Liife is here to prove that real hip-hop is alive and well. Hailing from Compton meant coming up in the streets, doing whatever you had to do to survive.
A product of his environment, the “Lifestyle” lyricist prides himself in producing real substance. He states, “I ain’t just the next rapper. No shot at nobody but I take pride in actually composing things that mean something, that will last forever. It’s real durable.”
Currently signed to Rostrum Records, the 30-year-old is ready to take this rap game to the next level, providing you the soundtrack for the struggle, the come up, the motivation, you name it.
AllHipHop: Who did you grow up listening to?
Liife: Me, I was really diverse when it came to music. I listened to everybody like Nas. Really, I’d go to sleep to Nas, Lil Wayne, Tupac. That was music that I really ingested. I took that in and was really inspired by what they were doing: Ice Cube, Tupac, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg. Lil Wayne was really my favorite artist at that time, I had Lil Wayne posters on the walls and everything. It’s so crazy because I went on to do a song with Lil Wayne, later on in my career.
AllHipHop: Yeah, how’d that happen?
Liife: It was just some real street stuff. On God, it was really street. Some people had got their chain took, some big artist that’s poppin’ right now had got his chain took. But me, I was the street dude. I was still rapping so everybody knew me. Because I was talented, I ain’t gon’ lie. People knew me. They called like “whoopty whoop, we trying to do this,” so I’m like “let’s see how we can make this beneficial for both sides.” I ended up meeting Wayne, I actually handed him his chain back. After that, we had a relationship. You know that Young Money chain he had, the big one? I handed him that.
AllHipHop: How did you have it?
Liife: I just knew. I can’t really incriminate myself, but I just knew s##t. He was out here for the House of Blues, he had a show. He was on his tour bus, had a studio in the back of it. We just chopped it up then the song came about, it was like “oh s##t!”
AllHipHop: Where’s that song?
Liife: It’s in the archives. It ain’t out yet. I’m going to put it out. I saved it so when I really needed it, it would be more of a momentum builder instead of just for no reason.
AllHipHop: What are the conversations with him like?
Liife: He was just like “yo you got a dope voice. You’re pretty good. If you stay at it, you have a promising future.” But I was still in the streets, so I’m like “whatever you say.”
AllHipHop: You just unleashed “Friends & Enemies.” What were you going through when you recorded it?
Liife: When I recorded that, I’m not sure if anybody would really understand when I say we’re living in an era where there’s no loyalty. It’s no real connection with nobody. Anybody can be on some s##t where it’s like “the bag is over here, I will do this to get to the bag. I will cross my whoever, I’ll cross my mama.” That’s the world we live in so some of my friends, we aren’t friends anymore for whatever reason. I came up with “when your friends turn to enemies,” then I was like “yo that’s a dope concept.” That’s the era we live in bro. How many people could you call your friends? Really. Like your real family.
AllHipHop: What are some goals yourself as an artist at this point of your career?
Liife: I want to get a Grammy and I want to get #1 album. That’s been one of my goals.
AllHipHop: What can we expect next?
Liife: New album What Yo Life Like coming summer of 2020.