Review & Interview: RIP Lux – Hot Summer

RIP Lux spoke with us about his newest project Hot Summer. The 23-minute album features brooding boom bap beats and grimy flows. The classic 90s mafioso sound will makes fans of rappers like Big Pun feel right at home. One of my favourites is “November Rain.”

Q:
Your sound is great. It reminds me of Mobb Deep and that wave of classic artists. Who are your biggest influences and how did they shape you?

A:
Mobb is definitely a major influence, also CNN, Tragedy, Nas, AZ.. basically that whole 90s Queensbridge sound I can say has had the biggest impact sonically, but in terms of the subject matter I lean more towards political rappers like Zack De La Rocha, dead prez… most of my shit has that conscious and revolutionary undercurrent, but still with a street edge.

Q:
What was your mindset when writing and recording this album?

A:
Mindset was really to make the type of album that boom bap heads would fuck with. Had kind of a vision for an album with some dark hard-hitting beats and intricate political/conspiratorial/philosophical rhymes. I finished the album relatively fast (in a few months) because I had a bunch of ideas in my head I needed to get out.

Q:
What motivates you to make music?

A:
When I was younger I was motivated by success, money etc probably like every other rapper. After some years though that shit really has no appeal to me whatsoever – now I really just want to make the best record that I can.

Q:
What do you hope listeners get from listening to the album?

A:
What I try to do with these political and philosophical themes in my rhymes is to kind of sneak them in as to not beat the listener over the head with it – because no one is trying to hear a textbook in rap form. So I hope the listeners pick up on that and it gets them thinking.

Q:
How’d you go about getting beats?

A:
Many different ways. Have a bunch of producers I rock with on the regular. May run into people either in person or online and they’ll send me beats as well. Also, I’m always checking out beats on Youtube/Beatstars, and when I write I may try out verses on a bunch of different beats until I find a good match.
Q:
What area are you from and how has it shaped your tastes? Did your parents’ tastes influence your tastes at all?

A:
I’m originally from Eastern Europe (Yugoslavia), the civil war we had there in the 90s was essentially my childhood, and that has obviously had a major influence on me as a person, as well as my music. I would say it probably forms the basis of my worldview and then my lyrics by extension.