Interview with: Tory Lanez

Hey everyone,

It seems today that the biggest artists out there have a Canadian protégé: Lil Wayne’s got Drake and Usher found Justin Bieber, but I got the chance to interview an up and coming hip hop superstar who was discovered by Sean Kingston. Currently residing in Miami, Florida, 18-year-old Tory Lanez sticks to his Canadian roots and is ready to show the world was he’s got to offer. Even over a phone interview, his passion could be heard from a mile away. He gave insight into how he got started in the industry, what he’s been up to in Miami, and even some crazy fan encounters.

Q: When did you start rapping?

I started rapping when I was nine. I always took it seriously, but I didn’t take it that seriously until I was about 12 or 13, because when I came to a certain age, I realized this could actually be taken as a profession. So I just started creating music. I have a real knack for creating things, whether it be a video game character or a painting or a drawing, I just like creating things. So I figure this is a good way to express myself.

Q: What’s your favourite part of being in the industry?

Honestly, it’s just the fact of being able to express my music and my feelings. And people actually listening to it and giving me feedback.

Q: Then what’s the hardest part?

I’d have to say the hardest part about music is, I mean not really for me, but for another artist, is the consistency and being able to continuously come out with the next record. My thing is that it comes so natural to me because I’m just a musical dude, so it’s a passion for me, not a job. So it’s not that hard for me. But for other people, it’s that consistency and determination that’s the hardest part.

Q: Could you describe a typical day in the life of Tory Lanez?

Well I wake up in the morning and I get dressed, I get fresh. I usually write in the morning because I’m just so interested with writing in the morning and I just love writing in the morning. I usually write a verse, but I have to be dressed in order to write the verse. I write it, then I call Sean Kingston and I tell him, “Yo I have to get into the studio today, what’s the schedule for the studio?” and then we go to the studio. And from then, I just lay the hits down and Sean usually comes down and he says “you need to change this and put this in” and we also have to have the CEO and everything. And then after that point, we usually come up with a hit. Then we usually celebrate when we come up with a hit. So we usually go to the club or go somewhere to eat. Whenever it’s just a really good song, as sort of an appreciation if you want to call it that, but it just depends on what the day is. I don’t do that every single day, because some days I have photo shoots or radio interviews, but that’s a regular, regular day.

Q: If you could collaborate with any artist in the world, who would it be and why?

I would collaborate with Michael Jackson, I know a lot of people say that. Or I would collaborate with Jimmy Hendrix; I would just need him to play some sort of something on one of my tracks. Andre 3000 and Coldplay, because of the fact that I just feel like they have such different, wonderful sounds, and I think their music takes me to another level. And R Kelly too, they just bring me to another level when it comes to music, so that’s just some of the collabs I’d really want to do.

Q: How was that shift from Toronto to Florida?

It wasn’t too harsh on me because I lived there before, like when I was in the fourth grade, so I kind of already knew what this place was going to be like. I just hadn’t been here in so long, but when I came here, it was just hotter and Canada was cold. It was kind of different; the only thing that was really changing was the weather.

Q: So you’re doing shows with Sean Kingston. How has that been going so far?

Yes, I do a lot of shows with Sean and perform on a lot of his sets. I mean, I have my own shows, but I love going out and performing with him because he’s my boss and my CEO, so when I go out and perform with him, it’s like me performing, but also like a test, since he shows me what I need to do right and what to work on and that kind of thing.

Q: How did you get in contact with him?

It was pretty crazy. He was on YouTube one day and looking up a video from Akon, but he ended up coming across one of my videos, one of my freestyle videos. And he looked further into me, seeing that I could sing. So he called me, with Justin Bieber on the phone, and said he wanted to sign me and when he comes to Toronto he wanted to talk to me and from there it went to this and that.

Q: You’ve released quite a few mixtapes so far, which has been your favourite?

Honestly, my favourite mixtape is the one coming. It’s always going to be like that. The mixtape that I’m always working on happens to always be my favourite because it’s the one I want to put everything into. I don’t want to be stuck on one mixtape, so I like to expand and build so every new project is always my favourite. Maybe I’m weird for that, but I don’t know.

Q: You have one coming out June 11th, the Swavey mixtape, what can your fans expect?

They can expect the unexpected. There is no way to predict what will be on this tape.

Q: I always see your tweets on twitter, do you feel that social media has played a big role in your success?

Yes, honestly, it gives me a way to interact with my fans more. I think Twitter is one of my greatest tools, because I have like 23,000; that may not be a lot to some people, but that’s a lot to me. And that’s like 23,000 fans I get to speak to and they get to give me their opinions. I always take other people’s opinions for my own improvement, so it’s good I get to talk with my fans and connect with them and they can get to know me as a person.

Q: How does it feel to be so young in this industry?

It feels great, because I’m not old. I don’t ever want to get old. I know I’m going to get old one day, but I feel good because I feel like I have a lot of developing to do. A lot of people say that I don’t have any developing to do, but me, I feel like I do. As a young artist, I feel good that I’m young because I still have time to develop and still come out with newer sounds. I can still be hip to everything new. If I’m old, it just looks kind of weird sometimes when you see an old, old guy doing some young, young stuff, you know what I mean? Like your grandpa coming up you and saying “What’s popping?” You know what I mean? It’s like woah, that’s weird.

Q: You represent Toronto and Canada very well in your music, so what does ‘being Canadian’ mean to you?

Being Canadian to me really means just having a certain pride to your home, because any Canadian and any person from Canada knows that you can go anywhere and you can always go to wherever you need to go, but there’s no place like Canada. There’s something about Canada that gives you this home feel. I don’t know what it does to other people, but here’s what it does to me: I have so much family there and so much pride there, it’s just a pride for my country. I’m happy and I’m proud to be Canadian. I wouldn’t want to be American, I mean nothing wrong with Americans, but I’m just so happy to be Canadian. So I guess to me, it just means being proud of my country.

Q: Who is your favourite Canadian artist?

That’s a tough one. Honestly, I have 3 older brothers who are my favourite Canadian artists, but I mean, they’re my older brothers, nobody knows about them yet. They’re going to come out and terrorize the music industry. Oh also N-Rimes is one of my favourites too, he has this weird style, but he’s really dope.

Q: Any crazy fan encounters?

Yes, all the time. I remember one time I was on tour with Justin Bieber, and on tour with Sean, and we were in the tour bus. We were sitting down in the bus and we heard all these screams coming out of nowhere. We opened up the window and we see all these girls screaming and going crazy. We were thinking wow, there’s a group of screaming girls, so we had to close the windows obviously. They followed us to the Walmart in the next city, they followed our tour bus that far. When we stopped at the Walmart, we ended up doing a meet and greet and giving them autographs. Anyone who follows us that far, I mean, you deserve an autograph, because you really, really care about that autograph. But that’s just one encounter; I don’t want to take up your entire Saturday.

Q: Where do you hope to see yourself in 5 years?

I’m going to be the biggest artist in the world. I’m serious. I know a lot of people say that, but I’m dead serious, I believe I’m going to be one of the biggest artists in the world. Then you can say you interviewed me. I’ll make it happen. The only way I won’t become the biggest artist is if I died. God forbid. But I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

And with his goals set high and a fresh, ambitious state of mind, there’s no doubt that Tory Lanez can do it all. You can check out his videos on his YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/keysbrooklyn and follow him on Twitter: @tlanez And in the words of Tory Lanez at the end of our conversation: "Let the swave be with you."

Thanks!

- Christinaaa