By Michelle Magee
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer
New Orleans has longtime been a haven for hip hop and many of the most-legendary rappers in the game are from the Bayou. Even with Lil Wayne being the biggest rapper in the game and the other New Orleans stars nearing legendary status, there are a lot of up-and-coming rappers in New Orleans. Jay Lucci is among them.
Working hard, Jay Lucci is preparing the release of his More Days to Go 2 mixtape, which is anticipated in the streets. As the project nears its release, which is a little under two weeks, Jay Lucci is setting the stage for something much bigger. The current focus for Jay Lucci is his No Direction Music label.
It has been a while since Hip Hop Vibe did the “On the Rise” series. With Jay Lucci being a rising grinder in the game and the “On the Rise” series almost fading away, this was the perfect person to use to relaunch it. Over the weekend, Jay Lucci spoke to Hip Hop Vibe about his growing career.
Read the entire interview below:
Tell us a little about yourself and what inspired you to start rapping? Who are your musical influences? I grew up listen to Tupac maybe in 1995 I was maybe about four or five years old and i still remember my mother in her husband was always playing a lot of Tupac in those days. My oldest brother, Larry, was classmates with Dwayne “Lil Wayne” Carter at Marion Abramson High School in New Orleans, in the later 90’s and I was maybe about seven years old then. Lil Wayne used to rap on all of his friends answering machine and i herd him on my brothers machine then later was seeing music videos of the Big Tymers and hot boys there movement got bigger and I was just surrounded by Cash Money Records/Hot Boy threw my brother Larry’s affiliation. I still have some of their first clothing line or should I say apparel today from those days. That’s what inspired me to rap as well as other artist from New Orleans, such as Soulja Slim.
What advice do you have for anyone wanting to get into the music industry? For anyone trying to get in this business as a independent artist, all I can say is that it takes money, hard work, dedication and you just have to be willing to work, ain’t no stopping in the business if you are trying to make it.
What do you feel is the most pressing or important problem in our society now, and do you feel as though your experience as an artist has aided or complicated your involvement in these issues? Today in our society I feel as that the people don’t stick together, support or help one another. If we all was on one page the world would be so much better. I also feel that the people who are controlling the world knew what it would be like in these days. For as my involvement to society some would say that I am working for the devil/Satan or how ever they want to put it. some would say that the music I promote is violent and disrespectful etc, but I know that my heart is pure and I know what I believe in, I’m not the blame…
Right now, who would you look up to? Who do you think is a real game-changer in the music industry? Honestly. I look up to everybody at the top of the game. As far as my opinion on who change the game in the last 10 years I have to say Lil Wayne, Birdman and Sugar Slim of Cash Money Records/YMCMB the whole camp. Drake, Nicki, Diddy, Wiz Khalifa, Rick Ross, Rhianna, and more we have a lot of game changers.
Today’s music is all about collaborations. Who would you like to collaborate with? I would like to collaborate with Birdman, DJ Khaled, Wayne, Eminem, DJ Drama, French Montana, Nicki Minaj, Curren$y, Chris Brown, Wale, the list goes on I’m just interested in making good music
If you were not making music what would you be doing? Probably in the streets, but I’m in the streets now so that’s why I feel like I’m going to make music for ever with or without a deal. music will always be apart of whatever else I’m doing. My music comes first!!
Where can fans hear your music and follow your movement? My previous mixtape “More Days To Go” download it on Datpiff.com up coming project “More Days To Go 2″/#MDTG2 Drops on Datpiff.com wendsday August 28, 2013. On Twitter @JLUCCIMUSIC On Instagram @Ndmjaylucci website coming soon.
Watch “Kill This One” by Jay Lucci below:
