Growing up as a teenager in South East London during the grime era meant I was heavily exposed to it, it was all anyone listened to at the time. Before artists stretched across the city their music wouldn’t get far unless they’d managed to get on Channel U or Westwood; people were more interested in local acts because it was that much easier to get hold of their music. I grew up on Armani Lucas (formerly Woer Kid) and got my grime fix everytime I was lucky enough to have someone send me one of his tracks to my phone during class. Eventually the age of the local grime artist dissipated and a lot of them slinked away into the background, opting instead for a nine to five or further education. Armani Lucas decided to make a career out of music and took fans by storm when he came back after a years absence with a new name and a new genre: rap.
I was skeptical when I heard the tempo of an instrumental he was about to jump in on and it clicked that he had, like a lot of the old grime MCs, come back a rapper, but as soon as he started rapping it felt to me that he was at home on 80bpm. As an artist who’s experienced the transition that music in London has gone through in the past few years he knows of the hardships that come with trying to make it. I decided to catch up with Armani Lucas and find out about what his past present and future and he was kind enough to give me the first interview which in itself turned out to be an intimate exposé into his life and those around it.
[Me]: You’ve been doing music for a long time, personally I’d say you’re a veteran because I’ve known about you for so long. The wider industry, on the other hand, would consider you a newcomer which must be frustrating-how do you see yourself?
[Armani Lucas]: I’d say I’m a newcomer, I used to do grime but changed it up to rap like a year or two ago. There’s loads of people who still haven’t heard of me and they’re the people I’m trying to connect with right now, so I’ve got to be humble and accept that I’m a newcomer for now. Of course I started doing music in 2004 as a grime artist but back then it was all just a hobby, I only started exploring music as a career in 2010.
[Me]: Why did you make the change and how difficult was this transition from grime to rap? The fans always knew you as a 140BPM artist, how could you be sure that it’s what they wanted?
[Armani Lucas]: Before I started spitting grime, I always had an ear for rap and my relationship with it was intimate; you have to bear in mind that the times when I’d started grime rapping wasn’t the cool thing to do where I’m from. The transition from grime to rap was very easy for me though because I basically grew up on rap. As for the fans, I think they’ve supported me along my musical journey. Regardless of what kind of music I’m doing I feel I have something else to bring to the table because the nature of the lyrics stay the same, right now I’m a hip hop artist but I’m versatile-if I hear a sound and I like it I’m all up for exploring the possibilities and having a feature on it.
[Me]: That’s real cool, I like that you’re versatile in your music. You know what, I know that this is something everyone wants to know...the name! Why the change from your original Woer to Armani Lucas? Surely it made it difficult to bring with you all the fans you’d already accumulated? When I discovered ‘City lights’ I didn’t clock on that it was your song until a few bars in.
[Armani Lucas]: Yeah, I thought it would cause problems, but I thought I’d been known as Woer for far too long and Woer was a grime artist. You know what, a lot of people didn’t even know how to pronounce it properly which was a drag. As for the fans, I’m sure I lost some but I’ve also gained some along the way.
[Me]: Now they know.
[Armani Lucas]: Yeah, but I do feel like I’m in contact with a lot of them and I did make a big thing of alerting people about the name change and whatnot. On my youtube videos I’ve put up a few tracks and labeled them ‘Armani Lucas, formerly known as Woer’ which I hoped would help that situation.
[Me]: That’s some fan loyalty, but before we talk about the old I want to touch on the new. I mentioned ‘City Lights’ a bit ago, there isn’t a time that it pops up on my shuffle and I don’t pull it back at least once. It certainly knocks ‘All of the lights’ off as the anthem for when my train pulls into London at night. What’s the story behind it?
[Armani Lucas]: I’m a big fan of that song too, basically I was in the studio and felt like making a different sort of track. I spoke to the studio engineer about the idea of ‘City Lights’ and he was all for it; I started writing and within the hour ‘City Lights’ was recorded and complete. During the time I was going through some issues with my ex so I think it helped me get into tune with the song and capture the raw emotions I had.
[Me]: It’s big, it’s that emotional rap that’s going to make movements; a lot of rappers out of London want to talk about guns and selling drugs and you’re moving different which is sure to produce amazing results. let’s talk a little bit about the past, you started off your career with Ride or Die which was you, Intruder and Krimzie; the last time I bumped into you guys you were pushing your ‘Introduction’ EP at a festival, what happened to your ties with them?
[Armani Lucas]: You know as we grow older situations change around us, it’s a forever cycle; you gain some new ties and you lose some old ones which makes space for the new. To be honest, I haven’t spoken to them in a long time, right now I’ve got a new team and a new mind set and it’s what I’m running with-I don’t think Intruder and Krimzie even rap anymore.
[Me]: So they aren’t on the Ride or Die team at all anymore? I notice that you still use the Ride or Die emblem, I assume you’re still on that.
[Armani Lucas]: Just to Clear it up, Ride or Die ent. was founded by me, it’s my company and the logo will be with me until I exit the rap game-in fact even after I do because I want to push it as a label and sign artists.
[Me]: That clears the mist around it all; it’s a pity though, that ‘Introduction’ tape was fire. There was a period when I didn’t hear from you, 2009-2010. What was happening and where were you?
[Armani Lucas]: That’s when i was on the verge of giving up on music because I had no studio, I was at university and my ex gave birth to my son that year. It’s also the year I discovered my new team. I guess you could say I was transforming into Armani Lucas in that period.
[Me]: Congratulations on your son. I like that, “transforming into Armani Lucas”- there’s a story behind it all.
[Armani Lucas]: Yeah, the story continues too; music has taught me a lot and humility is undoubtedly the best attribute I inherited from it.
[Me]: That’s good, humility. A lot of artists want it all straight away, but then, since the game’s changed with the advent of the internet artist it has been possible to get it all straight away if the right cards are played-we’ve seen Soulja Boy do it. So how have changes in the game affected you and how are you going about pushing yourself now? I know myspace was a massive part of your previous success, but now that myspace has almost become obsolete for new artists...
[Armani Lucas]: Props to Soulja Boy, he came hard. Once you’ve got your marketing strategy right the world is your oyster, that’s what I’m trying to get hold of right now, marketing. I want to be able to push my music far out and be sure that it’s being heard. I’m using Twitter, Youtube, Facebook and Soundcloud to push my sound though.
[Me]: It’s not like the old days, huh? Back then it was all mobile phone music, I remember when I first heard your ‘havana’ was when someone in my school sent it to my phone via bluetooth!
[Armani Lucas]: Yeah, I miss those days, it was harder to progress but easier at the same time, if you get me; these days everybody is rapping so it’s harder to be heard, if I knew back then what I know now...Boy!
[Me]: Speaking of the old days, what about your affiliations with Top Boy Movements? are you the only one out of that collective to come out still making music?
[Armani Lucas]: TBM? I guess I’m the only surviving artist, the rest went to jail which threw me off because they were more like my brothers.
[Me]: That’s unfortunate, they were some amazing artists. What future projects should the folks be listening out for?
[Armani Lucas]: We’ve been in the studio consistently for the last eight months and in that time we’ve recorded over fifty bangers, I’m looking to release a mixtape in early 2012 and bring out more videos. There’s a lot to look out for R.O.D.E 2012.
[Me]: Thanks for giving up your time, I really appreciate it and wish you the best with Ride or Die.
[Armani Lucas]: Thanks man, thanks for yours!
There you have it, a tale of his intimacy with music and the changes he's seen in and around it; watch out for for Armani Lucas and Ride or Die!
Armani Lucas' 'City Lights'
Follow Armani Lucas on twitter @ArmaniLucas for news and updates on future projects.
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