Celebrating Journeys & Heartbreaks – An Interview with Lil Crush

Lil Crush’s life has been a journey of celebrations and heartbreaks. Born to a Colombian mother and African American father, the Minnesota native often traveled to his mother’s homeland, where he’d submerge himself in the ancestral landscape while listening to Lil Wayne and Eminem. These wanderings would serve as his inspiration when cultivating his sound, merging his Latinx culture with his American musical roots.

At a young age, Lil Crush would take the high from performing in his mother’s living room for family and translate it into his first band, touring various schools and block parties, including a performance for the Iowa state Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Lil Crush’s ability to play multiple instruments would lead him to produce his own music, tapping into his wandering spirit when creating the hooks and verses while driving around his hometown or LA. His music, infused with the soul of an ever-present wanderer, speaks of a young man’s desire to be understood in a world that doesn’t always value a young Black Latinx man’s heart. We sat down with Lil Crush to discuss his musical inspirations, cultural influence & what fans can look forward to next!

1) I hear you play multiple instruments. What do you play and how did you learn? Are you self-taught?

I do play multiple instruments, I can practically play any instrument you put in front of me, and I’m self taught. Except for guitar and drums, I had a couple talented musicians teach me the basics and from they’re I taught myself the rest. But some examples of instruments I play are guitar, drums, bass, piano, violin, cello, ukulele, etc.

2) You describe the cultivation of your sound as being influenced by your Latinx culture and American musical roots. Tell us more about what elements of both of these you choose to incorporate into your music and why?

I incorporate almost every genre of music ranging from country, hip hop, punk, rock n roll, indie, trap, classical, and Latin into my own sound. I chose to do it this way because those are all genres I grew up listening to and that way people have an easier time relating to every song I have because there’s a little of something for everyone in each one of my songs.

3) How did you come up with the name Lil Crush? What does the name mean to you?

When I was younger all my grandma would say to me is one day the world would have a “Little Crush” on me, and while I was growing up I’d always have a crush on some one, the name just really fit. I’m 5’4 so I added “Lil” to the beginning of “Crush” and it’s stuck ever since.

4) What are you working on right now, music-wise?

We’re getting ready to drop my debut 17 song album “Crusciendo” , we are dropping a video to my new single “Not Ur Fault”. We also just finished a photo shoot for Sprayground featuring they’re exclusive Mohamed Ali boxing collection.

5) Who are some of your biggest musical inspirations and why?

Eminem and Lil Wayne are the ones that really got me into hip hop when I was around 5, after that every time I’d go to New York my uncles would show me new artists. The ones that really caught my attention were 2 Chains, Drake, 50 cent, kid ink, and Tyga. Once I had reached middle school I really started getting in to punk rock, I started a band and all we listened to until my freshman year was Blink 182, Sum 41, Green Day, Simple Plan, My Chemical Romance, and Neck deep, etc. We started doing old remake covers as well and really got in to rock, with bands like Def Leppard, KISS, Motley Crew, Whitesnake, Guns N Roses, etc.

When my band broke up my last years of highschool is when I went solo, I started recording under the name of Lil Crush and quickly worked to create my own sound, at first lot of people compared me to Juice Wrld, I didn’t think I sounded like him but I took it as a compliment because he’s a big influence to the new culture.

6) What has been the biggest challenge to you being a musician in 2020 and what is a positive that has come out of it?

The biggest challenge in 2020 for me would have to be the fact that I was supposed to start touring this summer along with performing at major festivals.While we were working on my album “Crusciendo” I was in the studio every day all day and when I wasn’t doing that I was performing every week And traveling. Once covid hit I was stuck at home for months and everything slowed down. But the positive that’s come out of this is it really gave me time to focus on my self and figure out how to be healthy and mentally happy, my music started to improve even more, I started to become the person I’ve always wanted to be and really was able to focus on what I need to do to come out of 2020 on top and in the best position my team and I can be in.

7) Where do you see yourself and your music career in 5 years? 10 years? Tell us about your goals.

Within the next 5 years I’m going to be the #1 artist in the world and will help start to lead a new generation in music, to hopefully really transform the music scene. By then I also hope to have an album for every genre. Within the next 10 years my team an I will have built an empire , and I plan to explore different fields such as acting, clothing, and much more

8) What’s next for you in 2020? Any new music? Projects?

2020 is still filled with surprises, but as of right Now my album “Crusciendo” is ready to go along with a couple 6 song EP’s “Luv Mob” & “AToxic Luv”. We’ve recently shot a new video for my single “Not Ur Fault” and we intend to shoot 3-4 more videos in the next couple months, some songs from the album and some from one of the EP’s.

Follow Lil Crush on YouTube here:

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