I had the pleasure of sitting down with Lucky Logan for an interview. We discussed “Reincarnation of Cool,” which is out now on iTunes,  his place in Hip Hop, life without a dad, and the Illuminati (at least I tried to lol). I have to say, very thoughtful guy that Lucky Logan!

Enjoy!

Who Needs a Genre: Hello Lucky Logan! Before I get into the questions, I just want to thank you for taking the time out of your busy day for this interview. Also, congrats on the album, its DOPE! The production is AMAZING! It’s very different and I want to thank you for being different as well. If I hear another hip hop song about “swag” or blowing down pounds of weed, I may denounce the art form lol.

Lucky Logan: Thank you! I appreciate your kind words.

Who Needs a Genre: Seriously though, what inspires you to rap the way you do? Hip hop these days seems to be based on either shock value or pure materialism. Look at Lil B with his “I’m Gay” album, its obvious he was going the shock value route. What keeps you away from the gimmicks? I’m starting to think that Lil Wayne wearing those leggings at the VMA’s was a great example of a gimmick to get album sales as opposed to an artist being truly himself.

Lucky Logan: To be very honest with you, I think hip hop has always been the way it is. The only difference today is mainstream attention is on just one kind of hip hop. In the golden days of hip hop, there was more diversity in the different styles of hip hop you heard on the radio for example. The different niches of hip hop had a more level playing field than today. When the business of hip hop realized that it could be more lucrative selling what we see today, diversity was killed. Those niches still exist, but on the fringes of mainstream attention. So to answer your question, I’m inspired to create art that I feel truly expresses me. A constituent of the hip hop generation, my medium happens to be rhythm and poetry, so my goal is to use the medium to the best of my creative abilities. I have to admit, I’ve done what might be considered gimmicks in my tenure as an artist, but as I mature in my art, I realize more and more that I really don’t need them as long as I remain honest and truly express who I think I am. There was a time in my life when I was very critical and judgmental of other artists, but as I mature as a person and an artist, I see more how fruitless and unbeneficial it is. I literally get nothing from it. So I have adopted this habit of learning something new from every expression I come across. I also understand that there is enough room in life for any and all expressions. I may not be a fan of a certain expression but I consider it a waste of my time to judge it. After all this capacity of expression is what makes us sentient beings.

Who Needs a Genre: On the title track, “Reincarnation of Cool” you define “cool” as being “how you see yourself…when you value life, you can know your rights, then you know your worth.” Can you explain this a little, what do you mean by “know your rights?” What brought you to this idea of cool? Often times in hip hop we see negative things as being “cool.”

Lucky Logan: ROC is a song I wrote for myself as a reminder, an affirmation. For a long time my friends told me I was a poet and not a rapper, but I kept insisting that I was a rapper. That really made me question what the difference was, thus questioning who I was. Then I started to realize that it was their acceptance of my art that I wanted. Hence, the gimmicks I mentioned before. I’d change my work attempting to please them, which seldom worked because what they liked wasn’t always what I liked. Over time, I came to accept the fact that I am a poet. I got to know myself even more through observation of my own expressions. I see what I do as art now and am after the purest expression of me. What I am is what I want to be, and I’m cool with that. Being yourself at all times and against all odds is cool.

Who Needs a Genre: I have to admit Logan, your album has thrown me into a world of thought. On “Sun of Man” I assume you are speaking of the sun. But the title “Sun Of Man” is very similar to the Christian idea of Jesus being the “Son Of Man.” What are you trying to say? What’s the connection, if any?

Lucky Logan: Thank you! The song is really about unconditional love. It’s about how we as humans can be so ungrateful as to take life for granted yet never really avail ourselves of its offerings. As ungrateful as we are, we are still given life, if that is not unconditional love, what is? The Sun Of Man is that thing within us giving us life. It is that thing inside the seed that makes it a tree. That thing has been there and always will be. Humor me, imagine if your child didn’t acknowledge you as existing, how hard would it be to keep loving him/her as if the love was reciprocated? The Sun Of Man seems to have no difficulty in this department, whether we acknowledge it or not, it still works on our behalf. Humans are still here and trees still grow. That’s unconditional love.

WNAG: One of my favorite songs on the album is “Calculated Fury.” It shows a more aggressive side of you. You seem like a pretty calm and introspective guy, what brought this side out? “My mind is faster than your bullet is, now matter how full your clipper is, listen, your clitoris.” I love that line.

LL: We all have an aggressive side to us whether we admit it or not. There is a time for peace and a time for war. There is a time for anger and a time for calm. This is the duality of life. The idea is to maintain equilibrium, remaining internally balanced through the peaks and dips of life. “Calculated Fury” represents essentially the mastering of anger as opposed to being mastered by anger.

WNAG: I too grew up with no father, for a long time I was angry at him. I feel like a lot of black men, men in general, have to deal with insecurities as a result of not having a proper male role model in the home. But you forgive your dad on “Forgive and Forget.” You said, “forgiving you I read is forgiving myself.” I paused the song at that point to think. What does that mean? Why do you have to forgive yourself? What did you do wrong? Your dad left you! You didn’t leave him.

LL: I’ve learned that emotions can really affect rational thought. What I mean is you’re right he wasn’t around not me. Let’s call that hurt number 1, which was painful enough. Being angry only makes me not feel good and leads to self destructive behavior, which is hurt number two. Hurt one, I had nothing to do with, that’s like an accident it happens. Like my man Drew says, put an H on your chest and handle it. Hurt number 2 now, I can do something about. The only way to not be angry is to forgive him, which is what I read. Forgiving him prevents hurt number 2 from growing and kills it while automatically pacifyies hurt number one. But in the throes of emotion, thinking goes out of the window and we hurt ourselves even more. Ending that vicious cycle for myself is what that songs represents.

WNAG: You don’t have too many features on the album, 1 singer, 1 female speaking the hook, and only 1 other rapper appears on the album. Don’t like sharing the stage? What made you decide to make this album mainly you?

LL: For years, I hid behind a lot of features and things of the sort. I really wasn’t as confident in my work as I am now. This album actually made me realize that. This is another phase of my development as an artist. To be able to express myself honestly without hiding was the objective in crafting Reincarnation Of Cool. There are still some reservations but they’ll get worked out on future projects as I get better acquainted with my audience.

WNAG: In your bio you write about a blogger telling you that your “music was too deep for Hip Hop” after which you curtly responded “so learn how to swim.” LOL I love that! Where does Lucky Logan fit in today’s world of hip hop?

LL: You know what’s funny, I don’t. Lucky Logan is in a class by himself.

WNAG: This has nothing to do with the album, but I’m just curious as to what you think about Lupe Fiasco’s efforts to “enlighten” people on the government. Did you hear how he called Obama a terrorist? Also, what do you think of the Illuminati in hip hop?

LL: Like I said earlier, we all have our expressions. Yes I heard it. There was a time when I would have criticized him. Not anymore. In fact, his voice has helped me gain confidence in expression of my point of view. If he can say what he’s saying as unabashedly and passionately as he is, I ask myself why can’t I be just as passionate in my expression? About your last question, to be honest with you I really don’t think about it.

WNAG: Are you familiar with Kellee Maize? I had the pleasure of interviewing her, she is a female MC who reminds me of you. You both have a very spiritual vibe. I asked her what her thoughts were on 2012, many people believe the world will end, I think that’s a very illogical belief. But what are your thoughts?

LL: Funny, believe it or not I read her interview on your blog (whoneedsagenre.com). She seems like a really cool person. Really, you think so? I see what you mean. To be honest, I don’t think about that either.

WNAG: Who does Lucky Logan listen to? Whats in your ipod?

LL: Me, I listen to all kinds of music, don’t forget I am also a producer. Lately I’ve been checking out Lana Del Rey. She’s really talented. For the most part I listen to a lot of music from Accapellas to Zydeco. I have three streaming services I subscribe to.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to sit and answer these questions. It was very informative, you’re definitely an artist to watch out for!

For More on Lucky Logan, visit his OFFICIAL WEBSITE