Having created two new albums and a multitude of tracks in recent months, the work ethic and energy of luv as an artist and producer is taking the indie space by storm.
We caught an interview with luv, to coincide with the released of his latest album Feng Shui. We talk artistic evolution, influences, live performance, and maintaining integrity as his audience grows. Here’s the conversation in full.
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Hi luv – great to connect, thanks for the interview. To introduce things, where are you based, and who or what first inspired your passion for hip hop?
Hi, I’m from Ohio, I think the biggest inspiration to me would probably be Uzi, Carti, Nine, Lone. I luv the difference they make in their music.
What was the first track you ever wrote, and in what ways has your perspective and ability evolved since then?
I’m actually more so a producer just blending self producing and vocalism on beats, my first beat I’ve ever made was “too trim” unfortunately I did take it down but because I want to redo it when I can invest more time into it.
For the new album, why the title Feng Shui – what inspired that, and what connects the songs within?
This album follows along perfectionism a lot, I feel like perfectionism was just the start to the balance of “Feng Shui”.
I feel like the name connects perfectly with the way every track has a balanced sound guaranteed for you to enjoy or at least move a little bit.
Does the production adhere to your past synth and trap-style arrangements, or do you get creative in a different way?
Some of it is blended in but I shifted very, very far with this drop than my previous. I do a lot more experimenting and I have a lot of surprises on this album.
You’ve already released one album this year – how did you separate the two projects and how much more new music do you plan to release?
I actually did not separate the albums, perfectionism is only part one of my whole project, by the summer I want to produce short films for the projects that follow the story I have in my head.
What’s the main difference between Perfectionism and Feng Shui?
The quality of audio, the sound. Perfectionism was about me finding Perfectionism. Feng Shui is about me balancing it.
Who produces your beats, and how do you write your bars – what are the stories that make up these tracks?
I produce all my beats, I write my songs or freestyle, it just depends what song and beat if that makes sense. As for stories I’ve followed love theme stories in some projects but most is just as much swag as possible in a track.
Which one track from your repertoire would you play to a new listener or music executive who only has time for one, and why?
That’s hard, I would definitely play Scam the Stylist or Yves Saint Laurent it’s very hard to decide but I’m leaning more towards Scam the Stylist.
Is live performance on the cards this year, and if so – what’s the big ambition with that?
Yes, absolutely a huge plan for this year probably the biggest goal to achieve this year besides growing a consistent loyal fan base.
How important is image and persona as an indie artist, and what do you bring to the scene in that regard?
I feel like my music can genuinely fit a lot of genres, I live for versatility. I’m always trying something new or experimenting a lot. This album was me expressing that to the fullest blending that genre in.
What motivates you to keep making music, and if your audience was to suddenly expand, how would you maintain your artistic authenticity, and not bend to the expectations of the masses?
As much as I’d love to interact with my fans like I do now I can’t say I can say as easy if I were to gain a lot, of course i’d interact as much as possible but I don’t think i’ll be able to respond to every fan like I do now if that makes sense. I plan on providing different music always keeping my fans hearing something unique each and every time they listen.
What’s something about you that might surprise fans of your music?
Most of my music has been restricted to non studio grade quality but opens a lot more gates up with experimenting.
Is there anything else we should know?
“Music is a passion to me, I love making new sounds, introducing the world to new sounds. I luv music.”
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Find luv on Apple, Instagram, X.
