in the rap industry?

LL-I look up to and relate to all of the pioneers like Kool Herc, Afrika Bamabatta, Busy Bee, Dana Dane, all the originators and basically anyone who has something to say or is contributing to uplift the culture.

JM- How do you feel about the hip-hop culture this day and age and if you could change one thing about the game what would that be?

LL-I’m loving Hip-Hop right now, I mean it has been here for over 30 years now and we are still going strong. I mean I would change who's running this shit but I mean everyone says Hip-Hop is dead but it's not, it's in one of the best positions in its time right now. The only thing I would change is who's running it. We got some real idiots that don't know squat about the culture basically running this shit!

JM- How do you feel about the conflicts between rappers in the game?

LL-I feel the conflicts in the game are real petty and make no sense. If you are at a position in your life where you have finally overcome the negatives in your life, like most of these rappers, why continue to deal in negativity? I feel whether or not artists want to be seen as role models, the babies are watching our every move so we need to start acting more like men and women than boys and girls!

JM- What's in your c.d collection and who is your favorite?

LL-I like all types of music to be honest with you. A lot of the old stuff is in my c.d. player like Roy Aires Ubiquity, Organized Konfusion's first L.P., 2 Hungry Bros groove c.d. Live at the New Yorican, The Frequent Flyers album, Prince Po's solo record, and a lot of my peeps stuff that has not been released yet.My favorite artists are Organized Konfusion and U.G. of the Cella Dwellas, so working with them was real big for me!

JM- Do you venture out of the hip-hop scene, like into country music per se?

LL- (Laughing) Not country music! All though I'm not knocking it, I just haven't heard the right tune yet lol..I love jazz, alternative, a lil' bit of R&B so its not just hip-hop. I'm basically a person in love with music period. I like anything with a good vibe to it!

JM- What was your favorite concert you ever attended?

LL- My favorite concert would have to be New Years Eve '93 at the old Palladium here in New York. That night De La Soul, Souls of Mischief and Tribe Called Quest rocked and it was the most memorable show of my life! Hip-Hop was at a real good point at that time!

 JM- What new projects do you have coming up?

LL-Currently my album/discography Cuts & Colabos Part 2 that is out right now, I also have another project dropping on a label in France called Ascetic Music. They are putting out a full length project called Longevity vol 1.5. I'm on different compilations and artists albums as well such as D.J. Ese's album side two on Embedded Music, Rick Whispers album, High Priest from Anti Pop Consortium's Solo Project on Sound Ink, The Creative Masters project coming soon, Creative Juices presents Creative Masters, and also a project with a Swedish producer named Big Ape its called "Crossing The Globe", Ape does all the beats and I provide the lyrics. Another project produced by my producers,2 Hungry Bros (Ben Boogz and Deep) is something else I am working on right now and more to come. I'm on my grind right now!

JM- Who have you been working with lately and what record company has signed you?

LL-I mainly am working with my crew Stronghold and Creative Juices, however I have done collaborations recently with Prince Po of Organized Konfusion, U.G. of the Cella Dwellas, Rise, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Infinto 2017, so many I stay collaborating. I am working with Raptivism and Ascetic Music in France as well. I'm just basically a free agent licensing projects to companies which I'm still trying to shop for spot I can hold down on the regular.

JM- What do you see for yourself in the future and how will you make sure you get there?

LL- I see myself in the future doing the same thing but definitely on a larger scale, maybe more behind the scenes managing groups and things like that. I'm just gonna continue to work hard. Hard work pays off and right now like I said I'm on my grind!