Lupe on the music business

What kind of people does the music business attract?

Lupe: It destroys people. People come out of the music business fucked up because you have to become so numb to things and you have to do things completely against your morals. You are putting out the most negative shit in the world. I am specifically speaking about urban music departments. You have families and little kids and you are putting out records about people getting killed, people selling massive amounts of dope and all this negative crazy shit and you think that’s cool? And you are celebrating it like you are not having an impact on society? To them, it just becomes a job. It’s like the dude who just makes Coca-Cola or the guy who makes gas and doesn’t think about the environment. The things that you see specifically in the music business, it’s so visceral and so fucked up the things that people do and the things that people go through and the integrity and the work is completely stripped away so you don’t know who wrote what. You don’t know if that person is real. It’s like when you finally meet your hero, you realize he ain’t shit because they had nothing to do with the process. Some people are the greatest people on Earth with good hearts and will get in the studio and make the most negative music in the world for the sake of success. That’s what the music business does to you. That’s what capitalism does to you. When I look at how the product we create is the soundtrack to people’s lives, this shit is everywhere. I hate the music business with all my heart. I hate this shit. In the midst of doingLasers, I was in Buffalo, New York and I called my partner and was like, ‘I quit. I can’t do this shit no more.’ Not even specifically because of what was going with Lasers. I’ve been in the music business for 10 years so I’ve seen all type of shit. You damn near 30 and you look back and are like, What the fuck am I doing? This business is bananas. It rips families apart, rips relationships apart, just destroys shit. You find yourself in some hotel room in the middle of nowhere and you’re like, What the fuck am I doing here? I was like, ‘I’m done.’ He was like, ‘C’mon man.’ Pep talk this. The only reason why I’m still in the music business is my partner Chill.

Sounds great!  not