{"id":506404,"date":"2026-06-18T16:49:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T16:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/506404\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T16:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T16:49:10","slug":"lelo-interview-up-and-coming-hip-hop-artist-of-the-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/506404\/","title":{"rendered":"Lelo Interview: Up-and-Coming Hip-Hop Artist of the Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tLelo made a name for himself with last year\u2019s stellar offering, New Detroit, which prompted Billboard to include him on its Artists to Watch in 2026<\/a> list.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe\u2019s now back with two EPs, Mastiff and Pink Tiles, that he packaged into a two-disc tape where one side displays the new Detroit sound he\u2019s been cultivating, while the other disc features<\/a> him riding a more experimental wave as he raps over ghettotech-infused production (ghettotech is a subgenre distinct to Detroit and is just as prevalent as rap is over there). Having grown up around both scenes, Lelo wanted to showcase the influence they\u2019ve each have had on him as an artist. \u201cI wanted both titles to really feel like some home s\u2014t,\u201d he said while stopping by the Billboard offices in New York earlier this month. \u201cReal cultural references, you feel me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tExplore\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n

\n\tWith these two EPs out of the way, he\u2019s now focused on a tour<\/a> for the rest of the summer and working on his sophomore album that he says will be inspired by a cult rock opera from the \u201970s called Phantom of the Paradise<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tDirected by the incomparable Brian de Palma, the film follows an artist who\u2019s work was stolen by a music producer. The plot pulls from various stories like The Phantom of the Opera, The Picture of Dorian Grey and the 16th century German legend Faust. It\u2019s a big swing for a young artist like the Detroit rapper, but he just couldn\u2019t ignore the similarities between himself and some of the things the main character Winslow Leach has to deal with as he tries to navigate this cutthroat record industry. \u201cIt talks about selling your soul, falling in love in the industry,\u201d he said when discussing the album\u2019s themes. \u201cSo, I feel like just off that alone there\u2019s so much s\u2014t that I can create a metaphor out of.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe shared more about that, experimenting with new sounds and themes, Detroit rap history and much more. Check out the conversation below.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou dropped two EPs already this year and they both had different sounds, talk about the first EP Mastiff.<\/p>\n

\n\tMastiffs are the dogs I grew up with. My parents had them, my granddad used to have one. The kids next door, they used to jump the fence with him and steal them for dog fights, crazy s\u2014t. The first side is more hard hit, more traditional Detroit s\u2014t, more hood music, so that\u2019s where the Mastiff s\u2014t came from.<\/p>\n

\n\tWas it a continuation from New Detroit? It felt like the same kind of vibe, at least some of the beats that you were rapping on.<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, and I think that\u2019s always gonna kind of hold through. We might be working on advancing the sound but we\u2019ll never want to lose that part of it. That type of music comes so natural. Songs on there like \u201cDialect\u201d and \u201cMonetize\u201d are damn near like reps in the gym I\u2019m putting up. Versus the other side, where that\u2019s more of me delving into s\u2014t I know I could do, and wanting to do it early, so it don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m reinventing myself later.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhy did you name the second EP Pink Tiles?<\/p>\n

\n\tBecause a lot of that second project, storytelling wise, it kind of comes off like a coming age story, damn near like House Party or some s\u2014t like that. And there are always scenes in those movies of girls in the bathroom getting ready, getting dressed, dudes be in the crib getting ready, getting dressed and there\u2019s pink tiles in the bathroom. It\u2019s something significant to a bunch of us in Detroit. The pink tile bathroom is a staple. Everybody grew up with a pink tile bathroom.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s interesting. I didn\u2019t think exactly that, but I did think maybe it had something to do with the bathrooms in John Hughes movies like Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe ghettotech influence just married with the pink tiles aesthetic in a perfect way.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe last time we talked when you first previewed some of these songs, you got deep into how house music \u2014 ghettotech specifically \u2014 influenced you. Some folks view rappers as people that only listen to hip-hop, but that house scene is prevalent in Detroit. Can you talk about that?<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s so ingrained in the city, I never thought of it as ghettotech until I was older, and people told me the definition and told me it\u2019s a genre. But, lowkey, the people I grew up around that was really doing that s\u2014t, they wasn\u2019t different than rappers to me. To me, that s\u2014t is very much still rap. I get why we do that little separation of genres s\u2014t, but I\u2019m not for that. N\u2014as divide and conquer, you feel me? I feel like we do too much divvying up and up like, \u201cOh, this is ghettotech.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWord, because it\u2019s essentially house music.<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, that\u2019s when n\u2014as can run off with it and act like it\u2019s something it\u2019s not. I\u2019m approaching it from a real hip-hop scenario. The same way my moms was listening and dancing to hip-hop, she also listening and dancing to house music when I was growing up.<\/p>\n

\n\tBack in the day, especially in New York, clubs were playing everything. They would play house music, hip-hop. Those scenes would clash at spots like the Palladium and Latin Quarter. It\u2019s different now, everything seems to be fractured. What was it like for you growing up?<\/p>\n

\n\tMy uncle be on Twitch, old as hell with turntables going crazy. Everybody jittin\u2019 and s\u2014t, doing all types of s\u2014t. But that speak to, I don\u2019t know, it\u2019s probably like this in New York too, but in Detroit, there is no separation. The rap n\u2014as, the art n\u2014as, the restaurant owners, all them n\u2014as be dope boys too. The hood n\u2014as be doing music, be doing the artsy s\u2014t. There\u2019s no separation really.<\/p>\n

\n\tExplain the recording process for these EPs. How did you pick the beats?<\/p>\n

\n\tWith the sound on Mastiff, I feel like I can get more down to earth on s\u2014t like that. I\u2019m speaking about experiences, sad s\u2014t, you feel me? Something going on with the family, that\u2019s when I\u2019m doing Mastiff s\u2014t. But when I wanted to step out of that and have some fun, and damn near flex what I feel like is my songwriting ability beyond just the rap s\u2014t, that\u2019s where the Pink Tiles s\u2014t came from. So, I had more of a hand in the production on Pink Tiles.<\/p>\n

\n\tGoing in, did you know how you wanted it to sound, or what samples to use?<\/p>\n

\n\tNot from the beginning. It\u2019s really a feeling thing. We know how that s\u2014t supposed to sound and we wanted to make sure like, \u201cokay, we\u2019re doing the ghettotech s\u2014t, we\u2019re doing the house s\u2014t, but we wanna touch all aspects,\u201d in a way. So, you got some s\u2014t that\u2019s more traditional like \u201cGet Geeked\u201d which is a club house record, then you got some s\u2014t that\u2019s damn near more techno, EDM s\u2014t like \u201cI Just Wanna F\u2014k\u201d towards the end.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou have some s\u2014t that\u2019s soulful, but then there\u2019s \u201cEnd of the World.\u201d Shogun had did that beat, and we knew from the moment he did it, that it had to be on there. The s\u2014t that we was missing for the dance s\u2014t, and kind of the club vibe was a \u201chustle\u201d song. Like how the f\u2014k was we gonna make a dance record that applied to black culture in Detroit. Everybody needs that.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was kind of that progression that you had on those Janet Jackson records or R. Kelly records. That was the best and most interesting experience out of that process. We knew what we needed to do. We knew it needed to be culturally relevant, we knew we had to get a fire sample \u2014\u00a0for a \u201chustle\u201d record a fire sample is just amazing.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou have an album coming later this year and you said it\u2019s inspired by a flick from the \u201970s called Phantom of the Paradise. Can you talk about why you decided to go this route? <\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s a kooky ass movie. I wanted go into a character for an album, really step out and live that, and the main character from the movie is chasing his dreams in music while dealing with crazy label heads. The industry can get frustrating because n\u2014as so hungry. Everybody keeps telling me like, \u201cBro, you\u2019re like one or two things away.\u201d And I feel like that\u2019s what the album gotta be. We got to work on understanding what a hit is, what it\u2019s like to make some s\u2014t with some real cultural weight. And then you mix that with us getting into character, being so much more strict about everything, I don\u2019t know, I feel like this album should be a big one.<\/p>\n

\n\tI feel like the biggest thing we\u2019ve learned that\u2019s definitely frustrating us is understanding what does it really mean to be a star, because it\u2019s not streams, you feel me? We learned that now. Also, that it don\u2019t matter. I can make the best f\u2014king song tomorrow, and that s\u2014t won\u2019t translate into me being paid what I want to be paid. I have people doing international s\u2014t that I\u2019m a couple things away, n\u2014a tell me what is! [Laughs.]<\/p>\n

\n\tAre you looking to take some of the vibes from the soundtrack and implement them into some of the songs on the album?<\/p>\n

\n\tHell yeah. There\u2019s one specific song that when you watch the movie you\u2019ll definitely hear it during an amazing scene. There\u2019s piano progressions and s\u2014t like that that definitely needs to be taken. But I don\u2019t want it to be so one-in-one, though. It\u2019s more thematically, and the cinematography is so fire and that\u2019ll allow us to do a lot of s\u2014t.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019re gonna be hitting the stage with the mask and s\u2014t?<\/p>\n

\n\tIt goes even further, because the film is also a representation of an old legend called Faust, so all that s\u2014t will let us get into these big ass things, but I\u2019m trying to keep it down to earth, like still hella flexed out. But again, hitting the stage with the mask, especially when there\u2019s so many different plays, like when I\u2019m doing the dance s\u2014t\u2026Say I\u2019m doing an appearance and I\u2019m DJing, I\u2019m in the mask the whole time, but when it\u2019s time to rap, I take that bitch off.<\/p>\n

\n\tWho are some rappers that influenced you?<\/p>\n

\n\tJust based off of who my pops was f\u2014king with, TI was a huge influence early. Then Andre 3000, who to me, is probably the greatest rapper alive. Big KRIT was a huge one, just in terms of the music sounding like where he from, he did that s\u2014t like to a tee. When I got a little older, someone like Earl Sweatshirt was a huge one. He was just putting s\u2014t in ways other people couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\n\tWho are some of your favorite Detroit rappers not named Eminem?<\/p>\n

\n\tS\u2014t, right now, I would say Babyface Ray is up there. Because when you meet him, the n\u2014a is the definition of what a rapper should be\u2026for the community and everything. Los & Nutty, they hard as hell. Los dropped a project recently, and that s\u2014t is like the most Detroit s\u2014t you\u2019ve ever heard in your life. <\/p>\n

\n\tYou ever heard of the Street Lordz?<\/p>\n

\n\tMan, hell yeah, for sure. That\u2019s some s\u2014t I don\u2019t even be thinking about bringing up because you say s\u2014t and people be like, \u201cWho is that?<\/p>\n

\n\tNah, I want you to bring cats like that up. I was hoping you named some of the older Detroit acts.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s no Detroit rap scene if you don\u2019t name Street Lordz, Blade Icewood, even Dex Osama.<\/p>\n

\n\tWho\u2019s on the Detroit Rap Mt. Rushmore? Em is of course, but try to pick four without naming him.<\/p>\n

\n\tIf we talking about shaping the sound of Detroit, we lowkey can\u2019t just use rappers, we gotta put Dilla on there, Blade Icewood because he was the n\u2014a with that street s\u2014t, he had that s\u2014t turnt. Lowkey, maybe Payroll Giovanni. Doughboyz Cashout were super influential. Band Gang. When Band Gang was poppin\u2019 that changed everything. They were the first young n\u2014as who would be like, in L.A. and s\u2014t like that. There was also Drego & Beno. We thought they was gonna be the next rappers to blow outta Detroit.<\/p>\n

\n\tI remember them. They had that distinct Detroit flow that everyone was running with. That Tee Grizzley kind of sound. That\u2019s why guys like you, Boldy James, Babyface Ray and Veeze stood out for me. You guys kind of built off that sound.<\/p>\n

\n\tA little bit, yeah. I get it. As time went on the flows got a little bit more eclectic. Another big one is Damedot. He\u2019s a legend from the city. Of course, Sada too. Detroit ain\u2019t as big as it is without a Sada Baby or a Tee Grizzley.<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, they sound so different too.<\/p>\n

\n\tI mean, even when n\u2014as are willing to take in the house and club s\u2014t that I do, I don\u2019t think that that happens as easily without a Sada Baby<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat else you got going on this year? You going on tour?<\/p>\n

\n\tHell yeah. Tour, Paris Fashion Week, which is gonna be fly seeing how some of this music translates out there. That comes right after Summerfest and in my mind, best case scenario, I still want to be dropping music. I kind of want to sneak three more songs on Mastiff and three more songs on Pink Tiles. I\u2019m just trying to make sure it fits how I really want them to fit, but that\u2019ll make me real happy. Then maybe touch some of them cities I missed on this tour. It\u2019s album mode. I\u2019m kind of on some clear the socials, really turning s\u2014t up with world building.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou still working on it? Is the album finished?<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m still working on it.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat\u2019s your writing process? Do you do you write s\u2014t on your phone? You got a pen and pad? Do you do punch-ins?<\/p>\n

\n\tAll of it, honestly. I feel like all of it has this place. Whenever something feel more real? I like the pen and pad. There\u2019s just something spiritual about it, I don\u2019t know. Then sometimes, even if you write it, it just don\u2019t feel like how a punch feels. It\u2019s really a mix. And I always knew about songwriting. I know to do a pre-chorus, hook, verse. I know to do that, but you get so wrapped up in doing s\u2014t and what sounds fire, you don\u2019t always do it. I think with the album, we\u2019re just taking it more serious, like we\u2019re damn near committed. Like if a song doesn\u2019t have what we\u2019re looking for, it can\u2019t make it. And not only that, I\u2019m no longer gonna be rapping over a complete beat. We got the skeleton of the beat and we\u2019re shaping the rest of it around what\u2019s happening on it. We were kicking the Pro Tools file back in the FL, back in the Pro Tools constantly during our last session.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd you guys work together in the studio a lot, right? You don\u2019t really do the emailing back and forth.<\/p>\n

\n\tOh, nah. That\u2019s why we don\u2019t really worry about leaks or anything like that. We\u2019re literally with each other 24\/7. Time we have to deal with the league is if it\u2019s in the studio, which before we do a project, we call a conference, gather everybody up. I be watching old s\u2014t from like The-Dream in the studio and it made me realize how I thought I was taking it serious, and then you see n\u2014as who really take it seriously. No stone is left unturned. N\u2014as be tweaking an 808 for the longest.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow about when you do features with other artists.<\/p>\n

\n\tWe do so little features because I don\u2019t like working like that. I rather shake hands with somebody. You rather pull up on them. Yeah, it\u2019s more natural. But if someone says they need it ASAP, then of course. You gotta vet a person because sometimes you hear a song, and you meet a n\u2014a like, \u201cDamn, I thought this was the coolest n\u2014a ever until I met you. Now this s\u2014t kinda ass.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDo you ever record in the crib, though? Like, you\u2019ll have a pack of beats.<\/p>\n

\n\tMostly from the crib. Sometimes I\u2019ll go to the studio just to make a draft of something, and then go do it again back at home where I\u2019m more comfortable.<\/p>\n

\n\tAre the six songs that you want to add to the two EPs leftovers?<\/p>\n

\n\tThey aren\u2019t leftovers necessarily, but I have a few songs that I really, really love that didn\u2019t feel right at the time. But now with the context of the other songs, I think they could live on there and I understand them more.<\/p>\n

\n\tI was listening to the tape earlier and didn\u2019t realize I had it on shuffle, so I was getting pulled into both worlds simultaneously, and it worked.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd that\u2019s what I\u2019m hoping for. I already threw people into the deep end.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat\u2019s been the response to Pink Tiles? Because I feel people expected something like Mastiff from you. <\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s funny, bro. I was so worried, just deep in my thought mind, you know? It\u2019s just how it be. But it\u2019s been overwhelmingly positive.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow about the ghettotech scene? They f\u2014king with it?<\/p>\n

\n\tWe did a Movement after-party and sold out in less than 24 hours. Then we sold another 200 at the door.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lelo made a name for himself with last year\u2019s stellar offering, New Detroit, which prompted Billboard to include…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":506405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,778,1805,61,1694,60,278],"class_list":["post-506404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-features","tag-genre-hiphop","tag-ie","tag-interviews","tag-ireland","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}