Lil West Interview

Independant music is filled with a wide variety of creatives and only a few stand the test of time while consistently reinventing themselves. Music Mondays got the chance to sit down with none other than multi-genre prodigy Lil West to discuss his brand new project, "In My Dreams..." and this is a one of a kind interview you wont wanna miss.

4/21/23 

Zomb: So let’s start off light, today is April 20th 2023 and I’m sitting down with none other than the underground legend Lil West. How are you on this fine Thursday afternoon?


Lil West: I’m good bro! I’m in good spirits these days.


Zomb: That’s what I like to hear! Nothing but good vibes around. You’re coming off of a very hot project titled “In My Dreams…” and it’s the first full project you’ve released since 2021. Let’s talk about the title and artwork. What was your inspiration for In My Dreams… and the artwork you chose? Tell us a little bit about the aesthetics of this project.


Lil West: Yeah man I wanted to reset and come back different! I’m independent now so I can control my own narrative a lot more. The title for this project was really me trying to explain that it’s no cap in my rap. Everything I rapped about I lived and did! Shit I really dreamed about! For the artwork I wanted to be vague but straight to the point but also relatable and look like I’m “in a dream”. I think I executed it perfectly. 


Zomb: Totally agree without a doubt, especially the artwork and congratulations on coming back to the independent scene. I’ve been an avid lil west listener since 2018 and this sounds like your most mature project to date. What was your creative process like for this project? Did you have a clear path you wanted to take sound wise or was it more about pushing yourself to new heights?


Lil West: Thank you bro for real. I'm living more and experienced so much comin up so you know all that just falls in with the music. Usually when I make projects I never have a set path. I just make a bunch of high quality songs and somehow they cohesively go together. Honestly the creative process was fun for real, some of these songs are 2 years old that I just been sitting on. I was working closely with my good friend/executive producer of this tape. I sent him some old songs, we stripped them down, built around the vocals and made new ones! I flew to LA & NYC to record some new ones as well, shit was fun as hell.

Zomb: Well said. I’m sure it felt so relieving to get a lot of the older tracks out you were sitting on. The variety on this project with your sound is so wide, I feel like there’s something on here for every Lil West listener. I can’t help but notice there are no features, was that intentional or did it just happen to turn out that way?


Lil West: Bro hell yeah! It’s still more I wanna get out that I’m sitting on but that will happen in due time. Sometimes I rap over shit so good the quality of the production isn’t as unique as me if that makes sense, so then they get stashed away lol. I 100% did every style so it’s lil bit for everybody! People like me for different shit so I can’t really stick to 1 style cause that wouldn’t be fair or fully creative. Not gonna lie at first I did want a couple features but sometimes I do songs so good I just honestly can’t hear anybody that would execute properly like me or like I would want them too! So then I was just like fuck it, people need to love me first! I can be my own feature because of my change of styles/voice changes lol.


Zomb: You’re speaking nothing but facts, I love that your creativity took the front seat here because it really shows throughout the project. If you had to choose, what song from this project is your favorite?


Lil West: I just feel like that's what the game needs right now! I’m good at making timeless/unique shit and there's not a lot of that right now! Everything now is kinda fast and gone tomorrow but it’s creative. My favorite song from the project would prolly be Red Eyes. I don't know bro that shit sounds like a smash hit! People never heard me on any production like that. That song is so timeless and universal! I couldn't see anybody saying “yeah thats trash” Every age group could listen to that.


Zomb: Red Eyes is ABSOLUTELY one I kept coming back to! I completely agree with you, music moves so fast in this environment so making timeless shit you can look back on and be proud of is so important. Tell us one message you want Lil West supporters to take from this project that they might not get on the first listen? What’s something you want the people to know about In My Dreams…?


Lil West: “Red eyes'' gives me chills everytime and makes me happy a lot of people feel the same way about it! I think people should just have an open mind when they listen to this tape and not listen to this thinking he’s another “lil” rapper or think Im another “underground” rapper. This is something authentic and real, nobody sounds like this or makes shit like this.

Zomb: Exactly! Lil West is 100% something completely separate and always an insane mix of genres. Do you have any plans for music videos or visuals for tracks from this project?


Lil West: Hell yeah! I got a mini visualizer for “Barbie'' dropping today‼️ and a couple more mini music videos I’m dropping later next month.


Zomb: Let’s go! I know the supporters are gonna be so excited and I’m definitely looking forward to the visuals. We’ll definitely be keeping our eyes peeled. What’s the 2023 live schedule looking like for lil west? Do you have any planned dates or are you interested in performing?


Lil West: Yuh! There could be a video for every song we will see though. 2023 will definitely have more new music forsure, probably have a deluxe or a sequel to this tape! No shows yet will probably start planning for that real soon for the summer! Definitely open to shit like that.


Zomb: We love that! The world needs Lil West to touch down and give us some more insane performances. A deluxe would also be so fire. Everyone always asks you about your Soundcloud history but you’ve progressed so much since than. Are there any artists you’d like to work with again from that era or are you fully moving on to new things?


Lil West: Yeah this year I wanna drop a lot more and perform more I still feel like im such a mystery. Definitely a couple guys I will always wanna work with from da SoundCloud days! 100GECS and night lovell! They are so creative and unique to me, but other than that definitely onto new things.


Zomb: Lil West always is always progressing! That’s really good to hear man. One of the last questions I had for you is music aside, what keeps you grounded when you aren’t creating? What keeps you sane outside of music.


Lil West: Forever & Always. I think the lifestyle just keeps me grounded. Shopping, partying, girls, taking trips & my friends. That's what I'm on when all the work is done.


Zomb: Honestly couldn’t agree more, life is too short to not enjoy the finer things sometimes. This last question might come out of left field but as I was doing research for our conversation I couldn’t help but ask who was your favorite skater growing up? Do you still skate every now and again?


Lil West: Way too short and always room for more experiences. Oh shit I wasn’t expecting that one, I got few for real! Probably Corey Duffel because of how fucking fearless and extreme he was, he damn near was a Rockstar in my eyes! Of course Chris Haslam, I think he was better than Rodney Mullen for real. Chris did funky shit on the board I never seen anybody do. Last would probably be Antwuan Dixon, I met him on facetime recently while I was at a festival. I had a hard ass Death Wish board by him when he was with them. Growing up I was obsessed with Terry Kennedy too, he was fly as hell while he was skating! My skateboarding days are so over, I wanted to be a pro skater before rap though! It’s like riding a bike you never forget how to do it.


Zomb: So many good names there the nostalgia is flooding in man! Wow such a wonderful response but it's exactly just like a bike, you might have noodle legs but you’ll be alright lol. Huge shout out everyone mentioned there, really was curious about that one. Big shout out to you for taking some time to sit down with us because it was an honor. Do you have any last words of motivation or shoutouts before we log off? 


Lil West: All them guys are big big legends! Could never forget em! Facts though I would be sore as hell when I’m done. I appreciate y’all for real. Shoutout to my team, day 1’s and everybody that played a part with this new album. Boss up and ball hard are my words for the world!


Zomb: Well fucking said! Huge shoutout to Lil West and make sure you go stream "In My Dreams…" available on all platforms right now!


Stream "In My Dreams...": lnk.to/LilWest-InMyDreams 


Follow Lil West: twitter.com/lilwestbb 

www.instagram.com/lilwestbb/ 


Written By Zomb Slays: linktr.ee/ZombSlays