Ok, hello! Great to meet you! So, to start off, can you tell me a little bit about yourself and how you got into music?

Hey! My name is Lucas Home from Miami, Florida. I wasn't really into music as a child. I didn't listen to music like other kids do. I listened to what was on the radio-- I think by the time I was in high school, I started kind of tuning into music and picking out artists and what I liked about them and what I didn't like.

I feel like this may be an unpopular opinion, but I feel like when you're a little bit older, you can actually digest music for real and start to understand and relate to it a little bit better. So I think that's kind of what happened with me, especially with rap music. Even though I'm a rapper-- I did not listen to rap at all as a child, I had no interest in it whatsoever but when I was in high school I did start listening to rap. I think I had gotten my first iPhone, and I got a free month of Apple music and I clicked on the first hip hop album that I saw. I kind of just fell in love with it. Then, when I was a senior in high school, I had no idea what I was going to do. It was when people started asking what you're going to do or where you're gonna go and I was like, I don't know, maybe I'll be a real estate agent or something. And at some point, I was dating this girl when I was in high school and we broke up and I started writing songs about it. I had written songs before and I used to freestyle and stuff at parties with my friends, but that was something that we did for fun. We were very into freestyle rap and I would write these little songs, but it was always like a joke, I guess, from my point of view. But, I started writing songs when I was a senior in high school, and I just got really good at it. And at some point within all of that, I was like, “Man, I could probably do this.” I just kind of like-- on some non-egotistical shit-- realized that I actually had a knack for it. And that was when I was like, man, you know what, if I'm going to do anything, I'm going to do this and I just kind of stuck with it. 

That's amazing. So I'm assuming Lucas Home is an artist name based on the Spotify credits I was looking at. How did you come up with that name?

Yeah, that's my artist name. My government name is Lucas Hernandez. I used to go by LH. That was my artist name for a long time— for almost five years. And then last year I was looking at my numbers, even though that's not something that I value over everything as an artist, but I was looking at my numbers. I was looking at my metrics and I was looking at the amount of fans that I really had—and not just my friends and people around me that are kind of supporting me by way of friendship and just like, knowing each other, and I was just kinda like, felt like I was throwing myself at a brick wall.

I felt like people knew that I could rap and people knew that I made music, but I was just kind of like that neighborhood kid that was good at it. And I was like, “Man, I really need to figure out a way to create a brand here that is investable. So I kind of sat with that for a little bit. And I really thought about it. Eventually I was like, “Man, you know what, I'm going to change my artist name because I'm tired of being LH. It’s such a hard name to remember and when you look it up online a bunch of random stuff comes up. It was not viable from a marketing standpoint so I decided to change it.

I wanted to have my real name be a part of it but I also wanted to stay being able to be called LH because I used to do this thing where I would say LH on my songs and I liked that. I don't even do it anymore at all, but at the time I was I wanted to still be able to do that. So, I wrote down a bunch of names that I liked and when I wrote down Lucas Home I was like, “man, like I like that.” I feel like it sounds like a name— like you got Drake, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Jack Harlow, and you got Lucas Home. So my artist name kind of rebranded completely.

I also began creating a different style of music. While I used to be primarily a lyrical rapper, I still maintain those lyrical elements, but I've shifted my focus. I've started producing records rather than just songs. My goal is to create music that goes beyond me rapping on a beat for four minutes straight to showcase my versatility. I want people to listen to my music and think, "That's a great song; I want to hear it again" or to share it with their friends. This was the underlying idea behind this transition, which may seem lengthy but is a reflection of my evolution as an artist.

And finally kind of like I feel like LH was my artist name by proxy. And Lukas Home is like who I really am. It's a name that embodies my persona fully. LH that was kind of like a name that my city gave me as a kid.

Makes sense. So now that you have rebranded to Lucas Home, what has your approach been to marketing? Have you been trying to navigate the TikTok sphere? The short form content? I guess—how do you market yourself under this new persona?

First of all, I'd like to mention that since rebranding as Lucas Home, I've experienced an overwhelming level of success that's difficult to quantify. Interestingly, today is October 18, and it's been exactly 12 months since I released my first song under the Lucas Home name on October 10 last year. In this past year, I've achieved more in terms of success than I ever did during the initial five years of my career.

So, for any fellow artists out there who feel like they're constantly throwing everything at the wall just—well— it’ll come. But, you know my marketing approach is that I'm all about creating a spectacle. I'm a big fan of artists who emphasize visuals, and I'm no different. I handle all aspects of my videos, from directing to editing, and I've invested thousands of dollars in camera equipment to ensure a professional look. I've even directed videos for other artists in my city. So I really like visuals, I really like a vibe. And aesthetic, like that might sound too Gen Z about it, but I like that to come with an artist. So I focus on the spectacle, I really like to do a music video for every song. Afterward, I adapt the video content for TikTok and Instagram Reels and add subtitles. I'm a bit old-fashioned in the sense that I prefer my work to look professional. When people see my videos, I want them to think, “damn, he's a real artist," and while I know it may not be their immediate thought, it's the lasting impression I want to leave in people when you show them your work and they see that you take it seriously. They see that you shoot real music videos with a high quality camera. So little things like that.

It really helps to use various approaches rather than only relying on just being in front of a phone. Granted, no way am I going to knock on artists who use their phones if that’s all they have. But that's not my personal approach to marketing. When it comes to marketing, I put money into Instagram ads, which, in my opinion, if you have a really good ad, can work well. I also use TikTok. Although I don't use TikTok strategically in the sense of strategizing for TikTok, which I think has worked out well for me. Surprisingly, my most significant career breakthrough happened on TikTok. A few months ago, I posted a TikTok featuring my new music video, and it completely blew up. It was a first for me, and I didn’t expect it whatsoever. When it did, I was like “wow I guess TikTok is fire” Honestly, I’ll tell you what, people on TikTok really care. They’re really nice and they went and listened to my music and they changed my life.

So yeah I do use TikTok and social media for promo like most artists do. However, I'm very intentional with my stuff. I don't like to put content out there just because I “should,” so to speak. This approach didn't work for me for a long time. And I would have other artists call me up and be like, “Man, Lucas, like you got to get on TikTok. Like, you got to do this or that challenge. Like you would kill it, and people will love it!”  But I just feel like in some ways— and this is a personal thought of mine, so it may not apply to everyone-- but I felt like I saw artists on TikTok, some of whom blew up, but I rarely saw someone truly break through in a big way. And I just didn't want to become this guy that was like doing certain things so that people would pay attention to me and then when I got that attention, they were only paying attention to me for the thing that I was doing. So, for example, my first video that popped off on TikTok, it was wholeheartedly just one of my music videos, I didn't do anything to it to like make it more palatable for Tik ok.

So when it popped off on Tik Tok, and it was just one of my music videos that was very validating for me because I was like, “Now this is what people expect from me.” They expect me to do what I like to do in the first place, and they don't want me to like, I don't know, I just feel like people use TikTok as a tool for knowledge. And if I'm on there, like, “Oh, this is how I made this song” or “Oh, these are my plugins that I use.” Everybody is gonna be asking me questions. That's all they're really gonna care about. So I don't know if that makes sense. But I didn't really want to become one of those people that just answers questions on social media. I value my time that I have to create. I value my space mentally that I have to create. So that's kind of my whole approach. I'm kind of old fashioned. I'm kind of like an old fashioned type of guys when it comes to marketing and advertising. Obviously, I play shows a lot in my city. And I just like to move as professionally as possible. I tell my producer a lot when we're in the studio, and we do something incredible, or we get a new achievement, or like this many streams or that many people at the show, I look at him and I tell him: “We're professionals, like we should be operating at this level, this is just what we do.” So that's kind of my idea that I have towards it.

Yeah, I love the word intentional. It makes a lot of sense. It sounds like a really smart way to go about it. The reason I asked that is because it seems like some people are either all in with TikTok or some people are like: “You wouldn't catch me dead on there.” So I just find it interesting to hear everyone’s take on it.

I mean, yeah, as an artist, you just gotta try everything. I feel like people ask a lot of questions And like, obviously, this is gonna sound kind of prideful, I guess. But, I can tell when somebody is kind of a novice in the music industry, because they're asking a lot of questions. And it's kind of like, my natural instinct as an artist to just try things out. So I've tried out a lot of things. Like I just said earlier that I had a career prior to Lucas Home for five years. And I think the most monthly listeners on Spotify that I hit in that span of time was like 30 or something. Or maybe 60 or 70, or something like that. And I was grinding, like I was doing, I want to say damn near the same things that I was doing right now. I just wasn't doing it with intention. It kind of sucks maybe for some people here, but I started getting a lot more successful when I shifted more into a business mindset. So I shifted a bit more to like, “Ok, this didn't work out for me, so I'm just not going to do that again.”

Like when I started taking notes and  putting stuff out and testing markets, like testing waters and trying certain things— If it didn't work out I’d move on from that and try something else. It’s hard for some people to do that because they feel like either not accepted or invalidated, I guess. So it can be hard to do stuff like that. It's kind of like if you're an athlete, and your coaches like coaching your form, and you're like, “Oh, but Coach, this is just how I play.” And he's like, “I get that. But like, if you want to play better, and you want to play more efficiently, you need to change, you need to change it a little bit.” So it's kind of like that you kind of just have to become coachable as an artist, if you want to grow.

I guess that applies to life, too. As a person, you just have to be coachable. Like you have to be able to shift and change. And, you know, the questions start becoming further apart the more you try things out, because you start understanding who you are, you start understanding what works, you start understanding your target audience, which I really think a target audience is there for almost everyone. So once you  start understanding that it just becomes easier.  But it does all come back to intention. Intention is really important, I would say like 30% of it is talent. 40% of it is like putting in the work and the other 60% is like your mental state of mind and how you feel your intentions. What you think about yourself, whether or not you compare yourself to other people, all of that, really does factor into where you can take yourself in life in general.

You're full of wisdom today. I really like that perspective on everything. You mentioned earlier a producer that you work with. Do you work with one producer for all of your stuff?

Yes, so my producer, his name is Bradley Gagné. Funny enough, I've been working with this kid forever. The first song I ever recorded, I recorded with him in his bedroom. And we grew up in the same neighborhood. He's older than me by a couple years. Brad must be like 27 or 28 by now. And I'm 24. So me and Brad grew up in the same neighborhood. And he was like the hometown hero. This kid is like a musical savant. Like a generational talent. He can sing, he can rap, he can write. He plays like any instrument at a high level. And he's an incredible sound engineer. We started working together when I was a teenager and he was signed to an independent label down here. He had me signed to that label too, because he wanted to bring me into it and have me meet everyone.

And we were doing that and it was called SoFlo records. We were doing that for a couple years and then we met these other people in my city. Well, we knew them from high school, but we reconnected and they were photographers and videographers. They were doing visuals, and they were close with Brad and they told Brad that they wanted to open a studio here in Miami with a music studio and a photography studio. So Brad asked me if I wanted to be a part of that. So we opened up a studio in Miami called Ionit studios. And we built a studio there from scratch. By now it's incredible. There’s a bunch of equipment, analog gear everywhere, incredible mics, like a fully professional studio, but at the time we were kids just throwing stuff together. I don't work there anymore because I focus a lot more on my music career nowadays, as Lucas Home. But I worked there for like three and a half years with Brad. And I had this phase where I wanted to mix and master and produce all of my own stuff. That didn't really work out for me because it was just too much. I went to Brad like last year, funny enough, and I went up to him and I was like, “Yo, I'm about to rebrand everything, and I got these new songs and I want to record, I want you to be my producer and my engineer if you're willing to take that bet with me.” Because, you know, he has a lot of clients. And he’s very professional, he does a lot of work with other people. And he was like “Yeah” and then from that, from that day forward, we've been working together.

That’s amazing! Ok so one of the questions I had written down to ask you was—If you could choose one producer to produce an entire album for you, who would it be? Is there a different answer?

Yeah, I mean if I could pick anyone it would be Brad and me together in the studio— because I actually produce some of my own songs. I think of my records that are out I've only produced one of them, but I make beats and stuff like that. And I'll bring them to Brad and he'll enhance them. So yeah I would say Brad, but for like a dream producer I would say someone else.

Do you have anyone in mind for a dream producer?

I mean, that's actually a really good question. I don't know. It's kind of funny, but I really like Logic. I don't really listen to Logic like that anymore, but I really like his producer 6ix. I like him a lot. I love Logic beats that he has on his music. I also really like T-Minus. I think he's a great producer. But I think somebody that I would work well with is someone like Kenny Beats. I like Kenny beats. He does a lot of stuff for like Vince Staples and I feel like that's right up my alley, so I’d probably pick him.

Good to know. I like that. So I was wondering, you have four singles out right under Lucas Home, I'm assuming based on how many years you've been doing this, there's a lot more music? Is this coming together into an album? Or do you like putting out singles?

I like doing singles right now. If I do an album— I've had this conversation with myself so many times—because I write a song and I'm like, “Man, this is so good. This could go on an album.” But I think that when I do an album  I'll try to make it an actual record that's cohesive and coherent, and there are themes to it that make sense. I've always kind of told myself that I'll do an album when people want an album from me. But my mind seesaws between the idea because I've put out records before that didn't do that well when they came out. Like even now one of my songs is kind of blowing up a little bit that I put out a long time ago—and it wasn't very successful when it first got put out—but now all of a sudden it is. So there is this idea that you can always put out a record and it'll get its shine whenever it's time is. But, I have always had this idea that I'll put on an album when people like want it. Like when it's going to do more than 50 sales, or whatever the case may be, just. because an album is a lot of work, and I hate to like sound like super industrial about this, but I'm not about to put out a product that nobody's gonna buy.

Yeah I feel like it used to be that an artist would make a couple of singles and then that would be on an album. That’s just the way it went. You were always working towards an album. Do you think that's changed recently, maybe because of TikTok or social media, or the way Spotify algorithms are? Are artists kind of leaning more towards singles and EPs over full-concept albums?

Yeah, I mean, I think as an artist, you kind of have to—if you want to have some type of buzz around your name, or you're trying to be successful—you kind of have to be out there promoting all the time. And being like that all the time, it's hard to write an album. Because writing an album is like 10 to 14 songs that are, hopefully, all cohesive. You have to mix them all and produce them all and master them to put into a singular package. It is kind of like making a movie in a way. So, it takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of effort, it takes a lot of people. And you know, you’re fans on the internet, they're not going to wait a year or two years for you to put out an album. Especially when  everybody else is putting out a single every other day. And also, after all of that people might listen to three songs on your album and be like, “Man, this is mid” or some something like that, and then just move on from it.

I do think that if you're a real music listener and your favorite artist drops an album, you’re gonna listen to the whole thing. Right? But not everyone is like that. I think my generation of artists coming up right now are more about doing singles and then you do the album when the time is right. An artist I really like — his name is Felly—  he's been doing music for a long time. He's like 26 or 27 or so he's not that much older than me, but he's been popular since he was like 17 or 18 years old. And he only puts out albums. He puts out singles every once in a while but he will drop an album and everybody will listen to it because that's what he's been doing. He's been putting out albums for years. So, I think that that's where that divide really is— it's kind of a generational thing. I prefer doing singles because it's easier, but like I said, I'll do an album when the time is right— when I feel like people actually want it. I'm not gonna say too much, but I definitely got stuff that is going on an album right now, but I'll leave it at that.

Interesting, yeah that is not what I thought you were going to say. I thought you were gonna be like, “Yeah, albums coming, don't worry about it out” But that's an interesting take. It’s going back to what you were talking about with looking at the industry from a business standpoint.

Yeah, I don't have a manager. So, I kind of have to do these things myself—like  mentally figure out the market and figure out what makes sense. You know, they say “Work smart, don’t work hard” And I've kind of really taken that in stride over the past couple of years. Trying my best to work smart and not over-extend myself.

Switching gears into your writing style now— do you find when you're writing your music, that you focus more on your flow, your lyrics or your melodies?

I'm definitely a flow-focuser. It’s crazy because writing is such a sport low-key. But, I like to focus on the flow because that’s—for me at least— that's my whole bread and butter. And that's what I like personally. I like Smino, I like Saba. I like these artists who have these intricate flows that kind of take me for a ride mentally. It's kind of like another instrument to me. So I like that. I like focusing on the flow, but there are just these days where the flow and the lyrics are both there and you're writing and you have the potential to have incredible flow on one of your better-written songs. But, also, if I’m really writing something, and it's really coming out like that, I will focus more on the lyrics at that point. And then I'll be like, “Oh, let me make sure everything makes sense. Let me make sure that everything is solid.” So it's kind of a day to day thing. I will say though, that overall it's the flow. Lyrics are important to me but I really care about the flow.

Again, not what I thought you were gonna say so this interview is full of surprises which I'm loving. Who are your top five favorite rappers of all time?

I've never been asked this question so—hmm my top five rappers of all time— okay I'm gonna modify this question I'm gonna just do my top five favorite rappers right now because if I do all time I’ll just say some typical all time great rappers like how you would say Michael Jordan for all time basketball players. But yeah so J. Cole was not always my favorite rapper, but nowadays I love J. Cole. I think he’s one of the best to ever do it. I love JID. I think he's top five rapper, in my opinion, of all time. I really think Mos Def belongs there as well. I don't listen to Mos Def life that but I have in the past. I love Mos Def. If you play any song by him, there's no way that I'm going to say turn it off. Yeah. André 3000 would also be in there for me personally. I love André 3000. I think he's influenced a lot of this modern alternative, off kilter rap genre that is very popular right now. For number five I'm gonna put Nas because I think that Nas is the forefather of the other side of that type of music, which is conscious rap and NaS is kind of like one of the fathers of conscious rap. So yeah, that's gonna be my top five.

Do you emulate yourself after any of those rappers? Is there anyone from that list that you inspire to be like or follow in their footsteps?

I think that every single one of them I did at some point in time but I think that right now I am trying my best to do my own thing. But, yeah, at some point in time I have looked up to all of them. I could list all of their qualities and how I tried to emulate them— but when I was younger I really was one of those hip hop student of the game type of people. I didn’t listen to rap growing up so I had to play catch up for a couple of years there. From when I was like 17-21 or 22 I was just catching up on all of these rappers that I hadn’t listened to growing up. Eventually I got to a point where I got tired of listening to other people and just wanted to do my own thing. Sometimes I even make jokes to my friends that I’m “not a rapper, I’m an artist.” But also, there’s a lot of artists that aren’t rappers who I try to emulate. I think everyone picks their favorite artist and to some level tries to be like them and then at some point finds their own sound.

To tie into your question about lyrics and flow— one of the most important categories that ties into this as well is cadence, how you sound on a record. That is the most important thing to me as an artist. I feel like anybody can “be an artist.” I feel like anybody can write a song or a rap or a bridge or a hook or whatever it may be, but if you can’t sing it or you can’t rap it convincingly to a group of people then nobody is going to buy it. So, that’s the most important thing and that’s where you find your identity.

So to summarize, I have tried to emulate all of these rappers at some point, but my cadence is what separates me from them. I know at some point when I am a way bigger artist people will start throwing up comparisons like “Oh, he sounds like him or he sounds like that guy” but—

Yeah that’s a great point. When I’m writing reviews about people I try to say that they “remind me of” instead of “sounds like” because I know those direct comparisons can be a little insulting for artists. I think you saying “cadence” is interesting because when I was writing your review I was trying to come up with the word that separates you and that’s definitely the word I was searching for. That’s a great way to separate how you do separate yourself.

Yeah that’s what I call my rap voice. Because sometimes I meet people and they’re like “Bro you sound so different from what I thought you were going to sound like” and I’m like “Yeah you’re probably used to hearing my rap voice.” I know that sometimes people will hear themselves and be like “wait do I really sound like that?” But, I feel like your true cadence as an artist is when you hear yourself on a recording and you’re like “Yep yeah that’s me. I sound like that. That’s my voice.” That’s the voice I make when I get in the booth or I get in the studio or whatever the case may be. That’s also what took me the longest to develop. I honestly think if I never started making music my voice would be different now.

Yeah I’ve never heard it described like that but I think I agree with you. So since Zoom is going to kick us off, I have one last question that I ask everyone. At your next show—which is when?

The next show that I have booked is November 25th.

So at that show what could we expect to find on your rider? What do you absolutely need to have in your green room before a show?

Man if I could have anything in my green room I think that just unlimited supply of water and three beers. Three weak beers is perfect and one hour.

No food?

No food. I’m not a big pregame meal guy. I learned the hard way that I should be. At one of my last shows I had a long set and I played with a live band and I threw up when I got home because I was exhausted. Usually, though, if I’m going to eat is a huge breakfast and then play the show at night.

Wow, ok. Good to know! Is there anything else you want to say before we close out the interview? Anything I missed?

I’m just going to say that new music is coming out for the rest of my life. This is what I do. This is my career. I’m happy to get to talk to you and grateful you took time out of your day to ask me these questions. I’m just grateful for the journey. To be able to connect with people and share what I can with people.

I love that. This is great and I learned so much from talking to you today. I’m a huge fan. I wish you all the best and I’m excited to see what you do next.

Thanks! Have a great day.