An Interview With: Fatboi Sharif x Lungs/LoneSword

 

There’s a lot of incredible hip hop being made outta both New York and New Jersey right now. Scan each state’s scene just for a few minutes and a plethora of powerful names will jump out at ya. Not only does each state indeed shine individually, but you’ll also see occasional overlap between the two in which great collaboration may occur. Here stands the new project from Lungs/LongeSword and Fatboi Sharif, Cyber City Society. Released this month, the EP features production entirely from New York hip hop artist LoneSword (‘Lungs’ when he’s on the mic) and raps by Jersey’s Fatboi Sharif.

 

As humorous as it is hellacious, the EP shines as one of the most creative, proficient and unique pieces of music to drop in this beautiful East Coast scene of 2022. Cyber City Society is merely the tip of the iceberg for each artist, both Lungs AND Sharif honestly been on a kill streak when it comes to this hip hop shit the last several years. I was fortunate enough to chop it up with them about beginnings, recent victories, how their latest EP came together, and what’s to come in the exciting months ahead. Pull up a chair and peep our full conversation below:

 

This for both of y’all…what’s your first memory of hip hop?

 

Lungs: “I can start off cause I was just talking about this shit, think I was in 5th grade. And it was my birthday, my mom gave me The Score by the Fugees. And I got wild sick on my birthday, was running like a 103º fever. Was fucked up. Was in my bunkbed and I put that shit on – listened to the whole tape and I had such a high fever that I was hallucinating that my bed was a desert. And the other half was a jungle, depending on what side I turned on. After that it was it. That album blew my mind. And after The Score it was The Cold Vein, by Cannibal Ox.”

 

Sharif: “Oh he talkin dirty now. He talking dirty!”

 

Lungs: “I downloaded that shit on Frostwire.”

 

Shoutout Frostwire.

 

Lungs: “Yeah shoutout Frostwire – Bazooka Tooth and The Cold Vein. Downloaded them at the same time.”

 

Def Jux shit. 

 

Lungs: “After that it was 36 Chambers.”

 

It’s over at that point, you locked in for life.

 

Lungs: “Exactly.”

 

Sharif: “First memory is simple for me, Benny P. There’s three, four classics that get me writing from when I was a young adolescent, probably 3rd or 4th grade, to the man I am today. Supreme Clientele from Ghostface. Doc’s da Name – Redman. First Canibus album. And The Slim Shady LP. It’s only right you feel me?”

 

Hell yeah, there’s some hard joints on that Can-I-Bus album. In my research it appeared that you’re from Jersey, Sharif, and you’re from New York, Lungs? Just to get it on wax though, where are each of y’all from officially?

 

Lungs: “So, I grew up split pretty much. I was born actually in D.C. cause my pops had a job there for six months. They had an apartment there on some sublet shit. Then, after that, when I was little went to Queens briefly, which is where my mom’s family is from originally. Then, I went out to Long Island for a couple years when I was mad young. And then I came back to Brooklyn where I was through high school. And then I actually went back out to Long Island. So I’ve just been back-and-forth my whole life. New York all day.”

 

Sharif: “I’d say for me, I was born in Newark, New Jersey. For, about the first five to ten years of my life, went all through Jersey. Ended up in Rahway which is where I still reside to this day. Jersey let’s get it.”

 

Let’s keep it in the youth, into some of the early days of y’all as individuals. Sharif we’ll start with you – it appears that books and cinema may have played a role in your life? Maybe Goosebumps by R.L. Stine is in there a little bit?

 

Sharif: (Laughs)

 

Maybe the movie Candyman is in there, for instance.

 

Sharif: “Yes! Yess!!”

 

Talk on books and film man, how was that prevalent in your youth? 

 

Sharif: “Well, coming up, we all family here so we can leave it out on the table. My home life, especially coming up, wasn’t the most together. There was a lot of wild and craziness, me and my parents didn’t have the best relationship. Movies and art and books was what me and my mother connected on. So, no matter what wildness and craziness we put each other through, we can always sit down at the end of the night and watch a dope movie and read a book. That kinda stuck with me for the rest of my life. The escapism you can find in different types of art.” 

 

That’s beautiful. You also had a pretty eclectic taste in music growing up too correct? Listening to shit like grunge and metal? 

 

Sharif: “Yeah yeah!! It’s funny too cause I was the kid in Newark that people would come to my crib and be like: ‘what the fuck are you watchin?’ Mind you, this is the early 90s where everyone would be tuning in the new 2Pac video, whatever was poppin at the time. And I’m like: ‘yooo, let’s watch this Tool video. Let’s watch this Pantera video.’ They’d be like ‘what the fuck are you watching?’ And I’d be like: ‘this shit is beautiful right here.’ I always thank God for that influence cause that kinda always stayed with me. Even when I first started writing it was from poetry. In like 3rd or 4th grade I would win a lot of poetry contests. And that kinda transferred into me writing raps, like a year or two later. Always had a thing with the English language and what you could do with words. And the rock/grunge influence was like, the world you could create with sound. Always fell in love with that whole aspect of music.”

 

Love it. Lungs – what about you? How’d you spend your free time as a youngin?

 

Lungs: “So, when I was little and shit, I was probably more on some outside shit. And then it was music pretty much my whole life. In terms of influence, I got mad lucky in the sense that I’m Irish, and you can grow up with motherfuckas who just like classic hard rock shit. You know what I’m sayin? No shade to any of that, but like a Van Halen household or an AC/DC household. That was the opposite, for real my Mom put me on to Stevie Wonder, Motown. Jazz. Chet Baker, Dexter Gordon, Charles Mingus, Sun Ra…”

 

Oh damn you had Sun Ra up in the crib playing as a youngin? That’s special. 

 

Lungs: “I played the sax, I played the saxophone that was like my first shit…”

 

Sharif: “I never knew you played the saxophone! That’s fire (laughs). It’s crazy, cause I played the guitar in like 3rd grade. Cause I used to be in love with the Prince album Diamonds and Pearls and Jimi Hendrix Electric Ladyland album. I might’ve played that shit for like a year. That and the piano.”

 

Lungs: “Axis: Bold as Love is in my favorites, top five.”

 

Yoo, I’m trying to pivot real quick so y’all can see it (moves camera to show Lungs/Sharif an Axis: Bold as Love poster on the wall). 

 

Lungs: “Ayyyy there it is.”

 

Sharif: “Jimiii! The GOAT.”

 

You already know man, probably the best guitarist ever if you askin me.

 

Sharif: “The GOAT.”

 

Lungs: “But yeah, in terms of the other shit, that really was the biggest intro for me. Shit, even when I was little, like going to concerts. Shoutout Brooklyn too, ‘Celebrate Brooklyn,’ I was at that. In Prospect Park they have this free concert series, fuckin legends. And my parents would just drag me to this shit. Like, I saw Bill Withers, I saw Isaac Hayes’ last concert before he died.”

 

What!?!

 

 

Lungs: “Talking Heads, Burning Spear, fuckin GZA. Crazy shit. So I was always getting dragged to that shit, where at the time I was like: ‘yo fuck this shit I wanna play video games,’ but now it’s like that was really my huge sample bank into all the shit I was put onto and the types of shit that I was after. 

 

Today, in terms of the ideology, and the work ethic, and the way that I approach this shit, it’s: a) The homies. Building this shit from the ground up for years. Cause me and phiik been rapping together since high school type shit. We go back. But, also: b) I had a music teacher back in middle school, in this jazz band, and this motherfucker was like the Whiplash dude. You ever seen that movie?”

 

Yeah yeah, the bald guy – J.K. Simmons.

 

Lungs: “Yeah, this teacher got fired from the school cause he made a kid cry or some shit, but this motherfucker put me on to everything. Everythinggg Jazz related. Not only that, it didn’t matter that we were in 7th/8th grade. He was like: ‘y’all are gonna be the best fucking band we can be. We’re gonna play actual shit.’ And that was kinda how the work ethic lined up to be like ‘yo, I’m just gonna spend all my time doing this shit.

 

And then obviously AKAI, too. Grip, like I said, the homies.”

 

Definitely gotta talk about Grip, but before we move more to the present, Sharif – is there anything final about your musical endeavors from your youth that you wanna shoutout?

 

Sharif: “Yeah yeah, the only thing is just that from a youngin, I knew I was destined to do what I’m doing now. Certain messages God give you and you’re like: ‘yeah yeah, I gotta put these messages out here for the world to see.’”

 

100%, feel you. When did each of y’all start to take this hip hop shit more seriously?

 

Sharif: “I would sayyy… – Lungs, you can go first.”

 

Lungs: “For me, in terms of actually taking this shit seriously…I mean I’ve been rapping since I was in like 8th grade. Rapping all through high school. My homies on the Island and shit, and also in Brooklyn too. I went to D.C. to go to this school for like two years, and I got wild into hella drugs and all that shit. I was fucked up off that shit, didn’t write no raps for like two years. And it’s funny, cause in hindsight Sharif had just mentioned, it’s like shit where you’re like: I knew that life had to be lined up in a certain way, and in hindsight all of those years make sense in the sense that it wasn’t what I was supposed to be doing type shit. Not only that but we’ve lost like mad people – I got homies who’ve lost damn year thirteen fuckin people. Close-ass friends to that shit. 

 

I was wylin and had to go to this this detox upstate. I’ll never forget, I got out, and was like: ‘yo, do I go back to this shit? Or do I just stay here and rap?’ It was a mad nice day, and as soon as you get off drugs, you feel like that shorty who could like access 100% of her brain or some shit. You just feel like your brain is back on. And I remember bumpin Pete Rock and CL Smooth, and I was like: ‘yo bro, this is what I’m supposed to be doing’ type shit. Really, that was 2015, and ever since then it’s been pedal to the metal, floor that shit. But, that, that really would be when I started doing this shit. Back in 2014. And then I met AKAI I think in late 2014.”

 

Speak on that, speak on when you kinda met AKAI, Tase Grip and maybe how you became apart of it?

 

Lungs: “Yeah, the first time I met AKAI was at a fucking show in Brooklyn. In Bushwick somewhere. And his mic died during his set.”

 

Damn.

 

Lungs: “And he didn’t stop rapping. Like, the whole shit died. Beat – dead. Mic – dead. Everything – dead. And he just didn’t stop (laughs). He just put the shit down, and he was screaming, like OD loud at that point. And then afterwords I just came up to him and was like: ‘yo bro, that shit is fucking crazy. I fucked with that.’

 

And then I wound up bumping into him with my son GAM. Me and GAM were like drunk as shit, when we still drank, at this Team Backpack – guess it’s now World Underground or whatever – it was this event – and we got on a freestyle shit together. We did like a freestyle crowd thing, and I was one of the people. And I don’t know if he knew I could rap before that and then I did the thing, and then we like drove him to this show that he had in Williamsburg, it was at like the Google Headquarters.”

 

Sharif: “Hell yeah, that’s fire.”

 

Lungs: “Yeah, and then we were in the v and he just was like: ‘yo I’m tryna…’ – and me and GAM both kinda looked at each other cause we’ve had so many other people be like: ‘yo bro! you should join this collective bro!’ And do x,y,z and the third – but he was just like: ‘yo, I’m tryna do this thing. Like, you don’t have to change anything or do anything, whatever. I’m just tryna get this blanket of shit…’ like kinda the loose idea of what the collective I guess is now forming into. The whole ‘ride alone, fly together’ where it’s like not a group.

 

Shoutout that RAFT album.

 

Lungs: “Yeah, it’s not a group, motherfuckers are just in the sky, together. On the same timing. And that was kinda where all that shit started. It was just a matter of, Grip kinda came together just by motherfuckers not fitting into the, the molding. New York, the way that New York operates there’s so many different pools of shit. Within everything there’s like a 1,000 different scenes in one scene. And it’s like, through your experience in the underground in New York, you’re just gonna move up through different scenes. 

 

It’s like, as you refine what you’re tryna do, at first everyone is just in this fuckin amorphous liquid. And then you just are like: ‘I don’t wanna make music like any of the type of shit that these other motherfuckers are doing,’ then you wind up gravitating to x,y,z, but at every point that you do that it’s always like: ‘who the fuck are these dudes?’ You’re like, back at square one, back at being the small fish in the big pond. And Grip kinda came together just by being like: ‘yo bro, we’re just gonna stick to the guns that we have. And continue doing the thing that we have.’ That’s really what it was. That’s kinda how everything came together. In the beginning there was way too many people in it too. There was a shit load of people.”

 

Reallyy? It’s got more refined as time’s gone on?

 

Lungs: “Yeah, cause, you know, you kinda see who’s actually there to build the thing, and then who’s there tryna be like: ‘okay, what benefit can I extract from this without directly having to do anything…’ – once that kinda shit got rooted out it’s just kinda been more about just defining the sound. Kinda operating in the weird place that we operate in.”

 

Love that man, huge fan of y’all shit. 

 

Sharif: “When I first got put on, I was amazed. I was like: ‘yeah. This is some different shit (laughs). I love it.’”

 

There’s such a depth to the music. Feel like everytime I listen to y’all shit there’s a familiarity of what I like about the songs already, but I’m really just peeling apart the actual writing of it. That’s what I really appreciate too. That duality of hip hop that is dope to your ear, but when you also really pick it apart, it rewards the listener for taking time to peep it bar-for-bar. When you excel at writing, you’re almost giving the listener a gift, I feel. 

 

Lungs: “Oh hell yeah, and that was the shit that I always appreciated. My favorite shit was always the shit I had to run back three times and then I’m listening the fourth time and be like: ‘yo, what the fuck, I didn’t even catch that.’”

 

Exactly.

 

 

Sharif: “That’s the reason I write! Word is bond (laughs).”

 

That’s perfect – I’d like to talk about you getting more serious as a writer/artist now, Sharif. Believe there might have been an important radio show you were apart of? Am I trippin?

 

Sharif: “Yeah, yeah, I would say I’ve been writing since like third or fourth grade, but I started recording like ten to eleven years ago. And in the midst of that I was doing that radio show. Which came back recently too. Shoutout to my whole Strangers Live fam.”

 

There we go!

 

Sharif: “But, yeah, kinda just that whole time period – shoutout to you cause you’ve been showing love from the beginning. From back, you been tapped in – but, I always just wanted to keep elevating and keep creating worlds, creating stories that I wasn’t hearing from no place else. So I’m like: ‘yeah, this is my gift. If I’m bringing something to the table for this artform, that’s what I want it to be.”

 

In my opinion, year-to-year that I’ve been listening to y’all – cause I always liked y’all from the jump – there’s been a definite leveling up that I’ve heard. Everything y’all put out is high quality shit, and before we talk about Cyber City Society, I just wanna shoutout two really important projects that y’all have dropped the last couple years. First, Lungs, it’s The Birth of LoneSword.

 

Sharif: “OOOoooo!”

 

Up there front-to-back with some of the illest projects of last year.

 

Sharif: “OOOoooo!”

 

I just wanna shoutout some of the names and people you brought together on that project. Wavy Bagels, DFNS, Fatboi Sharif himself, S!LENCE, Benji $ocrates, Lord Jah-Monte Ogbon, Lamb Rabbit, YL, GAM, phiik, AKAI SOLO of course, Jay Pluss, History, Pootie…and it was released on PTP! I mean, how does it feel to look back on that project now that it’s been out a good six months?

 

Lungs: “Honestly, it does really feel dope yo.”

 

Sharif: “I love it.”

 

Lungs: “For real, cause this project actually turned out to be the “birth” of LoneSword. When I chose that name for it, I didn’t know necessarily the type of chaotic road that I was gonna put myself through. But like, that project really started out as three different projects. There was like three different time periods. The reason why that shit is really so good is because a year and a half ago maybe, the end of summer 2020, just mad fucked up shit happened. Back to back. My mans got three felonies, granted thank god shit is okay now, shit worked out. But my homie caught a crazy case. Like fuckin, my first gramps passed to COVID. Lost my other one recently, but within a week my mans caught this cause, my gramps died from COVID, it was just a crazy painful time period. I was in a spot where I was like: ‘yo, I don’t know how I’m gonna proceed here.’ Just in terms of shit in my life type shit. And like, The Birth of LoneSword, the thing that really made it was that last part.

 

So, by the end of it when I put that all together, it was really the first actual experience I’ve had to be honest with a project where I was just like: ‘yo bro, this shit has blood, sweat, and tears in this shit.’ It was also on some shit where I was like: ‘this was worth it.’ When I finished it I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did no cap. Had been working on it for so long, I don’t like to usually do projects longterm like that. It was something that I wasn’t expecting to fuck with as much as I did. But, the real reason why that project is so amazing is just cause of the camp. Like, every single person who’s on that treated that shit like it was their own. If I went back in time and played this for myself in tenth grade, I would have been running around the room screaming about how hyped I was. As long as I have that Imma continue pushing.”

 

Sharif: “And I gotta say, cause it’s family, I came into the picture kinda at the last leg of it. And just hearing the project from the beginning stages to where it was at, I was tellin him: ‘yo Lungs, this shit is amazing. To this day it’s still a project that I bump heavy. It’s on all of the streaming services now too so y’all better tap in.”

 

Lungs: “Shoutout everyone on that shit, for real.”

 

 

Sharif: “A modern masterpiece. I like to call it.”

 

Lungs: “I appreciate you. For real.”

 

And it’s all self-produced, so that’s another feather in the cap. We gotta now pivot to another dope project that’s dropped the last few years. And that’s Gandhi Loves Children. No doubt!”

 

Sharif: “Ayyyy (smiles).”

 

Lungs: “C’mon.”

 

No doubt! Shoutout Roper Williams. 

 

Lungs: “King of games. Can’t beat that man at any video games.”

 

Sharif: “Yeah shoutout to Roper man. Definitely. And once again, Benny P, shoutout to you cause you were definitely showing love from the beginning with that.”

 

Thanks man.

 

Sharif: “Yeah, and that was definitely a fun process. I would say that probably took about two and half years to record. It’s funny cause we started recording it, like I first met him when I was doing the radio show. So that was probably like 2014? And, we kinda just clicked automatically. I fell in love with his production, he fell in love with what I was doing. So we started making the album about two or three different times. And like, we would start by doing two, three songs. Lose contact for a minute. Link back up maybe like a year later, do one or two more songs (laughs). Separate again and then the final final time we linked, we was like: ‘yo, let’s just lock in and knock something out. Let’s do something that people not doing. And people aren’t even gonna know what to think when they hear it.’ And we definitely accomplished that for sure, so, shoutout to everyone who was showing love on the original release, the deluxe that dropped in July through POW. Shoutout to the POW fam. Stay tuned! Our next project is even wilder! We gettin it mixed right now.”

 

Oh shit yo!!! We deff gotta talk about what’s to come, but lemme me ask one more question about the GLC album. Did you burn yourself in the ‘Stigmata’ music video? With all them candles around you?

 

Sharif: “Funny, I think the director might have burned himself. Shoutout to Marley Chapman. I think GAM might have burnt his hand too or something. I was hot as hell, I will say that. Didn’t burn myself but felt like I was walking through hell. We do whateva to please the people. Feel me. We do whatever for this art.”

 

Appreciate you breaking it down. Anyone at home check out those albums yo – no excuses, two must-listen projects if you askin me. We gotta now talk about Cyber City Society, of course! When did the idea for this project conceptualize?

 

 

Lungs: “Um, the idea for this project was really just me and Sharif coming into contact. And just being like the two forces coming into contact that should have been in contact type shit.” 

 

Sharif: “Yeah! (Laughs) Word.”

 

Lungs: “I’ll never forget the way that me and Sharif met. I went to Jersey with Pootie, uhhh, to do a video with Tab Jones. First time I had met Pootie before. We did the video, and I put on Cannibal Ox in the car, and I was like: ‘y’all fuck with Cannibal Ox?’ And Pootie was like: ‘oh nah, you gotta meet the homie Sharif bro.’ I was like: ‘alright bet.’ It was like the middle of the pandemic, Sharif just called me and was like: ‘what’s good?’ And my thing is bro, I just fuck with people – motherfuckas be online being weird as hell you know what I’m sayin – and I just fuck with people who are on some ‘yo, bruh, what’s up? Let’s get it.’

 

He called me and we chopped it up on the phone for a bit, and then he just pulled up on me at the homie’s crib. Just pulled up, came all the way to Greenpoint. And we were just like: ‘nah, we gotta make some crazy shit.’ I will say though, part of this project and even just working with Sharif, part of the reason why this shit is so dope to me is that somebody like Sharif is somebody where it’s like this dude saw value in things that people did not see value in. And they were things that I saw value in. I would play a loop and motherfuckas would just look at me like: ‘what is this?’ Just like a terrifying sound, know what I’m saying?”

 

Sharif: “I love terrifying sounds!”

 

Lungs: “Exactly, exactly. I’d be in a place like: ‘I know exactly what to do with this!’ Linking up with Sharif is dope because I can always just go to to Nth degree of whatever I wanna do. Be it, the beat. Be it, if I’m rapping with Sharif – cause we’re working on a tape where it’s my beats but we’re both rapping on it.”

 

Sharif: “Oooooo! Wait til y’all hear that shit! That shit sound crazy.”

 

Lungs: “When I’m working with Sharif I can go all the way into left field, and then 100 miles farther than that. In anything. When it’s me and Sharif, I don’t give a fuck. It’s just that you link up with somebody and have a perfect understanding of what you’re tryna do. Of what both of you are tryna do. Approaching a project like: ‘we both know what the fuck is going on right here.’ There’s been a lot of meshing and understanding. ‘This is what we’re doing’ type shit.”

 

Sharif: “And I definitely gotta salute Lungs for that. Cause me getting put on to his music, through that Pootie and Tab Jones project, was amazing. Like: ‘I definitely wanna tap in with him.’ And when we tapped in, we kinda clicked instantly. Of just similar taste in music, same sense of humor and all of that. When it came to the music process, it was natural. It was literally, I pull up on him. Go through some loops. He’ll give me some shit to go home to. I might listen to it for maybe like a month. Walking around the city, sleeping to it, I hit him like: ‘yo, I got some fire for x, y, and z.’ The genius for LoneSword is that, let’s say maybe the project might’ve been done over a year ago, we had to take it to the next level, and that’s where he came in like: ‘yo, lemme do my producer shit now.’ All of the transitions you hear, all of the beat interludes, and all of the cool samples and alladat. That was all him. That was dope just seeing that get put together. The world I created and another world that he created. And it kinda came together as one big planet. A cyber city! You feel me?”

 

100%. As a listener, your syles mold really well. There’s a…a rawness…this kinda macabre to how you rap, Sharif. And that coincides precisely with this hypnotizing, haunting vibe that I can get from LoneSword. When they combine together it’s this cinematic soundscape that I enjoy the fuck out of. 

 

Sharif: “Exactly bro.”

 

The EP feels like a lot of music too. I mean time is relative and shit, but the project really feels full – you’re getting a lotta flowing music for a 20 minute project ya know? 

 

Lungs: “Hell yeah, I definitely do wanna say too is that one of the most important things about the whole sound and everything is that obviously there’s that macabre, more kind of evil side to the sonic sound of the thing. But, the thing that I always appreciate about this specific undercurrent that we’re all currently apart of, is the sense of humor.”

 

Oh yeah (nods). 

 

Lungs: “The sense of humor is always there. It’s, it’s honest. There’s a sense of honesty and humor that’s woven into it that I think is kinda important. And something that I’ve been seeing moreso. I mean my favorite rappers, the best always have the sense of humor. Sharif – you would agree…”

 

Sharif: “Yes!!!”

 

You gotta have a sense of humor. 

 

Lungs: “You know what I’m saying? Like Sean Price, you could never beat Sean Price in a battle cause he’s just too funny, he’s funny as shit. He could make fun of himself, you could never make fun of him. He’ll do it first. Like the shit is cool. I’ve just been noticing, like Kayso. Lord Kayso. Perfect example. The reason I just love Kayso is there’s honesty there, there’s humor, but it does not take away from the fact that very serious matters are being discussed. I feel like that shit is lowkey important. 

 

Recently, I don’t want my music to be on some hyper-predictable, cookie-cutter negative shit. I’ll say some fucked up shit, but I wanna say fucked up shit that’s not gonna like alienate anybody. And that’s why I also love Sharif’s style so much. You can say the most vile, dark, twisted shit ever, on your songs, and not alienate anybody. There’s a level of honesty and freedom there. Something I’ve been seeing more recently, where’s it dope cause it’s impossible to like, peg it into one individual box.”

 

Sharif: “To me, that’s the fun part about creating. When you can really have the listener on they feet. On some: ‘I think I can tell where this is going, or I think I know what these words might mean,’ and you hit ‘em and do some wholeeee unpredictable shit. Like, that was literally the reason why we chose ‘Adolescence’ to be the first video.”

 

 

Lungs: “Funniest part about that video shoot, I will say, is that there’s a point where we had to leave Sharif, we had to cruise the block cause we were taking shots from a movie vehicle. And, Sharif – it’s like two in the morning, it’s freezing – son is in a ski mask, hospital gown, and timbs.”

 

It looked so cold out.

 

Sharif: “It was cold as shit my g.”

 

Lungs: “Anybody seeing that would be terrified, and we were filming it and these Orthodox Jewish ladies drove by and there was just like tangible fear in their eyes.”

 

Oh they were out. They were out yo. 

 

Lungs: “And there’s no beat on the track. Technically that track is an acapella. The background of that shit is just ambient city noise that I looped. Various shit that I just put together, that’s the type of shit that I fuck with though. That’s really what Cyber City is about.”

 

It works, it has it’s own sound. I think every individual and every artist has their own unique vibration they can bring out. When you can push that energy through your music that’s when I think music can be special. And I’d say that example is shown all throughout y’all EP. It just feels like such an authentic, and fun, and fucked up piece of hip hop.

 

Sharif: “Shoutout to everyone who been giving it love! And it only been out for like a week. It’s been definitely been making it’s rounds and getting a bunch of write-ups. A lotta people giving us a lotta great feedback from it. So, definitely shoutout to all the supporters for sure man. Stay tuned, we definitely got more coming.”

 

Gotta talk about the endeavors that are up next, before we hit that, was curious if y’all wanted to have fun witit real quick and answer some rapid-fire questions?

 

Sharif: “Let’s get it!”

 

Go to Chinese meal?

 

Sharif: “WOOOOWEE! Now we talking baby! I’ll put it like this. Lemme break it down like a true Chinese connoisseur. So you gotta do either the chicken and broccoli with the pork fried rice, Peach snapple, shrimp roll with a side of garlic sauce. OR, you could just do the garlic wings with pork fried rice and a shrimp roll. Either or. Fuck wit me.”

 

Lungs?

 

Lungs: “Um, probably chicken lo mein. Not even gonna hold you.” 

 

Can’t go wrong with chicken lo mein. Late nights or early mornings?

 

Sharif: “Late nights, all day.”

 

Lungs: “Late nights, but theoretically whenever I’ve done an early morning I’m like: ‘damn, I gotta do this more.”

 

That’s definitely it for me. I’m like: ‘yeah, I don’t know why I don’t be doin this. And then next night I stay up til two like, (laughs) fuck, I did it again.” 

 

Lungs: “It is weird though, there definitely is a productivity between the hours of like 10PM and one in the morning, midnight.” 

 

I love that energy. Love late night smoking weed energy. Late night listening to music, being around other people, creating. Being outside, going back inside, doin shit, going back outside. Til like the sun comes up. That kinda shit. 

 

Sharif: “I’m not gonna lie, some of my illest verses is me randomly waking up like three in the morning to take a piss, and then I’ll write from like three to six in the morning.”

 

Too dope. Pivot to another rapid fire, if you could live in any media Universe, like any movie, TV show, book whatever – which one you going to?

 

Sharif: “Gotham City. Or wherever the Flinstones lived at.”

 

Lungs: “One of the Fallout games, maybe Skyrim. Nah Sharif, you’d like to live in House Party, just forever.”

 

Sharif: (Laughs)

 

Lungs: “One of the first times I met Sharif he was like: ‘yo, House Party, just the one movie House Party, is better than the entire Lord of the Rings franchise.”

 

Sharif: “EASILY! Fuck Elijah Wood. Easily! Easily. Imagine Frodo and that big ass wizard going to dance at the house party. They ain’t go no fuckin moves!”

 

(Laughs) Favorite soul singer?

 

Lungs: “This ain’t even old school, they just keep putting shit out, but Lady Wray. Shit is so beautiful, definitely. There’s others of them, I’m huge into soul music.”

 

Sharif: “I’d say either Isaac Hayes, or Erykah Badu.”

 

Lungs: “He’s in his own genre of his own, but Curtis Mayfield bruh.”

 

Oh yeah, Curtis Mayfield – he’s incredible. One of the best in my opinion too.

 

Sharif: “Yeah hell yeah.”

 

What’s a song of your’s that you wanna shoutout? One you think people should really listen to.

 

 

Lungs: “‘Planet Fear,’ man. Fuckin ‘Planet Fear’ with Sharif.”

 

Sharif: “Wooowee!!”

 

Lungs: “That shit is probably is the most important track on that album. Cause, that was a song that I had recorded initially in like the darkest, worst part of that shit I had been referring to. My verse, that was some shit where I was really down bad when I wrote that. I had recorded it at the crib, re-recorded it at Wavy’s. Which was probably the most reflective moment of the entire project. Re-recording that verse and then having Sharif just smoke that shit was really the moment where I was like: ‘damn, I’m in a much better place than I was’ type shit. Last song on that too with Sharif and Pootie is a fuckin heater too.”

 

Sharif: “And the studio session for that shit was fun too for that song. I would say, everyone should listen to ‘Plastered’ off Cyber City Society. That shit is amazing (laughs). Just from the beat alone, that’s some of Lungsy’s best work to me. And, I would say lyric wise, ‘Adolescence.’ That’s the best song out right now, to me. That’s some shit that’s different. Genre-bending, wordsmith stuff right there.”

 

Love it. Dream vacation spot?

 

Lungs: “Havana, Cuba. Hands down. Went there once before and I’m going back.”

 

Sharif: “Bluffington, from the show Doug. It seems very friendly, and I could get a ‘Honker Burger’ and just vibe out. And chill.”

 

There we go. You can only listen to one artist’s discography for the next year. Which artist?

 

Sharif: “Hmmm, the whole year…”

 

Lungs: “Either Madlib or Wu-Tang for me.”

 

Madlib is a great answer, that’s kinda what I was thinking. An artist like him, where there’s a lotta different shit you can listen to. 

 

Sharif: “Yeah, cause there’s different variations. I’ll say….it’s a tie for me. Aesop Rock and El-P.”

 

Lungs: “Aesop Rock is actually from where we lived out on Long Island.”

 

No shit.

 

Lungs: “Fuckin legend. Shoutout Long Island for real bro. The hip hop, the history, there’s so much shit there bro.”

 

Sharif: “Rest in peace to MF DOOM!”

 

Lungs: “Yeah, hell yeah.”

 

Yeah, mannnn, heavy rest in peace. I still think about him, think about MF DOOM on the weekly man. No lie.

 

Lungs: “Every time I’m about to stop rapping I think about my gramps, and I think about MF DOOM. Literally. Cause it’s a privilege to be doing this, and with DOOM, that was our champ. DOOM was our champ. Every single weirdo and motherfucka who wanted to do something different, he was their champion. If it hadn’t been for him, none of this shit would exist.”

 

So true yo, you gotta be grateful. Appreciate that, y’all survived the rapid fire. Wrapping up now, what’s the most beneficial place peeps can support Cyber City Society?

 

Sharif: “Bandcamp!”

 

Lungs: “Yeah for real, cop that shit on Bandcamp. Please (laughs). I’m sure we’re gonna eventually release various types of physicals and shit too.”

 

Hell yeah, would love a physical of that. Would love physicals of either of y’all shit.

 

Lungs: “Hell yeah, I’ll tell you, be on the lookout for some AP vinyl. Coming soon.”

 

Sharif: “Wooooo! Another Planet vinyl!? The streets need that baby.”

 

 

Perfect segway – any other projects you wanna tease maybe? Where Are the Bugs, Another Planet album, anything…

 

Lungs: “So the next thing you can probably expect from us, from the camp in general, is Where Are the Bugs. That’s with me, Cise Greeny, and phiik. I produced all that shit, we got a video locked down for that. So we’re in the final mastering process, just getting everything done. And after that it’s gonna be Catch & Release, which is me and S!LENCE. Him and Wavy just put out a project. Him and phiik too. So that shit, we got a whole tape coming out. Really different shit, it’s called Catch & Release cause it’s all about fishing. Another thing we’re gearing up for is Another Planet 4. It’s about 18 tracks, an hour long. So it’s gonna be a full fuckin LP.”

 

Sharif: “And it’s fuckin fire.” 

 

Lungs: “Longterm me and Roper on working on some shit. But yeah, it’s really just gonna be an onslaught the rest of the year.” 

 

Let’s get it yo, dumb excited! Sharif – what do you wanna throw out there?

 

Sharif: “We obviously got Cyber City Society out now. Me and No Face. Me and Roper coming soon. Steel Tipped Dove…”

 

Lungs: “Oh shit, La Parada. Forgot La Parada.”

 

Oh shit, what’s La Parada? 

 

Lungs: La Parada is me, Pootie, Drive-By, GAM, phiik, Sharif’s on there – and that’s a whole tape. Gonna be out soon.

 

Jesus christ.

 

Sharif: “Speaking of the god Drive-By, me and him got a project that we put together that sounds crazy, literally about to spin it out. It’s called Let Me Out. So that will definitely be out in the next year or a little later. Don’t hold me to that, but when it sounds perfect y’all gonna hear it. But that shit is wild!”

 

We pretty much done, just wanna say I appreciate y’all sincerely. Really appreciate y’all time. It was cool talking to y’all cause I’m a big fan of your art. Pumped to get all this shit out there in print and give motherfuckas something to read. So thanks again man, for real.

 

Lungs: “Yo seriously, thanks for taking the time to talk to us, bro. For real, appreciate you.”

 

Sharif: “Much love.”

 

Much love y’all, be safe.

 
 

Cop the new EP Cyber City Society here yo. Make sure to follow each artist on the socials and shit for updates on all their upcoming music. Above all, thanks for reading y’all! More to come.

 
 
 
 

all images/media courtesy of Lungs/LoneSword, Fatboi Sharif, Shane Ingersoll, GAM, chopthehead & Rightful artists

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

– Benny P