Lupe Fiasco talks SNDCLSH and solo albums

We recently met up with Lupe Fiasco during Berlin Fashion Week for our sister site Hypebeast in order to talk about his involvement as an advocate for OTW Vans. Besides talking about his history with the brand and his design influences, the Chicago native also talked about SNDCLSH, his latest music project with his friend Sky Gellatly, and the status of Food & Liquor II.

Could you delve a little into SNDCLSH – your collaborative project with your friend Sky Gellatly?
Absolutely. I started DJing two years ago. I was invited by a company to come and DJ at some event. My first reaction was, “I don’t DJ.” I never had at that point. However, they insisted and wanted me to play some music. As I was getting my playlist together, I realized, this was actually dope. I caught the bug right away. It was less about scratching the turntables with my elbows but I realized that I had a good ear for music selection. It got to the point that I joined forces with my partner Sky, who has been DJing for 15 years and having residencies at different places. He’s obviously more of a real DJ than I am. So me and him did a gig together and we noticed the chemistry between us and liked it a lot. We formed SNDCLSH and started to do gigs in Las Vegas and different places. The decision to do our music was more like a natural process. We started with remixes, collaborations with different DJs and producers. This was cool but the desire to come up with our own music got so big that we actually landed in the recording studio and started to create original music which will land on our Don’t Drop The Flag EP which will be out this year. We are currently looking for the first official single. Don’t expect any hip-hop sounds on it. No hip-hop at all. It is not Lupe Fiasco. Just like my punk band Japanese Cartoon is not Lupe Fiasco. This is like club music, what I would like to listen to on the dancefloor. This project has definitely become a passion of mine and we decided to donate all the proceeds to the kids.

Regarding the sound of this project, what are the musical influences?
Yeah man, definitely. We call it SNDCLSH because it is influenced by so many different styles of music. So it’s not just progressive house, it’s not just dubstep, drum n’ bass. It’s all of those things combined. So it would be Daft Punk, all the way to Avicii, Bloody Beetroots, Diplo, Kavinsky, Nero just across the board. Back and forth. It is conceptualized by any song which is on my playlist. And this list is thousands of song. So definitely expect an eclectic blend of sounds on it.

What is the status of your next solo album?
Food & Liquor II is in the works. However, it’s a complicated process – dealing with the record company and all that so I can’t really open up on it right now. But I am definitely looking forward to it and can’t wait to offer something special from Lupe Fiasco. Be on the lookout.