At Lunice’s new live show he enters a shady stage. He is cloaked and brandishing an incense-filled thurible. A heavy trap beat drops and the tightly wound crowd lose their shit. Let it never be said that he doesn’t have a sense of occasion. As one half of TNGHT he produced some of last year’s biggest underground club hits and made a considerable stamp on Yeezus. His upcoming album debut will see him make a statement on his solo sound.
What was the first record you owned?
As a kid I remember picking out a record from my Mum’s collection. It was that song – Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head by BJ Thomas. At the time I wasn’t into music, but what I was into was that man’s voice. I would record myself on a boombox and make my own radio show. I just used to talk and then play that song over and over.
What track links you to your heritage?
There’s this one song, but I would never be able to find it. It’s this ethnic traditional Filipino song and it’s just like a chant. My grandfather used to be a tailor back in the Philippines. The song was on his old cassette player and he would play it on loop all day when he was working on suits. It had a ‘chant around the fire’ kind of vibe, with drums and stuff. It was pretty dark but I liked it because it felt almost like a celebration at the same time. I think that I’ve kept that kind of sound within my production in a sense. It’s always been in the back of my mind.
Do you have a song that reminds you of your mother?
When it comes to the disco genre – that’s her shit. Anything by Earth Wind and Fire she would love. Actually, I bought her Earth Wind and Fire tickets for her birthday last year. That was like my baller moment.
What songs remind you of being young?
The best memory of my high school days was not being about high school. I was so disconnected from the hierarchy. I was the guy who hooked up speakers to my backpack. I put in holes and wires and put a CD player inside. At the time I couldn’t afford the anti-shock CD player – so I’d be riding along on my skateboard to school, listening to the Busta Rhymes Genesis album and it would be skipping all the time. I’d be doing ollys and wearing my Safari hat. I was about underground rap – backpacker joints. Nobody understood – it was just me and my best friend Kevin Ly. We were the only two dudes in the whole school that were like that. We understood each other.
Do you have a song that reminds you of Kevin?
No doubt it’s 2 For 5 by Tha Foundation. That was at a time when me and him were really digging for songs. There wasn’t even Napster at the time. It was just us going through different websites and forums and trying to catch songs that we could stream. We loved the track because that was one of our biggest discoveries. And it became like our theme song.
What song inspires the way you perform?
Recently I was watching an in-flight documentary about David Bowie. What I didn’t realise about him was how specific he is about his character and his character development. I took a lot from that in terms of how I wanted to perform my shows. I think a lot about what my character will look like on stage. I like to really pay attention to the details the same way that he would.
Which track by a Canadian artist would you recommend?
CJ Flemings. That guy, he’s got so much potential. What really caught me is how aware of his tone and flow he is. Plus, his subject matter is so dope – it’s nothing like it would be in the States. Most rappers use the American dream structure for their lyrics. But he does what a rapper should do – he talks about what he’s doing and how he feels about it. There’s one verse on a track that we’re working on where he says ‘city talking like we never made it’ – now that’s shit I can relate to.
What was the last record you bought?
It was probably some weird record that I bought at a garage sale for samples. But the record that I can’t stop listening to at the moment is AZ featuring Nas, Gimme Yours. It’s from the golden age era; the funk they had was ridiculous. It was just swag unlimited.
Credits
Text Claire Considine