The Break Presents: Lou The Human

When Lou The Human dropped the video to "Brink" in early 2016, not too much was really known about him. However, one thing was evident: the 20-something Staten Island, N.Y. rapper can flat-out spit, showcasing lyrical ability and a flexible delivery that will make hip-hop golden age fans' hearts flutter. Over a bare bones instrumental, which was produced by Lou, "Brink" showed raw talent.

Lou would gradually keep the momentum going and grow his fan base by sporadically dropping loosies such as videos for "Macklemore 1" and "2" plus "Slim Buddha." By this summer, Lou The Human was playing at Panorama Festival in front of thousand of fans. Now his goal is to push the sound of hip-hop to its limits and create whatever inspires him at that time.

"I kind of want to be on some David Bowe shit and be a different character on every project and just experiment; never stay to stuck on one sound," he tells XXL while in New York City. "Kanye kind of changed the sound on every project. I want to do that."

This year, Lou plans to drop a proper debut and bring hip-hop fans to his world—and not just rap. "I’m finishing up my new project; I’m like two to three songs to finish," Lou continues. "Then we’re going to do another video or two. Drop the project and some merch and tour. Fuck shit up and get some sleep."

He adds, "I want to act and I still want to try my hand with film, doing these videos and it’s been fun. I want to get more projects done and grow musically. I got a lot of ideas. A lot of people know me because of my rap shit but I got a lot of different ideas and I’m tryna hold back and not show it all off at once but I’m definitely versatile and I can’t wait to show it."

Get familiar with Lou The Human in this week's The Break.

Name: Lou The Human

Age: “My age is 40 but age ain’t nothing but a number.”

Hometown: Staten Island, N.Y.

I grew up listening to: “Before I got into rap I was into a lot of sad rock. I don’t know why, I was 8. I couldn’t really be going through anything. I used to like Nickelback and stuff like that. Then I got into rap and I like studied everything because I got a lot of older homies and OGs and shit. I was that 12-year-old listening to Talib Kweli and shit. In high school, I studied everything, old JAY-Z, Nas, Mos Def, Talib, 2Pac, Biggie, De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest. But I would still listen to shit like Radiohead, Coldplay, N.E.R.D. and alternative music.

"A lot of kids in my class started rapping in fifth grade and we all used to battle. I did kind of good for like a 12-year-old [laughs]. I started taking rap seriously because I didn’t know how to do anything else. All I knew how to do was to produce and rap. In high school, I wasn’t even thinking about rap. I wanted to go to school for film and I was faking the art and shit. I was trying to paint and all that [laughs]. I went with rap because I felt like I already tried my hands in music and I had experience with it. I didn’t really know shit about film.

"The first song I ever put out kind of went [nuts] in a couple days, 'Brink.' That shit was a mind-fuck. That was literally my first release ever with my name on it. I had done a couple of verses here or there and I produced for people. 'Brink' within two, three days got 20, 30,000."

My style’s been compared to: “I get compared a lot to Bob Saget, a lot of people say I’m the next Bob Saget. He has sauce man, goals [laughs]. My music, I don’t like my mom hearing it so that’s how I would describe it. But it's fake deep."

Most people don’t know: “I used to do delinquent shit when I was younger like steal chairs out of KFC, take flags off of McDonald's, climb fucking roofs. Shit like that."

My standout moment to date: “This whole shit has been crazy. I don’t have many songs out right now. It’s not like I erased my shit and rebranded. This whole shit is nuts. After [performing at] Panorama Festival, a girl threw a drink in my face because she didn’t like something I said. I guess I’m doing good [laughs]. That was pretty memorable."

My goal in hip-hop is: “I want to make ill ass music and do innovative shit and push the culture forward. I done drove myself crazy a couple times with making music. I just always wanted to do inventive shit."

I’m going to be the next: “The next Kurt Cobain or David Bowie. I just like people who are unapologetically themselves. I kind’ve want to be that. I also want to be the next X-Pac. I always liked him."

Follow Lou The Human on Twitter and SoundCloud.

Standouts: "Brink"

"Macklemore 1"

"Macklemore 2"

"Slim Buddha"

"Lou's Dead"

See New Music Releases for September 2017