Interview with M'ster Lewis
Updated: Jul 30
THE LET = "The Local Express Tour"
THE LET: Who is M’ster Lewis? Where are you from and how does that affect your work?
M'STER LEWIS: I am power, I am love, I am hard working, I am the above and I am from Sacramento, CA. Being a father, creative, and builder affects my work because those are my influences and they have helped shape who I am and how I approach life and my work.
THE LET: Who are your biggest artistic influences?
M'STER LEWIS: My biggest artistic influences I would have to say are Dizzy Wright, Andre 3000, Erykah Badu, India.Arie, Dr. Sebi, Yahki Awakened, Rex Life Raj, and LaRussell right now.
THE LET: You are a dancer, rapper, fashion designer, father – and according to your YouTube Channel content -- a business consultant, motivational speaker, AND health adviser! With such a wide range of topics you cover – which art form(s) and business areas do you give the most time?
M'STER LEWIS: I think that being a father is my number one duty that I spend most of my time and mind around. Then I would have to say music and healthy living. Then I would have to say music videos after that. I do a lot of motivation[al] speaking and just helping people with their business and building as well, but I would definitely say music and being a father takes up most of my time.
THE LET: How do you balance your art, work, fatherhood, and all points in between?
M'STER LEWIS: What helps me balance life, work, and fatherhood is making all of those things apart of my everyday life. Music is my career and something I take serious. I’ve worked on music everyday since I started, not taking one day off. Literally. But after I get my children situated I’m thinking about the next music video or song or how I can connect with someone to do a show. It’s a never ending process right now. My hobbies/fun are doing the things I love which are music, videos, clothing, and connecting.
THE LET: You and Old Man Cali have a track featuring Bay Area legends: Mistah Fab and Rayven Justice. Walk us through how that collaboration happened.
M'STER LEWIS: I actually met old man Cali through a business partner of mine. I was featured in the local newspaper and Old Man Cali saw it and reached out to one of my clothing partners named Nikki. She gave him my contact and he hit me up on Facebook. We talked for a couple days and he told me that he was interested in working with me and liked what I was doing. [He] told me that he was working on a track with Mistah Fab and Rayven Justice and he wanted to put me on that track. He did and we kind of started collaborating and working from there to get the music video done--which I shot and edited myself. It was definitely a learning situation through the whole experience. Meeting Old Man Cali, Rayven Justice, and Mistah Fab -- you know it was a great thing! Like I said, there were some valuable lessons in it as well which made me, you know, just take a different approach at collaborating with artists [of] that status.
THE LET: You released a Jhene Aiko cover track several years back which reached over 1 million views on YouTube! Congratulations! What contributed to the success of this cover? M'STER LEWIS: Thank you! To be honest, this song became successful I would say through just timing and knowing that remix[ing] songs is a great way to market yourself. Knowing how to do that through making sure you’re using the right titles and tags and descriptions to rank your video with other videos that are similar to that. So I think that’s what really helped catapult the song -- as well as it being a good song, you know! I think people were able to really relate to what I wrote on that song and I think it was a good song for surely.
THE LET: Your clothing brand: God Mode….Powerful name! Clearly spiritually-inspired. But what inspired this title? Why was “Mode” added?
M'STER LEWIS: God Mode was inspired through my lifestyle and how I am rebuilding the culture. The "mode" in God Mode is the activated part of being God, you know? It’s the action and the mindset that’s helping me stay in that space. It’s like saying this is the mode that God is in and I’m a living example. Creating, loving, nourishing, and working on being the highest version of myself that I could be.
THE LET: Lastly, our theme for this episode/interview is “Summer Jam”. A celebration of Summer Time Art locations and events. What Summer Art locations and events did you attend in the past – or been a part of – that have given you good memories?
M'STER LEWIS: Some summer time events that have given me some good memories have been the Banana Festival here in Sacramento, CA -The Berkeley Festival in Berkeley, CA - the Indigefest here in Sacramento, CA - and an event I just did with Afriniji at the Lake (Merritt) have given me Summer Vibes for sure.
~ COMMENTARY FROM THE CREATIVES ~
TBA
Keep up with M'ster Lewis by connecting with him online!
** Be sure to mark your calendar for JULY 30th when we publish our second interview of "Commentary from The Creatives"! **
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