Loonasik just dropped into the ROX-TV universe to kick around a little music, some background, and much more.

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As you all know, ROX-TV enjoys giving artists from the underground a place to be seen and heard. That goes for musical artists, poets, film makers, indie-everything people, and much more. So keep coming back for the latest news, whatever it turns out to be this week. Tonight we have a special guest in the house who goes by the name of Loonasik. He’s hear to chop it up about his music, a little background, and some upcoming releases, so pull up seat, get comfy, and lets roll….

Welcome to the ROX-TV website. We appreciate you chopping it up with us and before we get into the interview, can you let the new readers and people just learning about you, what area is Loonasik repping tonight? 

Aye, thank y’all so much for your time!, This is really cool for me. Y’all giving a shit and all, it means the world. I’m from Salem, Indiana. It’s a smaller town in the southern portion of the state near Louisville, Kentucky.  I’ve lived all over the state tho, Vincennes, New Albany, Jeffersonville, Indianapolis, Plymouth. Hell I’ve evened played basketball for Ancilla in Michigan City State Penitentiary.

Before you were making music as an artist, do you remember what group or artist got you excited about the sounds as a kid? Was there a song or group that you heard that made you think “that’s what I want to do”?

Oh for certain, the first artist that I remember flipping my wig was Master P. With the Ghetto D album. But the tipping point for me was DMX, I was like “ok I want to rap”. Then right after that I came across ICP and ESHAM. They opened up even more doors for me as far as my mind and I realized there was music out there….not just music, but people who feel like I do. People who have these thoughts and experiences…and Tech N9ne to me is my idol and the full evolution of an Emcee.  But on the real y’all, I’ve been hip hop since the start. My first legit memory (2 Legit to quit) was me doing the Hammer Dance for my mom in our living room…wearing parachute pants and doing MC HAMMER songs. I just love this rap shit more than anything.

Once you decided to cross over from just being a fan of the music, how long did it take before you started creating original content? Once you got to that point, how long did it take for you to start recording your own music?

Once I decided I wanted to make music for public consumption it didn’t take no time. At first, I was playing basketball and went to college to play ball…and all that, but that’s where I truly found myself. It was what I was meant to do. I was doing well…playing this sport but for whatever reason I just really filled out as a person quickly there. I realized that I wasn’t trying to play ball. I had always wrote lyrics and would do my own rapping in my bedroom. But that’s where it switched, I started battling people on the bus rides to games or on street corners in snow storms, on the road G…battled at house parties and I always got the same reactions.

People was like “aye your pretty good”. So I was just like “aye, yeah, you right ha ha”. So I left school in 2008 and didn’t graduate. I just came home and immediately started recording music. My first producer was named Jak3, same name still…you can look him up. He dope. But we linked up through my lifelong homie Smokey Jonez… he know he the dude to me.

What is your own personal opinion about the state of the underground music scene? What needs to change? What needs to continue to be celebrated?

Man…I actually really think the underground is in a nice space right now. With technology being where it’s at…the technology has made it possible to put your work out and in a creative way that wasn’t existent when I was coming up. The internet is the record label now ya feel me. So we all have a chance to get it poppin. If I could change anything tho…just cuz we underground don’t mean there shouldn’t be quality control. Gotta be dope.

When you were coming up, what was the local music scene in you area? Was there anyone local or nationally that was really inspiring you at the time?

When I was coming up, in my area…I’ll be real honest. There was nothing. Zero rap that I had ever heard out of Indiana in my neck of the woods. That’s why I feel like I need a father’s day card every year from a lot of these New Indiana rappers, or Kentuckiana rappers. It made me feel old as shit even tho I’m not…when some of these new emcees round here tell me that they first live show was me. Y’all that’s a mixed bag of emotions ha ha. But perp this, ironically my brother and partner in music now is a cat named Jus Dave. He is from my same city and a year younger. He been rapping long as me. Somehow, we never linked up earlier on. Crazy.

For the new readers who are just learning about your music, where can they find your stuff? 

I bet most y’all are just now hearing of me and it’s so good to meet y’all! I’m Loona. Find me on YouTube just type in LoonaSik, find me in Spotify, itunes, Amazon, Deezer, anything just by simply typing in LoonaSik. Same with socials.

What is the most recent drop you’ve released? I understand you dropped Cold Ink Vol. 1 in June. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Yessir Cold Ink dropped in June. That is some of my best work in my opinion. That was the album I recorded when I was signed to Ice Age Records out of Atlanta, Georgia. We actually have a pretty decent relationship now but there is a lot of red tape there. So I won’t get too deep into that part of it… but they were cool enough to give me my album and let me have the rights to it. Dead Daddy Productions which is Jus Dave, myself,  and DJ SLUG…put the record out. Y’all should go stream that mug and lemme know how ya feels bout it.

What does the rest of the year look like for Loonasik? Any new material getting worked on?

Yessir, I got some big things in my own world popping off…coming up for the rest this year. Got my new full length record “THE BLACK PILL” dropping in this month. The release date will be announced within the next 2 weeks. The record is done, we just finalizing some things and fine tuning the sound. It will be my best project to date…by far. I hope y’all like it! Sincerely…

I know the pandemic bullshit has fucked up the live music scene for a minute now. How has the pandemic affected your music, how you get music out to the fans, and performing live? Has the time been good for creating? Or mostly a pain in the ass?

The pandemic has been weird for me, because it hasn’t really affected my music career so much as far as my earnings. I’m still rather underground and a “starving artist” but if anything, it’s actually helped me regain focus and motivation. I put the record together (THE BLACK PILL) during this time and really started to dive into the social media/promo aspect of things. The one thing the business has always had a problem with when it comes to me is that I just refused to play the game, promo myself and step out there. That’s on me, I’m awake now though, and I’m here to play for all the chips.

If you could tell someone who was just entering the music game one piece of advice, what would you say?

One piece of advice I’d give a new emcee: Man ya gotta just keep going, don’t stop, don’t quit. There’s gonna be peaks and valleys…always. You’re gonna feel great one day, then like nobody will ever care the next. That’s the game. Snakes are everywhere so mow your lawn and always, always, be consistent in your approach. If your dope…then your dope, and people will eventually start to notice.

I appreciate your time tonight. Before we shut this down and get stoned, is there anyone you’d like to shout out tonight? I’m from the 90’s and the shoutout was always one of my favorite parts. Getting to hear who the artists were giving props to. So who you shouting out?

Aye! First off, I’d love to say thank you so much for this interview! So shout out to ROX-TV! Y’all are nothing but love for this scene. I’d like to say thank you to everybody who listens and supports the music. Thank you…and the biggest shoutouts go to Jus Dave, my brother, my ride or you’ll die partna! Look him up. Jus Dave on all socials and YouTube. Much love to DJ SLUG. He does a lot of these sounds you hear. Look him up as well! Dead Daddy Productions…812 Indiana…we out here. My man, CityOfTyrone, the king of Louisville. James Pookie Jay Gibson of Out The Box Media. Go to him to get your mix right. Jak3 for shaping my original sound and Smokey Jones. Thank you guys…so much, for everything. Aye y’all this has been Dylan Dylan Dylan fire. Go watch some Chapelle show. And I’m out.

That’s all the time we have tonight, so thanks to Loonasik for chilling at ROX-TV with us. To all the readers, please keep coming back. We enjoy bringing a wide spectrum of topics, artists, and items to talk about each week….you never know what you might find. So with that, I bid you farewell my friends. Until we meet again….

Signing Off,

Mike Shepard

ROX-TV Head Writer

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