Even at the age of 15, Kyle Lucas knew what he wanted to spend the rest of his life doing. The Atlanta area native took inspiration from Jay Z, Nas, AZ, The Firm, Chino XL, Ras Kass, and The Notorious B.I.G. as he recorded and mixed himself freestyling using Cakewalk on a home computer.
Hometown legends OutKast and Goodie Mob as well as his city’s traditional 808s-heavy sound also rubbed off on Lucas. Eventually, the self-described “skateboard kid” was even able to connect with one of his musical heroes – OutKast’s Big Boi.
Lucas signed with Big Boi’s Purple Ribbon label as a member of the alternative Hip Hop band Vonnegutt. Once the group disbanded, he decided to embark on his music career as an independent artist. However, the rhymer looks back at his time working with the Grammy-winning emcee as a valuable experience (“I’m forever grateful that Big even took a chance on me. I learned so much being signed to him.”)
The amicable split with Purple Ribbon is just one topic Lucas covers on his debut studio LP Marietta, Georgia: The Album. Chino XL, Jonny Craig, Jon Kunis, William Beckett, Little Lion, STS, Weather, and Marc Goone make appearances on the project as well.
In the latest installment of AllHipHop.com’s “3 Questions” series, Kyle Lucas discusses how Drake forced him to change the name of track 2 off Marietta, recalls a stage dive gone bad, and names which Atlanta R&B star is the best wifey material.
[ALSO READ: Vonnegutt’s Kyle Lucas Talks Big Boi, Upcoming Projects and the Everlasting Impact of Joe Budden]
Why did you let Drake steal your song title?
[laughs] That title came about because the first song I did for this album – like a year and a half ago – was called “Madonna.” Then Drake drops the biggest album of the year [If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late] with a song called “Madonna” on it. I was racking my brain to come up with another title for like 3 months.
I’m a fan of Fall Out Boy’s song titles that are really long, especially “Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn’t Get Sued.” Then I was on tour with OnCue. We were talking about the “Madonna” title, and I said it would be cool to do something like that for it. Cuey came up with that and I loved it. I think it’s pretty funny.
What’s one of the wildest things you’ve done while you were drunk?
Oh man, way too many to name. One very funny thing was that I decided to stage dive at this Lollapalooza pre-party I played with Sammy Adams. I had never stage dove, and I was super stoked on how well my show went. But I was also super drunk, so I decided to stage dive during Sammy’s set and didn’t factor in the majority of the fans there were 15-year-old girls [laughs].
Here I am a 6’2’’ 200 lb guy jumping on them and expecting them to catch me. Needless to say, they dropped the sh*t out of me and f*cked my whole back up. I spent all Saturday in bed in the hotel and my official Lollapalooza performance was scheduled for Sunday afternoon. It worked out though. A couple of Jack and Coke’s and I was on my way [laughs].
F*ck, marry, collab: Monica, Ciara & Chilli of TLC?
Damn, that’s hard. I’m in love with all of them. I feel I would f*ck Ciara, collaborate with Monica, and marry Chilli. Chilli seems like she would be an awesome wife/mother.
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Follow Kyle Lucas on Twitter @KyleLucas and Instagram @kylelucas.
Stream Kyle Lucas’ Marietta, Georgia: The Album on SoundCloud and purchase the project on iTunes.