Lawrence Turner is an emerging rap artist. An all round entertainer, Turner brings his love for comedy and music together in his work but he does not merely resort to the comedic elements to convey his message.
Due to his song topic inspiration coming from raw emotions, the music created by the artist from that process is very versatile. From cheeky upbeat music with personality, to angry hard hitting aggressive tones, to simplistic depressing vibes. Lawrence doesn’t shy away from making every side of himself known through his music.
In an interview with CelebMix, Turner talked about his musical inspirations, his new EP titled “A Lil Something” and an upcoming album “Until Then”. Check out the complete interview below:
Please tell our readers about yourself.
My name is Lawrence Turner. I’m from Southside Jamaica Queens, New York. I’m a photographer, videographer, recording artist, performer, director, editor, aspiring actor- basically just an all-around entertainer. I’ve been creating music for about 10 years now. I love movies, my favorite colors are red and black, my favorite TV show is Supernatural, I enjoy short walks to the fridge and I like fried chicken.
We read that initially, music was majorly a source of amusement but later, you started exploring seriously. What prompted you to do so?
What prompted me to take music seriously was the constant conversations with people that heard my parody songs, just commenting on how silly I am and ignoring the other songs that had a more serious tone and an actual message. I got tired of being dismissed like I didn’t have actual talent or wasn’t worthy to be considered a real ”rapper” or “artist”.
Considering that you are now pursuing music professionally, what kind of vision do you hold for your art?
I want my art to be a transparent reflection of me. No gimmicks or false perceptions. That’s why I chose to have my real name as my artist name. There is no other “side” or persona. Just me. The vision I have is for my art to embody any, and every, emotion that I, myself, encounter in my day to day life. I want my art to vary, just like my mood from one day to the next does.
We read about your musical influences. We would like to know more.
My musical influences are artist who weren’t afraid to look crazy or do things that were out of the ordinary. They didn’t care about fitting in, they were all about standing out. Missy Elliott and her creative and fun visuals with her weird style choices. Ludacris with his charismatic inflections, and unique flows. Busta Rhymes and his ability to switch up his aggressive tone to a cool and smooth tone depending on the track or feature. DMX with his relentless aggression and his cut-throat attitude towards everything. Method Man and his ability to ride any beat in his own classic way and sound cool as hell while doing it. These artist made me appreciate and love music as much as I do today.
Since the release of “Oh No”, how do you see your evolution as an artist?
Since the release of “Oh No” in 2017, I’ve been really practicing my hook writing. Trying to connect with the listener, having that stuck in their minds without sacrificing the lyrical content in my verses. Flow changes and different voice tones have also been a point of improvement.
Congratulations on “A Lil Something”. Please tell us a bit about EP.
“A Lil Something” is an EP that I put together since I didn’t release music for a few years. I describe it as an appetizer for my listeners who are waiting on the full meal (the album) to come soon. 5 tracks, all recorded within 2 months. Fresh for your listening pleasures. “A Lil’ Something” to hold them over until the album.
The tracks deal with a series of topics including “self”. What inspired you to create this EP?
My personal insecurities, setbacks and failures inspired me to create songs centered around “self”. While I’m in those dark times, I made music that I wanted to hear. Music that I wanted to get my blood pumping and motivate me. On this EP there are songs about knowing your worth, never giving up, finding inner strength and letting the whole world see it, but never done in a preachy or corny way. Some days we all deserve to feel a little badass, and the strive to feel worth a damn inspired me to make these songs.
The EP begins with an Intro that sets a tone for the rest of tracks and the last track “Boom” did end on an explosive mode. We would like to know about the creative process that went behind creating the EP.
Quick writing sessions and quick studio sessions. Each song was recorded really quickly. One or two sessions max, for each track. The tracks with features took the longest, but the songs I made solo were done within 2 hours in the studio. I didn’t want to linger on this project for too long so once the songs were written, I wanted to lay the vocals as soon as possible and get it finalized. For the track “Goldmine”, I presented the singer Ra[K]ooN with the written hook and told him how I wanted it done, and he did it. In studio, he wrote the bridge and we finished the end piece of the song after the beat switches up. For the track “Boom” featuring Maxx 39, I wrote my first verse solo, sent a draft to Maxx 39, then he wrote his verse. Then we met up in Central Park in Manhattan and wrote the rest of the track together. A few weeks later we recorded the track in one session and that concluded the EP recording process.
This EP is just a glimpse to your full length album. Would you like any information or update about your album?
The album is titled “Until Then”. It has been a VERY long process but it is coming. It has been revamped numerous times since so much time keeps passing and I keep evolving but I’m okay with that. It just means I’m working to make it the best it can be. My thought process was, “The album is coming. But ‘UNTIL THEN’…here’s ‘A Lil’ Something’.”
Would you like to share with us your future projects or endeavours?
More shows. More tours. More music. And more videos. Right now I have FOUR videos in the works. Once the album drops, even more will be in production. So I have an abundance of work to do. Let’s get it.
Share your thoughts on the EP via tweet @CelebMix.