The Life of a Rapstar

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What do you get when you mix together two hippie parents, a grandfather that sang with legendary artists, Santa Barbara college radio, and tight pants? Well if you’re an underground hip-hop fan, then the answer is Lexicon.

Having performed all over the globe and having music featured in movies and TV shows, Lexicon now adds live instruments to create a unique sound in the hip hop world. After taking a three-year leave from the music scene after an outpour of tight jeans wearing, long haired, mini-Lexicons, and a plethora of commercialized mainstream and underground hip hop, Lexicon has come back, better than ever, promoting their party infused lifestyle with eloquence. LAist was able to catch half of the L at prehaps one of the most entertaining dive bars that LA has to offer, thanks Nick!

LAist: After keeping fans in dire anticipation for three years, what inspired you to reinvent Lexicon as a rap/rock group?

Lexicon: We were really upset with the state of Hip-Hop, mainstream and underground, and really music as a whole. After Youth Is Yours was officially done, and we were ready to start working on the new record, we knew we wanted it to be something different than what we were doing and what everyone else was doing, we just weren’t sure what. We are working with C-Minus now, who has a whole different edge than Cheapshot, so there was no reason to even try to duplicate the sound we created with Cheapshot over the previous years. So we tried and tried and tried…in the past three years we have literally recorded 100 songs. Just looking for the right sound and mesh. We had a side project we were working on with a friend of ours named Chris Lee from a band called Goldspot, which was a rock project, and the two just started to blend together. And a little bit at a time we started to figure out exactly what it was we were trying to accomplish here, and then it all came together as what you’ve got here!

How is Lexicon staying true to Hip-Hop?

It’s two turntables, an SP-1200, and two emcees. It’s Hip-Hop at the base, we just added guitars. We’re keeping it real to ourselves! We’ve said FUCK IT, to all of the confines of Hip-Hop to be more real in our minds. Our lyrics are pure Hip-Hop, the drums are pure Hip-Hop, and the swagger is Hip-Hop. On probably our most rock sounding sock off of the upcoming LP, c-minus flipped the famous Apache drum loop in a way never been done. THAT’S HIP-HOP.

Is it hard being brothers and being a rap duo?

It's actually kind of easy. We are on the same page all the time, so the concepts and the future of the group is never in question. And when we do fight and disagree, the band is never in jeopardy of breaking up, ya know? Mom would be too mad. Haha. Plus, a big part of Hip-Hop duos is the chemistry, so being brothers, the chemistry is almost kind of weird. We finish each other's sentences way too much.

Who is the better MC?

Trying to break us up, eh? Haha. Even though it's two of us, we see Lexicon as one emcee; so really, neither of us would be shit without the other.

Off of The Rapstars E.P., in the song "Big Money," you have some pretty funny lyrics like, "She asked my why I don't fix the dents on my civic, I told her she wouldn't understand that it's aerodynamic." Do you really use those lines when trying to pick up women?

Hahaha, no I'm not smooth in real life. A lot of the song is true though, and so are a lot of the lies, but its not really to impress the women, its just so they don't laugh at us.

Off of that E.P., you have another song called "Junk Food." Who or what is your junk food?

Nothing too exciting, just women, weed, alcohol, and VH1 reality TV.

Lexicon is due to release a new album soon. Although you guys are keeping wraps on your collaborations, are there any other surprises that we can we look forward to?

Yes, the Rapstars LP will be out in 2007. You can expect a similar vibe to the Rapstars EP, but its even a bit edgier and just solid. We are mixing the completed record right now and I couldn't be happier. I can't really say who is going to be on it yet, but as always there will not be a lot of collabos, just a few, rock and Hip-Hop, and definitely people you have heard of and would not expect to work with the L. We are also going to a do a series or remixes for every single with a lot of the hot producers in different genres, so watch out for that too!

What was your first song, and what inspired it?

It was called "Nicky- B is in the Mix." 1990, and inspired by mix of Chubb Rock Treat Em Right, and Marky Marks classic Good Vibration. Haha.

What was your favorite show that you have done?

We played P3 (power 106's festival) for like 10,000 people, so that was obviously amazing, and have opened for KRS-One, and Brand Nubian, Eminem and a handful of other groups that it has been an honor to share a stage with, but honestly, the best shows are the small towns in like Montana and Utah. The joy for music is so alive in smaller towns. There is an energy unlike anything I have been to or played in LA.

If you could do a collaboration with anyone dead or alive, who would it be, and why?

It's so passé to say right now, but seriously, Dilla. I've always been a fan; he's probably produced 10 of my 20 favorite songs of all time. I always hoped one day we would work him, so yeah.

Who are your biggest musical inspirations of all time?

A Tribe Called Quest, The Police, The Beatles, Big Daddy Kane, and the Strokes.

Boxers or briefs?

Briefs. Boxers don't fit under slim jeans. Haha. How Hip-Hop is THAT?