Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lyndon Laveaux. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Lyndon, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I have been writing since I was 12, poetry mostly. I always wanted to do music but I was extremely intimidated by it, it was exasperated by the fact that all other artists I grew up with were severely talented, but when I meet Dooley, my big brother in many ways but particularly when it came to the craft of hip hop and what it meant to be an MC, he encouraged me to rap and told me I had no reason to be scared, I read comic books and all types of nerdy stuff, punchlines should be easy for me. The learning craft was long for me but I had so much potential you could hear that with some work I could be an incredible MC. My goals as an MC is to constantly outdo myself, I’m of the belief you don’t stop learning till you’re gone, so it’s always for me about constant elevation and growth. My first official project came out 10 years ago and it went triple plastic, it was trash, man I had a lot of growing to do when it came to being a recording artist because that’s the thing there’s two things that become necessary as a recording artist, first you develop the craft itself, then you learn how to translate that craft to recording, in addition as you grow as MC you simultaneously learn how to song write. The structure of a song, verse, bridge hook, my first two engineers Joshua Hockey and Ray Mitchell were instrumental in my development, they gave me a solid foundation in recording, once they both moved on to other ventures with their gifts, I began recording with JB of The Track Burnaz (a super producer group with Billboard plaques with Future and Big Sean among others) and later in addition Nathan Bankston (another phenomenal multifaceted talent), these two have and continue take me to the next level. My peers also had a hand in my growth, I am in constant awe of my peers, their light inspires, it’s beautiful when you allow the energy of motivation lead you, Clap when it’s not your turn for the sake of and see your own light begin to captivate that’s what I have found in my experience.

Lyndon, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I always wanted to be involved with music, but was too scared to try until being encouraged by Dooley (an incredible MC from Hallandale *close to Miami in Florida*) and Ruben Raymond of The Track Burnaz (Trina, DJ Khaled, Big Sean), at different times and till this day my brothers have continued to push me to be my best self not only artistically but as a human being. What helps me stand out is my discipline and will, I get it from my mother, we just have a spirit of resilience. What’s dope about my music is that I inherently make a variety of music, I’ll rap on a reggaeton beat one day, a drill one another, it all depends on what I’m feeling and my delivery is a fun game of how I’m gonna rap on it because my delivery and style changes depending on what’s needed on the beat, I’m Qtip disciple in the sense I’m a chameleon on records, but no matter the style I’m all quality. I’m proud of the fact that my music collective Swaggfia continues to expand and blossom in both talent and notoriety. My brother Young Tez did a record with Twista and one with Sean Kingston this summer, that boy a monster. That’s just a small taste of what’s to come.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

As I mentioned earlier I dropped my first mixtape ten years ago and it was not received well at all in the slightest (except a group of fans on a streaming site Immitter.com was drawn to it and those core day 1 fans still bump it till this day which is jarring to me, super grateful but I’m like….y’all like that???) it was super depressing, I had people in my inner circle telling me to quit music, but in that moment I asked myself the question, am I doing this for clout or the love, and of course it was the latter so that allowed me to pick myself back up and just truly developing my pen game. I’ve done numbers plenty on Spotify so that tells me the hard works been paying off but I’m always of the awareness that I am always growing, I don’t live in complacency but I’m truly grateful for how far I’ve come and where I’ll continue to grow.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Being able to find healing in the craft, seeing the fruits of your labor paying off and connecting to an audience with your gifts.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @lyndonlaveauxofficial
• Twitter: @lyndonlaveaux