Interview with Sean of lupEND.

This is the first of hopefully a series of interviews I will be doing with fellow Lupe site owners or ..prominent Lupe fans. If that makes any sense.

Sean runs the Lupe blog lupEND. I think of that one as an international Lupe site while mine is more of a fan based site while Lupe's favorite girls over and The Lupe Fiasco Show have a more general one.

Anyway, I recently got a chance to talk to Sean about his intrest in Lupe and he clears up the confusion about his famous Glow In The Dark Mixtape.


Lupe The Killa: Okay, so I need to get some basic stuff out of the way. Basic stuff like name, alias & age..

Sean Smith The Future Blogger: I'm 22. My real name is Ludwig and my alias is Sean Smith The Future Blogger. Some people also call me Jeezy.

LTK: Where'd the Jeezy nickname come from?

Sean: Well it hasn't to do anything with the rapper. Basically, it was el-jay first but then some people said Jeezy sounds better so I left it that way.

LTK: Oh okay. That's good to know. Okay a question about your blog. Since possibly millions of people will read this...maybe..explain to the ones who don't know what the whole 'Amajanese' thing is about.

Sean: Alright, I got the inspirtaion for that when I heard Gold Watch because Lupe raps about how he has American and Japanese influences. So, I thought how can you put that in one word? So I came up with the word "Amajanese". And I basically want Lupe to use it on one of his next projects. It stands for the mix of American and Japanese culture.

LTK: Seriously..I really think he should mention it. What was it about Lupe that made you make a site for/about him?

Sean: I think his lyrics and the whole music he does comes from his heart. And there are not a lot of Hip Hop artists that make music about real life issues that people can actually relate to. But Lupe does that and that's one main reasons. I also really like his style and that he's a little nerdy. It's good to hear music that's not about bitches and guns and all that.

LTK: Yeah, I know what you mean. Would the lupEND blog be the first time you ever did anything like that?

Sean: I did blogs before but I never really lasted that long. Now with the blog about Lupe I found something that's really important for me and I really care about it. So it's the first time I have a blog for more than 2 months.

LTK: What/who were the other blogs for?

Sean: I did one basically about Hip Hop and entertainement. It lasted 2 weeks. And the other one was about female skater and it also lasted 2 weeks.

LTK: LOL, okay. So, to the Lupe questions. What was the first song you heard of his?

Sean: It was Touch The Sky with Kanye.

LTK: Same for me. I actually listened to it on my computer for the first time and while I was listening to it I started looking for stuff by him on Limewire...but this isn't about me, LOL.

If you could only listen to one of the 2 for the rest of your life [for whatever reason] which cd would you pick. Food & Liqour or The Cool?

Sean: Ah damn...that's a tough one. I think I would pick The Cool. Because I like the content of it more and I really like Matthew a lot more on The Cool. And my secret crush Nikki Jean is on there, too. Yeah I would pick The Cool.

LTK: LOL, everybody loves Nikki. Okay so, if you were trying to introduce somebody to Lupe's music and they only agreed to listen to two songs. What songs would you play for them to try and get them hooked?

Sean: Somehow depends on the other person but I think I would play Streets On Fire because it's really catchy and deep at the same time. And I would play Dumb It Down because it's my favorite right now and if you don't like Lupe after that song you'll never like him.

LTK: True. Then again, I've played that song for someone and they didn't like it. To me that meant they didn't understand it so I left it alone. For now. But..do you think you really know Lupe's songs? This answer will determine if we do what I consider the fun part..

Sean: Do you mean all the lyrics or the meanings behind them?

LTK: Lyric wise. I think some of the meanings differ. It depends on the individual listening. Lyric wise and maybe song titles.

Sean: Alright. I'm bad lyric wise but we can try it just for the fun factor.

LTK: LOL, Okay. So,..wait before we do that I meant to ask you 2 "Either/Or's". Tilted or Tilted In Any Colour You Like? & vacation wise..Paris or Tokyo?

Sean: Tilted and Tokyo

LTK: Okay. Just give me the next part from this line "Cuz I know I'm not the smoothest..."

Sean: Ah damn. Is that from He Say, She Say? I told you I suck at stuff like that.

LTK: LOL, I'll give you a hint. It's from 'And He Gets The Girl'

Sean: ...told myself i shouldn't do this.

LTK: Yep. He Say She Say was the father/son thing lol. You think you could guess the song if I give you a whole line?

Sean: Yeah

LTK: "You can't destroy me, know who dem boys be/ I ain't no employee" I couldn't give you the next part because that'd give away the song. Just to let you know..all the ones I mention are gonna be from mixtape songs. Albums are too easy, lol.

Sean: I should go back and listen to the mixtapes.

LTK: Okay, we'll end that then, LOL. It was Boss Playa. But lemme see...I had more questions anyway.. Don't worry though I'm almost done.

Sean: Oh..I could go on for hours...lol.

LTK: LOL, too bad I don't have hours worth of questions. I couldn't think of much. I'm sure I'll think of stuff I should of asked later. Two more "Either/Or's" first. Fast food or home cooked? and Boat or Plane?

Sean: Home Cooked. I love my mom's food...and I'll take the plane.

LTK: Good choice. I only asked the boat/plane thing because of Dumb It Down. Okay two more questions.

Sean: Alright

LTK: 1. What Lupe song has the most meaning to you?

Sean: Probably He Say, She Say because I never really had a father so sometimes I can't even listen to that track.

LTK: Wow. I'm sure you're not the only one. I've heard that alot. Okay..so 2. What does the line "When the fighters are all around, all the lovers are underground" mean to you?

Sean: What does it mean to me? I think you need bad stuff to appreciate good things. That's pretty much what it means for me. The more bad happens to you the more you can appreciate the good things... Don't know if that made any sense...but that's how I see it.

LTK: I understand what you mean. It's kind of like the whole thinking that you have to have bad relationships to appreciate a good one.

Sean: Yeah, pretty much.

LTK: Okay, I know I said two more but really quick..what are some of your other favorite artist in hip hop and other genres?

Sean: I like Kanye West, N.E.R.D. , Talib Kweli, Common, Mos Def, M.I.A. Linkin Park, U2, Coldplay...and of course Nikki Jean and Optimus.

LTK: That's great. Okay then..thanks for the time and maybe we can do this again. Maye next time I'll be asking you what it felt like to hear Lupe to use 'amajanese' on lupEND.

Sean: Oh yeah that would be cool. Thanks for having me...just really quick can I say one more thing?

LTK: Sure.

Sean: Alright about that Glow In The Dark Mixtape. I did the cover with the 3 heads on the black background and I compiled the tracklist so it's more like a compilation. There has been some confusion if it's official or not. Just to tell everyone once and for all...it's not. And oh yeah shout outs to Lupe, Nikki, Optimus, everyone from FNF, The Femmes, and everyone who reads that.

Visit lupEND.
Dowload the Glow In The Dark Mixtape here.