One of the perks of being home for a few weeks is being able to attend local shows. On July 24, I had an opportunity to see Juice Lord live at Moxy, part of Sole 2 Dotz's growing brand, The Vibe. If you haven't been to a show yet, seriously check it out. It's a must-attend event for anyone that considers themselves a true hip-hopper.

Ahead of the show, I connected with Juice Lord via Zoom. We talked about his 6/6 tape, his recent Spread Luv tape, and how personal loss, the death of George Floyd, and how being a rising St. Paul giant has matured his penmanship.

JEFFREY BISSOY: You've dropped two incredible projects in back-to-back years in 6/6 and now, Spread Luv. How would you describe the difference and growth in those two projects?

JUICE LORD: The obvious difference, one is an EP and one is an album. I think the difference is also the second year of 2020. It's still a pandemic. It's still uncertainty. So many things are going on in the environment of creating. The process, it takes months. Just letting things and life happen is similar. I worked with people that I worked with before, being able to lock into a studio overnight consistently with Ethos [Juice's producer].

6/6, I was going to different locations, but Spread Luv is an extension of 6/6 as far as that. The front cover was at Midway, outside of Foot Locker. This was after the riots. It's been down since the fires. It's not coming back, there's a new stadium built, lots of things constantly changing. So, me highlighting where I'm from, both covers shot by Samantha and my friend Jacolby, but I also had fun on some records. It was a full-length project, so I could express a lot more and get out different thoughts.

You've mentioned that you had to vocalize and share your observations and thoughts, the pandemic, the killing of George Floyd and the riots that followed. As a rapper, why is that so important to you?

Hip Hop, poetry, diaries, all of it is therapy — it's an outlet. So many people don't have that outlet, so who am I to not have an outlet, something to express these thoughts? In the midst of these thoughts, it was coaching kids, and working in St. Paul Public Schools, in the cafeteria. Kids have sparked a lot of being positive and expressing those thoughts.

It means a lot. For me to do that. There's people that can relate, people that know me too can know first hand, they saw me grow up. They direct family. It's everything, to say the least. It's a "woosah." As writers, we have to reflect on the times. I think of Nina Simone. Whenever something is wrong, when something is real, people try to make being smart and being in tune with yourself as corny, or try to deflect the realness for a lot of things. They like to buy into conspiracy, to attack the real things that are being said and happening. To diffuse that, they say he's crazy … I feel like to reflect the times and where you're at, whether its photos, regardless of art, is a responsibility to let it out. It takes strength. It's a hard thing to do.

Poetry, acting, being with kids, to just be yourself is essential. So many things that have been reflected that have been misconstrued or flipped around. Documenting Midway and local businesses is what we got, things are changing, new developments.

Are there Concepts that you would like to further explore that you haven't yet had the opportunity to dissect?

Life imitates art. Sometimes the best way to address things is not even saying nothing. I think there's a lot going on. To be able to have perspective and have your own thoughts on what you're talking about is everything … I just let things fly, off top. It's finding that first sentence to start it. That's where I'm at.

It seems to me that in today's music era, mastering the rollout of a project is vital to its success. With your recent projects, you've become an expert in this, with merch, concerts and well-timed snippets. How have you become so masterful with your roll-out game?

Really just posting a lot on social media and figuring out how you want to present. 6/6, we took those photos before the pandemic. January and February, we took those photos after Lexii passed. We dropped a few singles there. Used cover art of Hickory Hut. We dropped a few things here and there. We figured out how to release songs and dropped photos sporadically, until the project dropped. We described each location and why they were selected.

6/6 unfortunately didn't have the best rollout because I lost my cousin. The video I dropped was a loved one. My cousin was in the video, but he died two days after that. I went through a lot of things after that too.

Spread Luv is the growth of that. It's releasing the thoughts and emotions I feel. Some bad thoughts, even if I didn't say it then, I let it out on the beat. Me breathing, me rapping. I think with spread luv, I just went to the studio and had a photoshoot and Samantha took dope photos and came up with ideas for the front and back photos. I took my little cousin to take ice cream at a local shop. My friends of the family, dudes I grew up with, in the hood. I took all the kids to get ice cream. That was just another forming piece of the tape. I still have to drop more photos.

How have you grown in the last year, and how have you been incorporating that in your rollout?

I'm showing I'm human, being creative. As a fan, why do I want to listen to your new album, especially if you're not a big established artist and separating yourself from the pack? For me, it's just me being me, because nobody knows me. Some know me in the city, some folks scattered across the country, worldwide, but I still have to become a household name. Just trying to be seen. Rollouts are important to show you have something to offer. Why should I come to your show?

To answer your own question, why should someone come to a Juice Lord show?

It's different, it's real, it's love, everything written comes from a real place. Hearing my songs sometimes or seeing photos doesn't do me enough justice. Seeing me live, letting those thoughts out for real, getting them across on another level is why people should come and see me perform, because I don't rap with my vocals. It's something that deserves to be seen. Not only will you see me rap, laugh, joke, you get to interact with me and have a conversation with me. I'm a dope person. That's why. I love my city, I rep, I spread love. That's what it's about. You should definitely meet the people that inspire me and that I inspire. People should come through. I give it my all, if it's 10, 100 people or more. I think I show what I have to offer.

You worked with some familiar artists on Spread Luv that you've connected with in the past. That said, were there new features on this project that were particularly special for you?

That record would be Drawing Board with Emmanuel Carter, he has a video called color blind and is working on a project. And Ethos, you gotta learn about him. He's a producer, he produced that beat and several songs on the project. Me and Carter just cooked from it and came from a real place. That's a feature on there that I loved a lot and "The Distance" with Why Khaliq, Kaleem the Dream, Najé and Lucien Parker. That was a big track for me, too, because I got to yell with my brothers on the track. It felt like old times, when we first started getting in the studio together. Got to show how far we came and where we started. We pulled it together. The distance because we're trying to go the distance.

As a fellow St. Paulite, I got mad love for you repping St. Paul as heavily as you do. Last summer, we grabbed a meal at Taste of Rondo and everyone knew you. In many ways you've become a hometown hero. Is that shocking for you or is it something you've been striving towards?

Lots of people really believe in me. l believe in people that believe in me. It means a lot and it's a lot of responsibility. I'm realizing that I shouldn't put it all on me. I always say I'm one of many, because there's more than several artists that are really putting the town on. The young bro, KayCyy Pluto, is about to be on Kanye's next album, he's from St. Paul. If that don't show you we don't have something to offer, I don't know what's up.

We got artists working with Baby Face, so many people doing their thing in the city from St. Paul. So many of us are doing our thing. Kaleem the Dream, Why Khaliq, Minnesota Tek, Destiny Roberts, too, many people doing their thing. Just to be one of them, I think I'm the town's favorite, but I'm one of them that has opportunity and a chance. The people that are artists have to push, and we need fans to push us, too. Sometimes there are more artists at shows than people.

We have artists that are better than these big artists, but we need the push from the Twin Cities. I hate hearing that artists don't support each other, but they do. But in life, if you ain't cool with someone, you ain't gonna gel with everyone. If it's bad here, it's ten times worse in the game. It's about who's hot now. It's the worst in the game, what can you do for me now, game. Sometimes your energy ain't for everybody.

The world is bigger than Minnesota, I love my place, but I know that I got to get out of here too. Overall, I believe I'm one of the ones, and I know that people have to realize that too.

Not only are you a hometown hero, you're slowly but surely becoming a young vet in the Cities with your consistent, high-quality projects. When you hear that, what does that spark in you?

I'm still the youngest!! Midwest young! I think I've done that and am still doing that. On projects and shows, I'm still getting involved, opportunities … It's about getting acknowledged and giving back. You might have sparked something in somebody. It's a domino effect. Before I started, I saw Lexii, Why Khaliq doing these things. I would just hoop and do poetry. I looked up to Lexii and seeing her, Muja and Metasota perform, I knew that's where I needed to be. Even Tek, with him, I got there. B Dot Croc, The Lioness, whatever the case may be. I saw them and so I got there and I'm still trying to get there. It's a respect thing.

You've talked about the importance of building a strong Minnesota Hip-Hop community. How are playing an active role in giving back and building that community?

Lots of young people that I rock with. I try to work with them. I'm big on energy, but again some artists want to work, but something ends up happening. I want to work with as many young and up-and-coming artists as possible. Dope dudes, dope women. I'm working with lots of women on hooks, Foxybrownskin Kay, she's on the album. She's an amazing MC and gassed that sh**. During the quarantine and clubhouse times, Martha Diaz, who runs the hip-hop museum, had a room talking about women empowerment in hip-hop. I told myself when working with artists, I would always make it happen.

Genuinely, I want to help women be in positions to be successful. Opportunity and finding opportunity for people. I want to be part of that, whether there's money or not. Sometimes opportunity without money is how you get on eventually. Presentation and representation, and being an example, not a perfect example, because nobody's perfect. I believe that being good to people, it comes back. If it doesn't when you want to, it's gonna come back. If it don't come back to you. It's a domino effect.

We have lots of dope young creators, promoters, musicians, even in cosmetics — doing hair, makeup, skin care — all these things that all of it is art. Everything gets created. You create something, opportunities, something of use, you are an artist. However you create, architect, all of it is art. Opportunity is everything, if you can receive opportunity, do it to your best. You will learn if some opportunities ain't good opportunities, and it becomes a learning experience.

Jeffrey Bissoy is a former assistant producer at MPR News. Born in Yaoundé, Cameroon, raised in The Twin Cities and now based in Mexico City, Jeffrey has grown a passion for representation and identity, Hip-Hop, and the impact of sports on society. In addition to his work at The Current, Bissoy has also written for The Sahan Journal and other outlets, and he is the CEO and founder of The Plugged App.

External Link

Juice Lord - Bandcamp

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• The Vibe is enabling creativity in the Twin Cities Hip-Hop scene