Lady L.U.S.T. Interview
I2G is here with the one, the only Miss Lady L.U.S.T. how you doing?
I’m good how you doing?
Doing good. What has the response been for the album The Ms. Ceily Complex since its release?
Response has been wonderful. From all angles, from everywhere, all kinds of people are responding to the album, black, white, young, old. I think it has really been a good look for a hip hop album and that is what people are feeling about it. I really brought the essence of hip hop to this particular project.
Tell me a little bit about the process you went through of making the album.
I would say total the process took close to a year. I started around the end of 2008 with the production and I started working with Poetiq from the Bay. That was when I knew I was really going in on the album, once I started working with Poetiq. He has the sound I was looking for, so I can actually start the album now. Started working with him and from there I started working with DJ Daryl on a couple things, Dap Daniel, once I got back to Vegas I was still getting tracks from Poetiq and started recording and finished the rest of it in Las Vegas.
Do you have a single or video picked next from the album?
We want to do a video for Where U Are. That would be the first video that would come and that song has been the one that is buzzing right now. That one and Best Friend have been the two main songs on the radio, I would say club wise we have Grab The Mic and Cupcake is a really big hit amongst people too.
You ever thought about doing a remix to Grab The Mic? Like a Bay Area remix?
Yeah definitely. I want to get a remix in on that, I am not sure exactly who I want to do the song with, but I definitely want to do it. Maybe reach out to Keak or someone like that or my boy Balance out there in the Bay.
Just what is your opinion on the impact and role of female MCs in the game right now and who are you feeling that is out right now that is representing?
I am feeling Jean Grae, I have always respected her as a artist, lyricist. She has been really consistent, she has not really hit that mainstream like we have seen with others, but if you pay attention you will notice that she is really good. I think that there are alot of females out there that are bubbling under the surface right now doing they thing in their region and I respect alot of those females too.
If you had to pick a top 5 of your favorite MCs who would you pick and why?
Oh you gonna do that to me huh? No particular order, Lyte of course, Da Brat, Shawnna, Lil Kim and Jean Grae.
That is a interesting 5.
(Laughs) It is like every part of the spectrum.
Being from the Bay and now living in Vegas, what are your thoughts on the local scene here in Vegas and who do you respect out here as far as hip hop?
The Vegas hip hop scene I always say it is in its infant stages. It is still young but it is definitely blossoming and growing, you can see the progression in it. Every year you see more artists come out, you see the shows get a little bit bigger, sometimes you get setbacks like any scene but then you keep pushing. I respect any artist that is pushing their own movement, trying to start their own lane and not following everyone else but just doing your own thing. Artists that stand out like that and are putting out a good body of work and good albums.
We have premiered on Illuminati 2G and on Raptalk tracks like Lightweight and 1Thang with you and Rideout. You have good chemistry, when is the project going to come? You know I have to put you on the spot on that one.
I am going to put boss man on the spot on that one. 3rd quarter of 2010 possibly. That’s what’s up.
As far as for you, what is up next project wise. Upcoming mixtapes or are you working on your next album?
Nah I am just going to take one thing at a time. Right now I am pushing the new album and maybe when I get inspired again I will do a mixtape but right now my inspiration comes in spurts. I will feature, collab and do work, but the inspiration for projects comes in spurts for me. It will come out of nowhere and I will be like you know what I need to do 8 songs right now, and I will do it. It will go from there and then I will have a project so when that hits me, I will let you know.
Ok, sounds good. Alright Lust is president of hip hop, and whoever was president before you pulled a George Bush and the game is completely fucked up like the way it is right now. You are the president, you run it, give me a 5 point bail out plan for hip hop and how to save it.
A 5 point bail out plan?
5 points. Could be less than that, could be more than that.
First of all, I would fire everyone at the radio station! (laughs) I would fire every program director from every radio station across the west coast. I am gonna say that first.
Oh wow.
Because I think radio should first and foremost represent your region. The east coast does that and so does down south, but the west coast does not represent our region. So that is one reason why our artists do not get the publicity and therefore do not get the album sales that we need and younger and new artists do not come up from our region like they need to. So first of all, I would attack the radio, we need to bail out that, in a sense of giving new artists a chance on the radio.
Also I would open up a pathway for female MCs. I feel like hip hop in a sense is set back because females in a sense are set back. When hip hop was at its shining glory there were always female artists. That is the balance you need in life period. So if you have a completely male dominated field in anything, there is no balance. That is a set back in itself, so I would open up a pathway for the females.
I also think that versitility is important. On what we see visually. I am not going to diss or say anything bad about our networks like BET, MTV, but what I am going to say is that they need to show the versitility that we have like when Jukebox Network was on TV, when you had MTV show videos, when you had BET also. They don’t even show videos anymore so I would bring videos back to TV. Rather than TV shows on a video channel. Those would be the main things that I would do that would help the culture alot because now it is really about what we see and what we hear.
I am going to play a little word association with you. First thing that comes to mind, speak it. Could be more than one word. First thing is Vegas hip hop.
First thing that comes to mind? L.U.S.T.
Nicki Minaj
No
President Obama
Black Power
Record Sales
Do they matter?
Conscious hip hop
Needed
If you could do one posse cut with any 3 artists who would you work with and why? Dream posse cut for Lust.
This is any artist anywhere?
Any artist, anywhere.
Andre 3000, Michelle Ndegeocello, and Erkyah Badu.
Ooooh. I would have said Jean Grae, Lust and Lady Of Rage.
Oh well you said just artists. (laughs)
Well that is just my personal one.
I love artists too outside of just rap.
What do you feel about lyricists in the mainstream hip hop? It is alot more of autotune and other things out right now. What do you think it will take for a real MC with lyrics to be successful in the mainstream again?
It takes the support of the radio and the networks to make that artist visible. Because there are alot of artists that are doing their thing and making great music but the machine and the corporations do not want to make that visible. They don’t want that message to be put out there. They want to keep us dumbed down, ignorant and dancing and keep us in the midst of the bufforney. It would basically take us, the people that make that music to become the corporation and expose that.
What do you feel has been the biggest obstacle for you as a independent artist?
First of all, lack of resources is always a obstacle. You have to have money and funding of course so you have to have that all together. Being a woman definitely, alot of people do not want to let a woman shine.
If all those in a perfect world were there and you had everything that you wanted and those are not obstacles anymore, and a major comes to you and says Lust we want you to be a part of Def Jam or Universal, is that something that you would consider being a independent artist?
Well it is not just black and white, when you become part of a label. Everything would have to be in order. What they were going to do, how they were going to expose me, when is my product and merchandise coming out, as long as I still have control of who I am creatively and what is put out there for the public to see, we can always talk about that.
Do you have any upcoming shows or tour dates coming up for you that you want to let the people know about?
I just booked a couple of shows at the beginning of the year in Vegas. I don’t know the exact dates, but yeah I will be doing a couple of shows in Vegas, I am going to the Bay this week and January I know it is going to be a big month. We have a suite party that LIFE Entertainment is putting together. Look out for that, that will be at the end of January, also looking to do promo in New York at the end of January as well. Just look for 2010 to be really big.
What is your myspace and website information for people looking for check out your music and see what you got going on?
www.myspace.com/ladylust. www.askaboutlust.com don’t forget that.
Alright that is all the questions I have for you, appreciate you getting down for the interview. Is there any last words or shoutouts you want to get out there to the people?
Man just look out for L.I.F.E Entertainment 2010. We got projects coming, we got the boy Rideout coming with The Youngest In Charge. Look for the Lust & Rideout album, we got everything coming. Look out for me coming once again, I am not even going to tell you what the album is going to be called, but look for it because it is coming as well.
If you don’t have the Ms. Ceily Complex, GO PICK IT UP!
It’s on I-Tunes, Amazon, CD Baby, we everywhere right now. Go pick it up, you need to do that.
Appreciate the interview.
