In a strange twist of fate, Lil West actually cares what you think of him.
It’s been well documented up until this point that the gamut of Hip Hop artists who embody the under-the-legal-drinking limit, rebellious era are pretty much immune to criticism. No matter how much trouble they get themselves in — whether it’s with the law or purported authorities of Hip Hop — it hasn’t rattled their artistry one bit. If anything, the ageism wars have prompted such an artist to double down on their unorthodox rap craft.
West is no different, seeing that he identifies his Rap&B sensibilities as being an artist opposed to a rapper but that doesn’t mean he’s not passionate about the product he puts out.
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“I love this generation because we bring new shit to the table,” West explains following the postcard-scenic shoot of his “No More” video. “We mad fucked up and disrespectful but you hear all kinds of new styles now. Even if you think somebody sound like someone else, they still got a tweak or something that’s different and you can still tell the difference. It don’t matter who you try to compare. Everybody has their own type of twist. They might hear me do a melody and be like, ‘Oh he sound like [Lil Uzi]. But I got a whole different approach than how Uzi do it. Everybody got their own twist. It may sound similar but it’s still way different. People always try to put everybody who’s coming up right now in this box. Like if you’re not on some super lyrical shit, you’re in that box automatically.”
When asked what exactly his definition of “super lyrical” was, West described it as “conscious rap” but also explained he had no disdain for the time-tested movement.
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“It’s the better-the-world type of music. And not saying it’s bad, that’s just what it is.”
Wise words indeed from a 20-year-old dreamer hailing from the small town of Bridgeville, Delaware. His upbringing has become an integral part of his narrative. (“I wasn’t good at everything else. I tried it all too. Football, basketball, baseball — and it didn’t grab my attention how music did. Music made me want to put my all into it. I ain’t never have nothing like that made me want to go full force no matter what nobody said,” he admits.) No, we won’t be seeing an influx of rappers from The First State, but his rise to prominence all but proves talent can spring up from anywhere.
And here he is, roughly 3,000 miles away from his hometown at the Great Spirits Ranch in Malibu to shoot his new video. The blissful, farm-like setting is as polarly opposite to atypical California just as much as Malibu’s coastal visage evokes ideal imagery of the state’s natural amenities. But it made for the perfect template to deliver the budding star’s best video yet (which was directed by Noisey director Justin Staples and team).
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“It definitely set the whole mood for the video for you to understand [the lyrics] and when you see it, it might make you feel some type of way,” says West. “It matches exactly with the scene. You’ll see the sunset and be like, ‘Yeah, I see what he means.'”
Being from Delaware also hasn’t impeded West’s digital progress. He’s the current face of SoundCloud and Noisey Singles program. It’s an extension of this past March’s First On SoundCloud initiative and an active measure to value the countless artists who love using the platform.
And he doesn’t shy away from the online connotation in the slightest.
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“I’m cool with being called a ‘SoundCloud Rapper,’ he admits.”I don’t get offended. I like it. I came up on SoundCloud and it did a lot of shit for me. People don’t get it. Yeah, I rep SoundCloud hard.”
For West, making 50 songs for a project and narrowing it down to 10 songs is a therapeutic escape that brings him endless joy. He cops to balancing his angry temperaments with track-making (“I’ll do an angry song and that’s when you hear the trap shit come out”) and also draws a great deal of inspiration from his girlfriend of four years.
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It’s emotional rap without the emo senselessness if you will. Like most of his peers, he doesn’t feel like his music needs label or classifications and still gets taken aback when fans identify with his songs that were created from a precisely personal headspace.
Speaking of headspace, West calmly attributes his long flowing mane with artistic freedom.
“My hair is my everything. This is what people know me by. It makes me, me. I got a lot of hair. Not every artist has long hair,” he proclaims.
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When asked if there were any intentions to dip his locks into some florescent hairspray, West said he knew where to draw the line with a laugh.
“Nah, I’m not gonna go that crazy,” he chuckled. “They be going crazy with that; I can’t go that far. Just because I make the music that I make — and they put me in a box — doesn’t mean I do everything those guys do.”
In just a year’s time, West has managed to attract thousands of followers across social media platforms (SoundCloud included) and has miles of runway ahead of him. But don’t expect him to parade around Bridgeville or anyone’s town for that matter as some sort of bigheaded superstar. He tells unassuming individuals that he does (another attempt for him to give his music some sort of label), he reveals he shys away from the truth altogether.
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“I don’t like telling people that I’m an artist because no one understands when you tell them,” he calmy states. “I hate for someone to treat my craft like that because I put so much into it and I hate for someone to downplay and treat it like it’s nothing. I don’t like shit like that.”
So much for easily boxing in a “SoundCloud rapper,” eh?
Watch Lil West’s “No More Video” up above and follow him on Instagram @LilWestBB.
