Q: Excited to be talking with you today! I love the infectious beat and the energy of “Playas Ball.” What did you enjoy most about making this track?
L.O.V.E CULTURE: Thank you for having us! We are glad that you enjoyed the track. This was one of those tracks where when we heard it, we immediately gravitated towards it. Rob Mari, who you hear in the opening and on the hook brought the idea to the collective and the rest was history. Flash, Easy and Che on the verses always find a way to make the transitions from one another seamless. Of course, can’t forget Spirit on the boards, engineering and bringing the mix alive! Shout-out to Frost the Wave God on the production! This was instantly one of our favorite tracks to date.
Q: I’ve never been to Jacksonville or even Florida before, and I’m curious about what the music scene is like out there. Do you have any advice for other up-and-coming artists from Jacksonville trying to get their music out there?
L.O.V.E CULTURE: Jacksonville’s music scene is so diverse and so talented, but also so separated at the same time. It has the potential of being one of the greatest music scenes, but there is still a lot more work to do. The advise we would give is get with a collective of like minded individuals, artists and business savants. You are stronger in numbers. If your art is good, that will speak for itself when its time to show the world. Learn the business too, but stay creatively balanced as well.
Q: Who would you most like to collaborate with, if it could be anyone in the world?
L.O.V.E CULTURE: Wow! There is so many people who inspired us and what we do individually and as a whole. We are a collective of individual artists, so each one of us have our own list of collabs that can go on for days. As a whole, we would probably have to say just the person who believes in what we are doing and wants to get us to that next level. That’s the collaborator we want a part of our legacy.
Q: I’m always interested in an artist’s musical journey; how did you all come together as a group?
L.O.V.E CULTURE: This is a very long, but interesting story. We will give the short story for the sake of this interview. As mentioned, We are individual artists making up the collective of L.O.V.E. Culture. Featuring Che, Rob Mari, Flash The Samurai, SpiritXIII and EASYin2d, L.O.V.E is an acronym for League Of Vibrant Energies and Culture is something that’s bigger than one individual. In 2017, we all were on the same bill at a show called “No Filter” as solo acts and it was there, where we all instantly fell in awe with one another. Rob Mari (co-founder), at the time, had a project he was working on and wanted features from everyone. This project, now called “Fluidity” on SoundCloud, quickly became more than just Rob’s project. This lead to months of recording and getting to know one another as artists and friends. We knew right then we had something special and we decided to quickly coin our new found synchronicity and been close knit ever since.
Q: Something that I love about your group is that you each have a unique element that brings your distinct sound together. With so many different personalities and ideas in one place, are there any creative differences? If so, how do you overcome that to create a sound that blends so smoothly eventually?
L.O.V.E CULTURE: Thank you. That’s the beauty of LC. We are all really dope artists in our own right that it was not hard to come together. It also does not hurt that we are all unselfish artists so we organically meshed from the start. Yes, of course we run into creative difference, but because we check our egos at the door and trust each others artistry, we always find a middle ground. We know at the end of the day each one of us wants the collective to win and that’s what matters most.
Q: In your own words, how would you describe the music that you typically create?
L.O.V.E CULTURE: Our music is pretty unique because its a blend of all the musical experiences we individually come from. Our space give us the room to tap in to the music that inspired us growing up. You will hear Boom Bap all the way to Funk with Alternative Rock marinated in our sound. As cliché as it sounds, we don’t like to be placed in a box and that in return allows our sound to stay organically us.
Q: There are many of you, but if you were all stranded on a deserted island and could only take, let’s say, ten albums with you, which would they be and why?
L.O.V.E CULTURE: Kendrick Lamar – Good Kid, Mad City, The Isley Brothers – Go for Your Guns, Childish Gambino – Because The Internet, Frank ocean – Blonde, Nas – illmatic, Usher – Confessions, J. Cole – 2014 Forest Hills Drive, Stevie Wonder – Songs in the Key of Life, Bob Marley – Exodus, Paramore – Paramore and we sneak Kid Cudi – man on the moon on the island because who can live without it. These bodies of work collective tells the soundtrack to our lives and interesting enough, if you listen to our discography, you can hear the sonic influence of these albums.
Q: Thank you so much for talking with me! Tell everyone what exciting things are coming up next for you!
L.O.V.E CULTURE: Thank you for having us! We enjoyed the questions and hope you got to learn a little bit more about us. We have a pretty interesting 2023 ahead of us. First quarter, we will be dropping third installment of our EP series, Late 2023, our second studio project and look out for us in a city near you!
Photo credits: Rakimism
Interviewed by Melissa Cusano
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