{mosimage} Its Lunch but don't get it twisted this mc is bringing the west back and could care less about putting it on his shoulders. We sit down with the west coast mc to find out more about the man behind the mic.
HHR: Aight man for the people that don’t know how did you get the name “Lunch”?
Lunch: It actually started out as a joke when my cousin accidentally called me Lunchmeat. That was back in the day when you’re trying to figure out your name. As I started getting older and started becoming me and I took the meat off and just become Lunch and started serving cats. Like its time for lunch.
HHR: You’re the general in homeless nation – what it exactly is that?
Lunch: We put it down for awhile in Southern California – I’m the leader I keep everything stabilized with the whole crew. Lunch – Gambit – J Walq – Dirty Bird – Diamonique – Yun A day – Sage – Duke – Shorty Mo’ – Big Steele and Fingazz. It’s kinda like a west coast Wu Tang. We are like individual artist but we come together to form like Fultron.
HHR: You opened up for KRS1, De La Soul, and Big Daddy Kane – were you ever star struck?
Lunch: When I was younger…I wasn’t star struck I was excited to meet the different artist I grew up to. But at the same time I was looking from analyzing point of view like what did they do to get where they at. How did they get there and what moves their making because I know I’mma get there.
HHR: Where there any stand-outs?
Lunch: Actually to be honest – I take pieces of everyone I meet and try to add it to your reportire.
HHR: You’ve had some nice collabo’s man…any of them make you step your game up?
Lunch: Style P I liked his verse a lot. He had heard mine and he dropped his. I reanalyzed it over and over again. I gotta make sure I keep mine on point.
HHR: Growing up, who had the most influence on you?
Lunch: Of course Pac, Biggie, but also Trench from Naughty by Nature. I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves. He had me doing push-ups and everything and …I’m a big fan of Naughty by Nature and that affected my style. Like be yourself – like Treach would be doing treach…and Ice Cube of course.
HHR: MTV just gave their top 10 MC’s. Lil’ Wayne got #1 – your thoughts?
Lunch: He’s doing his thing. He’s grinding right now. For right now? The way I look at it you gotta have those hits, those cold albums, and have those mixtapes. That’s how I look at it. My ranking it would’ve been switched up but Lil Wayne is banging right now.
HHR: Whats your top 5 right now?
Lunch: Me, Hov, 50, Eminem, Luda, and T.I.
HHR: Coming out of the West must play a major role but how does repping IE play in the struggle to get your music heard?
Lunch: It was a big struggle because we don’t have any history so we don’t have any credibility. It’s not Watts, its not Long Beach it’s not Compton its like you gotta prove yourself all over again. We also don’t have a category so they don’t know how to categorize it. That’s where Homeless Nation came about. I’m not a gang banger – I never gang banged before. So when I tell ‘em its Lunch and Homeless nation its why we hungry because we aren’t categorized.
HHR: On another interview – allhiphop you said that: “the west has been dead for a long time” – why do think that?
Lunch: Our business structure. I don’t think we adjusted to the new form of doing business out here. Another thing the OG’s putting it down for awhile I don’t think they filled the spots for the new cats. They just left it open. Cats from other areas filled the spots and we never filled the spots. A lot of South / East coast cats started doing West coast music and filling the spots. So West coast market started going towards their market because they were filling the spots. I just think the OG’s could’ve done a better job of filling the spots when they were sitting out.
HHR: You think the West is coming back?
Lunch: Yeah, it’s definitely coming back. The new west is coming up. We have a whole different mindset. At first I didn’t think so but honestly I’m dealing with a lot of cats and our mindset is totally different. I’mma lay blue print the right way to do it this time.
HHR: On the new project being release August 14th….
Lunch:….Pushed back to September: Heart of a Lion – its hip hop classic. This album will make the West set a standard for the new west. I just feel we doing too much like singles and cats aren’t doing albums.
If I buy a new pair of shoes I’mma put my whole outfit accordingly to those shoes. I’m not going to put on some bebe and a polo shirt like it’s the new thing to do. I’mma structure around the outfit that’s what I did with the album. This album Heart of a Lion will witness my struggle.
HHR: Does it have any guest spots?
Lunch: I kept the whole album home based. Basically it’s me and my crew: homeless nation. With this album I wanted to be on my own two feet. I didn’t want to depend on anyone to make my success. If I fail its on me – if I succeed it’s on me. One of the stand out tracks for me is the title of the album it speaks on my actual struggle. I had this disease caked lupus where it attacked my kidneys and I almost died 4-5 times growing up as a kid. That’s why I called its heart of a lion because I’ve been through a lot and I’m still here living and God has blessed me.
HHR: I appreciate the time – any last thoughts from Lunch?
Lunch: I shout out my new video on youtube – They Don’t Like Me. I’m the new west – a new sound. The reason we putting the new is because we doing it all new. I just hope everyone likes it because I ‘m coming hungry that’s why they called Lunch!
You can peep more at his myspace at: http://myspace.com/LunchDaGeneralhn
They Don't Like Me Video:
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