The now bicoastal artist takes a break from writing at home to discuss his remix with 100 gecs, dream collaborations, and a new project on the horizon
The last time we spoke with Lil West was in a 2018 interview entitled “Check In With Lil West — Before He Blows Up.” Over the past two years, the 22-year-old has been on the road to doing exactly that. Underground Underdogs cannot boast a gift of clairvoyance, however; Lil West’s vast stylistic mastery has allowed him to fulfill his own destiny. When it comes to collaborations, the artist possesses an impressive resume, having worked with nothing,nowhere., Night Lovell, and 100 gecs through sheer talent and integrity. But these successes do not overshadow the work he has produced in his own right, with 2019’s full-length projects Vex 1 and Vex 2 providing an accessible look into his dynamic artistry.
In a recent video with VICE, 75-year-old classical musician Constance Cooper notes that the allure of Lil West’s music is rooted in a “quiet tension” — an astute observation regarding the highs and lows of love that he so eloquently captures. While his contemporaries may opt for exploring the explicit contrasts of life before and after success, West speaks his mind in the moment, with his lyrics reading like a late night confession. Even when the artist is pouring his heart out, the playfulness of his signature vocal effects keep the mood light and the cadence danceable. West’s approach, along with the delivery power of Tony Velour, provides an approachable quality to the remix of 100 gecs’ “gecgecgec.” The featured artists’ contributions do not extinguish the eclectic whirlwind of 100 gecs, but rather accent the heart of the original track with a cool edge.
While Lil West has grown accustomed to life in Los Angeles, he has not severed himself from his origins in Bridgeville, Delaware — a small country town in the southern region of the tiny Midatlantic state. In fact, it is where he has spent the bulk of quarantine. “My family always has room for me here,” he says of his parents, with whom he gets along well. “Nah, I don’t raise animals,” he says when probed about his hometown hobbies. “But my grandfather, he be raising goats.” While he occasionally breaks out to a house party, Lil West has been spending the past months working on a new project showcasing all that he is capable of–in between performing his necessary duties as a local hero, that is.
What’s it like writing in rural Delaware versus L.A.? Do those different environments affect your creative process at all?
Well when I’m in L.A. I have a couple of my hometown friends living with me, but when I’m in L.A. I be more focused. When I be coming home there’s always something to do, like I can always go anywhere. A lot of people notice me and ask for pictures and shit like that. As soon as someone sees me they know exactly who I am. It’s crazy.
How did your role in the “gecgecgec” remix come to be?
Well, Dylan and Laura, I’ve been friends with them for years. We have songs out already; they just weren’t going by 100 gecs yet. Dylan produced a whole bunch of my shit. I did songs for Dylan, Dylan did songs for me. Dylan and Laura were on the Lil West LW17 tape I did. Dylan just sent me that beat over [for the remix]. Mind you, I did that verse a whole year ago last summer. It’s crazy that it’s coming back around because I forgot about it. I didn’t even know how it sounded when he was talking about releasing it. I be recording so much that I be forgetting sometimes about certain features I did.
What was your reaction when it came out?
I was scared, but usually when Dylan does shit I always love it, so I wasn’t too on edge. As soon as I heard it I was like yeah, he snapped. He switched it up, too. The rough draft we did sounded nothing like that.
How did you guys meet?
I met Dylan through Night Lovell. He had this show in New York and he brought me and Dylan out as the special guests. There were a lot of people who came out to that show like Nessly, a whole bunch of fashion kids, and Ray who shoots for Travis Scott. I think Dylan had been familiar with my work, but we finally met in person for the first time. This was probably like 2016.
100 gecs is polarizing for a lot of people. Personally, what drove you to explore their music and work with them?
They just know how to do anything and make it sound cool. I’ve been riding the 100 gecs wave before they blew up. I have songs where I’m saying “100 gecs” — songs that were on my old projects. I’m always shouting out 100 gecs. I just always knew they was going to be big and I always wanted them to be big. Like damn, their music’s so good and I had never heard nothing like this. Shit just sounds crazy. So I’ve always been 100% behind them for sure. Never doubted them. They deserve everything they getting right now.
How did you get linked up with Night Lovell and what’s your collaborative process like?
I definitely met Lovell through SoundCloud. This was before he was even going by Night Lovell. He was KLNV. He was a producer and one day I stumbled across his beats but he really had no followers or nothing. I was like yo I fuck with your beats and he was like word bro, you want to use one of those? I was like hell yeah. We ended up staying in touch after that and he was showing me love. Out of nowhere he just became Night Lovell and blew up. I hit him up like damn bro, I didn’t even know you rapped. We just always stayed in touch for years. It was maybe 2015 when we first met. We’ve been friends for a long time. When I’m ready to do a feature or if he needs a feature it’s never a hassle. I can definitely call on him any time.
Do you have any features lined up for this new album yet, or are you more so focused on asserting yourself as an individual artist?
No features yet. I’m just recording and then I’ll send it off to certain people that I’m thinking about. I’ve just been listening to everything, like all kinds of music from shit that’s like 100 gecs to people like NBA YoungBoy. I’m trying to put my hand everywhere so I’m not making one sound that’s for a certain type of person. I definitely want everybody to fuck with my shit. It would be crazy to see JayDaYoungan on a project. That would be like of shit, how the fuck did he make that happen? I just want to open everybody’s eyes.
I’m curious since you’re so adept at adapting to different styles: Who did you grow up listening to?
I grew up listening to The Gorillaz heavy. Then I’d be listening to Dipset. This was right when Wiz was coming out so I was listening to Wiz. I was listening to a lot of pop shit like Lady Gaga and Lily Allen. Then I started listening to rock shit, like a lot of Killswitch Engage and The Devil Wears Prada. I got into heavy metal like Slipknot and Carnifex and Whitechapel. The List goes on. I would just listen to everything. That’s what my dad told me to do — just listen to anything that sounds good. Sometimes I’m confused how I’ll go from listening to 100 gecs to Lil Baby. I try to explain it to people, but it’s just how my rap style is. I can jump from doing hard rap to doing stuff with Night Lovell or Lil Lotus and Lil Aaron.
Does being exposed to other artists’ fanbases ever present a challenge?
A little bit. I think now I just have to release projects more than anything so everybody can hear it. I can’t just drop a single and expect everyone to fuck with it. I’ll get comments on my Instagram posts saying drop rap stuff like Night Lovell or drop more stuff with nothing,nowhere. So it does get kind of challenging — pleasing everyone. But that’s my only thing.
What’s the plan ahead?
I’m going to head back to L.A. probably next month and lock in with some people. Maybe nothing,nowhere., people like that. I’ve got new features. You’ll probably see my name on some new projects with other people. I just did a collab with nothing,nowhere. We’ve been working on some shit and got a few in the stash right now. I’ve been working with new producers. I got a whole lot of new music soon. I’ve been working very hard.