REACEYUNG on what inspired new album, Heart Of Lou 2

St. Louis rapper REACEYUNG discusses his creative process and inspiration behind some of the most personal tracks on his sixth studio album, Heart Of Lou 2.

His old-school flow is unmistakable, and his hooks are as catchy as they come. Earlier this year, Headliner featured REACEYUNG on the cover as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of hip-hop, a conversation that spanned the past, present and future of the genre. At the time alluding to his upcoming sixth album project, Heart Of Lou 2, Headliner was keen to catch up with him around the time of the album’s release on July 21 to discover the inspiration behind some of the tracks.

Headliner quizzes Reace on his most personal, favourite songs on the record, to which he responds in earnest: “It's really hard to answer that question, because each song pulls directly from a personal account of my soul. That's like asking if you got a bunch of kids, which one is your favourite kid?

“But to at least try to pick one, I will say Grandel Finish, which is the very last song on the album. The way that it swings; the way it feels; my subject matter; I really wanted to go out with a bang. I love all the tracks personally, but Grandel Finish is the one that does it for me because it just solidifies my legacy as far as where I am and how I'm approaching the record.”

Eager to delve deeper into his creative process, Headliner brings into question the first set of singles to drop from the album: Northside, produced by Mathew Thurman, Happy Box C, produced by Darrylbeatz and October 10th Pressure, produced by Shamar Daugherty.

As it turns out, north side is exactly where he shot the video and got the inspiration for the homonymous track: “The same people that designed Jay-Z’s mansion designed the art museum on the north side of St. Louis, and that’s where we shot it,” Reace reveals. “My man Matthew Thurman also produced Necessary Lessons from the original Heart Of Lou. When he sent that beat to my phone, he had already named it Northside, so I didn’t want to stray too far from the origins of the track or where he felt he wanted to go with the production.

“As an artist, I just got a little creative. He already had the mattress set up; I just came in with my comforter and laid it over the top. I actually changed the hook on that record at least three or four times, and then I got more comfortable with it and it stuck with me, so I just rolled with it.”

Can't Worry About It, one of Headliner’s favourite tracks from the album, is also one of REACEYUNG’s most personal.

“That’s kind of like a diary entry for me, man,” he ponders. “It's just got so much feeling in it; it's like staring in a mirror for me. When I pull from what's happening in my life, that turns my records into a therapeutic, soothing little moment for me. The song October 10th Pressure is really just to relax my mind when October 10 comes around, because that’s the day that my grandmother was buried. Around that time, every year since her death I can feel myself becoming depressed, so I had to make a song to get me out of that mode when that time of year rolls around.”

While he has worked with an array of producers over the years, Reace has mostly stuck with St. Louis producers, in a bid to “give back to the city”. There’s no denying that here is an artist who loves his craft, his community, and collaboration.

“My personal work process doesn't change but the workflow changes when the producer changes. When I hear a track and my eyeballs click and my neck starts twitching and everything whirls around in my brain, that means I'm ready to go. The beat is how you get me to just be crazy right out the gate. Sometimes I can’t control it; I was at work one day and one of my producers sent me a crazy track, and one of my co-workers thought I was having a seizure. I wasn't having a seizure,” he says with an excitable laugh.

While he hasn’t yet listened to Heart Of Lou 2 through Augspurger® monitors, famed for shaping the hip-hop sound since the ‘90s, Reace tells Headliner that he is looking to set up a studio session in Boston where he can hook the album up to these mega monitors and “just rock out.”

At the time of interview, Heart of Lou 2’s release is less than a week away: “It’s exciting but can get a little stressful around album release time,” says Reace. “Sometimes these music aggregators, they’ve got so much music to process that's coming out into the world and they don't really have time to really narrow down on your release, if you're not a super big artist. It can be a little stressful but we’re all working through it. My biggest gripe right now is that we're all going to be on schedule, and it's looking good.”

And when it comes to his workrate, there’s certainly no rest for the wicked. Although massively overworked of his own accord, Reace is acutely aware that his current momentum must continue.

“I gotta get everything in line,” he rounds off with an infectious energy. “After Heart Of Lou 2 I’m gonna jump to my next joint, Thoughts Of King Sullivan, and then Heart Of Lou 3, and we just keep this thing rocking. I'm picking the tracks for it right now, creating the playlist, and rocking with more St. Louis producers; I want to still stick with the traditional guys that I've already been rocking with. Either way, I’ve got two more albums coming and they should roll out within the next two years.

“We kind of live in a microwave society now where everybody wants the album right now, but I just want to give people time to appreciate the records and let it grow. Then I'm immediately going to jump to something else. I can't wait to meet up with everybody in LA again and we're gonna rock out.”

Listen to the full interview with REACEYUNG on Headliner Radio, here: