In a lengthy interview with Vibe, R Les talks about the direction he will be taking on his new album Les Is More, being independent, wanting to work with Nicki Minaj, studio sessions with Kanye and Swizz Beatz, thoughts after listening to Kanye’s album, appreciation for Lloyd Banks and more.
Kanye said Lloyd Banks is underrated and should be top 5 rappers. Do you agree?
I really, really, really like Banks. When I think about Nas, when I was really getting introduced to hip-hop—I really got introduced around Tribe Called Quest, Nas, DJ Premier, Gang Starr. When I listen to Nas and then I listen to Banks’ flow, I really hear echoes of that time and how excited I was about hip-hop when I first heard those records. I’m not gonna sit here and say that I’m some sort of hip-hop documentarian or historian, I just know the records that I really liked. And I listen to Banks’ flow and I can hear echoes of those records and that sort of rhyme sensibility, so I had a really enlightening and enriching time working with him in the studio, and I’m really excited to see how this “Start It Up” record is gonna do for him. He came off with “Beamer, Benz Or Bentley.” It went gold digitally, but I’m really excited to see… He has a great line-up around him on this next single. Between ‘Ye, Swizz, Fab [and] myself there’s just a lot of integrity right there. There’s a lot of strong, real artistic contribution historically just in those names. I like that for him and I’m excited for him.
Read the full interview here.