L. Soul

Young, talented, and gifted are all what describe this young Rising Hip-Hop Artist. We are embarking on the beginning of the next chapter in The Hip-Hop Movement with the return of social conscientious rap. Meet L. Soul who is just the right man to get the job done with continually to revitalize The Hip-Hop Industry. We spoke to L. Soul about his amazing music that is creating quite the buzz and getting everyone who hears him excited about it. Here is what formulated from our dynamic online encounter.

Isaac: It is a pleasure to speak with you via this important online conversation. I reviewed your press kit, and I am really excited about your music. What has been your inspiration for pursuing a music career?

L. Soul: Just wanting a better life for myself and my family, I‘ve been a writer really for pretty much my whole life. So I’m very good at writing music and I really enjoy it, everything about it. So I decided that I was going to let it take me as far as it possible can.

Isaac: I am interested to learn a little about more about your background.

L. Soul: I’m a 19 year old from East Lansing, Michigan; the home of the Michigan State Spartans. Although I’m a die hard Michigan fan lol, as a kid I took to a strong interest into writing poems, creating comic books, drawing, and writing short stories. I even have poems that were published in school books during elementary and middle school. My father always had a strong love for music, Hip-Hop in particular, and of course whatever he listed to I listened to so I was raised listening to J. Dilla, Slum Village, MF Doom & Black Star to name a few and this inspired me to start writing music. In 2011, a friend of my mom’s gave me the opportunity to perform at an event she was having, and I performed at a Diversity conference in the auditorium of my high school. After the conference, a local artist by the name of James Gardin approached me and told me that he liked my music and instructed me on ways I could perform around the community. After my first performance, there was no stopping me. Since then, I have been showcased at The Shelter in Detroit, performed at the “The Nuyorican Poet’s Café” in New York City, and I was one of twenty five nominated by the Bob Marley family to participate in the “Marley Uprising’s Top 25”. And I also opened up for Hip-Hop Artist Willie the Kid, Clear Soul Forces and the legendary Talib Kweli. I am currently the artist of the month on the local radio station in my hometown.

Isaac: Why is music important to you?

L. Soul: In a nutshell, it’s all I’ve had the past couple years of my life, the only thing to keep me sane, and the only thing that gives me purpose. The only one who listens and appreciates what I have to say, I’d have to say I’m madly in love with music.

Isaac: What advices have you’re received from music entertainers who have mentored you while you are pursuing a music career?

L. Soul: I have received a lot of great advice but most important advice to me was too always stay hungry and stay humble.

Isaac: Why do you believe music is something that everyone should enjoy?

L. Soul: I don’t necessarily believe music is something that everyone enjoys, but I do believe it’s something we all can appreciate. Music has a wide range of genres and a history dating back to a time man will never know. So I can’t tell you why people enjoy it but it’s in our blood to appreciate it.

Isaac: The Internet plays an integral role with artists getting their music out to the masses. Do you have your own website and what will fans find there?

L. Soul: Yes, I do you can find me at www.lsoulhiphop.com which will keep you updated with my music and upcoming events. You can also purchase tickets to my upcoming shows I may have, my mixtapes etc., and I’m on social networks constantly! You can find me on Twitter: @LSoulHipHop and @L_SoulTheGreat also on Facebook Lsoulhiphop.

Isaac: If you had an opportunity to work with one of today's hottest artists or group, who would it be and why?

L. Soul: I would say it would have to be Wiz Khalifa. He is one of my favorite rappers in today’s game he has helped influence everything I have done up to this point including my decision to be an artist.

Isaac: At the end of the day, are you happy with where you are at professionally?

L. Soul: You know you can always want to be further along then you already are but I feel that I have accomplished a lot in these few years of my musical career. My resume is growing fast, and one of my favorite accomplishments is my Trippy Video on YouTube with over 40,600 views http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h50RYRUu5hc. I am only 19 years old some of my fans have named me Lansing’s youngest in charge so I can’t really complain; however there is work to do so I just have to keep on working.

Isaac: What are your final thoughts as we conclude this interview…

L. Soul: First, I would like to thank you for this opportunity, I feel honored. And I would like to thank all those out there that have supported me from the beginning like my family. I never thought that my parents would approve of my music, not only have they supported me they are at every show local or away and my mom is my manager. This is something that I could have never imagined so I know I was meant to do this. My grandparents have supported me, my aunts, uncles and cousins. It makes my day to look out and see them at my shows in the front row screaming and rapping my music. It’s crazy, so I must say thank you to them for the support. Last year my paw paw (granddad) passed away and I will never forget our last conversation we had months before he passed away…he said “L, I don’t even like rap music but man I heard your music…you are good, I know I will not be here to witness this but you are going to make it”. All of this helps drive me so I will continue to work hard nothing like doing what you love. - Isaac Davis Junior

Gus said
"L Soul was killing it on the mic. He was very impressive and his rhymes were audible and cut through to the crowd. It will be exciting to see his abilities as an MC and on-stage persona improve."

and Justin said:
"We arrived a little late, but were able to catch the tail end of L Soul rocking the mic in white threads; the man literally appeared to glow. His flow was crisp, clear and lethal. Not only was his stage presence other-worldly, the beats were mesmerizing. Instantly, I fell into the groove—body overtaken by the music. He was backed by a group of hype-men, adding a lighthearted feel to the whole performance. All in all, it was great way to begin the night." - Gus and Justin`

Gus said
"L Soul was killing it on the mic. He was very impressive and his rhymes were audible and cut through to the crowd. It will be exciting to see his abilities as an MC and on-stage persona improve."

and Justin said:
"We arrived a little late, but were able to catch the tail end of L Soul rocking the mic in white threads; the man literally appeared to glow. His flow was crisp, clear and lethal. Not only was his stage presence other-worldly, the beats were mesmerizing. Instantly, I fell into the groove—body overtaken by the music. He was backed by a group of hype-men, adding a lighthearted feel to the whole performance. All in all, it was great way to begin the night." - Gus and Justin`

L. Soul, reppin Lansing Michigan, delivered the visual for “Welcome to Kananon”, where he spits lyrically superior bars over lush, classic hip hop production. This guy has skills to pay the bills!

- Jonathan Jelks

Local rapper L Soul, whose offstage name is Levon Reid, says “when you listen to my music, you're gonna want to do two things: you're gonna want to learn or you're gonna want to dance. You're gonna want to have fun and turn up or you're gonna just want to sit back and soak it all in. I definitely think my music, more than anything, is informative.”

Reid, a 2012 graduate of East Lansing High School, has performed at The Common Ground Festival in Lansing, MI with Machine Gun Kelly, Juicy J, Ace Hood and Big Sean and was selected by the Bob Marley family to participate in the Marley Uprising’s Top 25. He has also just released a new mixtape titled “From Lansing With Love.”

Making listeners think is central to his artistic vision. He discussed some of the themes that his music touches on, and his writing process: “I discuss a lot of positive issues and race issues. I like to be creative and I like to source other arts that inspire me. Like when I'm listening to Richie Valens. Or a certain painter, like Rubens, I like to make sure I put them in my rhymes too. So that's another thing I do, with educating people through rhymes, bringing up names they never heard of before and making them wonder 'who is that guy?'”

Reid, now 21, first started making music when he was seventeen, and has evolved his craft over the years. “My first tape was 'No Love City.' People always want to hear that side of me again, but I always tell them I can never do that side again. The thing about that tape was I was talking to myself. Now there's people that look up to me through my music. But I remember at that time it was just me in my room trapped alone just writing thousands and thousands of raps. That's why my first tape is so special to me cause that was the only tape that I dropped like that – like just me in my own head, picking my own brain apart.”

The self-reflective quality of his music, and the internal process of its creation, mean a great deal to Reid, but self-discovery Initially presented a challenge in the pursuit of his musical career. He explained the whirlwind experience following the positive reception of his first mixtape: “I didn't really even know how to make music, I just made a tape and everybody liked it. I really had to learn how to make music, I had to learn how to make songs, I had to learn how to say sh*t that sounded cool and really means something. Like it was a complete rebuilding of myself process. I really had to transform myself into a rapper, I had to create a rapper image, a rapper look. I had to change things about myself and commit to them.”

The commitment and dedication that Reid has shown to his music take a great deal of drive, and the source for his ambition is very close to home: “I attribute my drive to all the women in my family. They're ambitious, they just got hella drive always, and we got a lot of women like that in our family and my whole life looking up to that it's just been inspirational. Like my grandma waking up at 8 in the morning, just getting a little bit of breakfast before going out and working for hours and hours and coming back home, cooking for us, cleaning up and then just never sitting down. That was always my drive, like 'you don't need rest. Grandma didn't need rest.’”

Another inspiration driving Reid's musical accomplishments is a love of performance: “The first time I performed, that's when I knew that's what I wanted to do. I was on stage – I just remember I was feeling it. I remember when I got off, everyone was like 'that was dope.' They couldn't believe it was my first performance. I walked off the stage with a confident feeling that I never lost.”

Reid Guarantees that attendance at one of his shows will be “the show of your life, I promise you that. I can promise you that you ain't never seen a local act put on a show like me.”

Reid has worked hard to establish himself as a force to be reckoned with on the local music scene and hopes that his talents will be soon be appreciated on a larger stage. Discussing the current state of the music industry, Reid reflected on his dissatisfaction with its superficiality, “I didn't look like this, they really wouldn't listen to me like my sister always tell me that, she always be like 'The thing that you really got is your look,' like there's a lot of people who don't even want to hear what you have to say, they just want to see you.”

When asked to detail immediate career goals, Reid explained that he’s aiming high: “I have never set any other goals than besides the first day I told myself I was...gonna win Grammys, I told myself I was gonna drop Platinum albums, and that's the only goals I have. Anything else is like, 'Damn you did that bro!' Like 'you really opened up for Talib.' Everything else is shocking to me but until I get those accomplisments I feel like I ain't really accomplishing. Until I get Grammys and Platinum albums... I ain't doing sh*t [laughs].” - east lansing info Author: Emma McGinn