New York, NY (November 26, 2007) - Lex Butter is an emcee’s emcee.  He raps, he produces, he’s into the fresh shit, he’s got swagger and yet somehow, he’s down to earth.  Grown from New York’s own South Bronx, Lex is a product of the struggle, too.  But what’s more, he’s proof that the baggage from the journey only makes you better prepared for the next stop.  His own bio says it:  “…while others have succumbed to these factors, (he) has utilized them to paint a picture of a tough but inspiring world of struggle, success, death, and commitment.”  The flow gets vicious sometimes, perhaps an ode to his idol Pun or perhaps more because it’s his soul being exposed.  Either way, it makes for good music.  You only know him as the dude that won Rock With Wu, but vibe with us as he talks about WHY he won the contest, his personal approach to making mature music and an uncompromising belief that, regardless of the circumstances, you can’t ever, EVER give up. 

Loud.com:  What’s up man, how you feelin this morning?

Same old grind, my man – get up, take care of the responsibilities, breathe in and exhale out.  No complaints.  I’m chillin at the moment, like, it’s raining out here, and I’m a private contractor, so I work on a flexible schedule.  Everything is everything at the moment.

Loud.com:  Your style reminds me of Pun a little bit, lot of multiple-syllables, real fast rapid-fire delivery…

Oh, wow, yeah, I can’t deny that!  Pun is probably one of, if not THE biggest influence for me, everything he stood for, what he exemplified, everything, you know what I mean?  PR, the Bronx, representin him, I can definitely see it.  You saying that brings a smile to my face.  Like, I don’t straight up try and emulate him, I write how the beat strikes me, no preconceived notion, like, if you listen, I got different flows.  But when I hear you say that, it’s like a star shining real bright, rest in peace.

Loud.com: Word up, he was definitely a rare talent.  So check it out, like, introduce us to Lex Butter.  Where are you from, what are you all about, what do people need to know about you?

I’m from the Bronx, South BX, NYC all day, good ol’ Boogie Down, Ghettoville, USA, you know what I’m sayin!  I think the biggest thing out here that people need to know, it’s like, with the music scene, a lot of times it’s not always what you bring to the table.  There’s a lot of hunger on these blocks.  Too many people ain’t get their shine, these streets trap people, you know?  I’m fortunate that my situation isn’t like that, I told myself a long time ago that I’ma use what God gave me – mind, talent, ambition… all of that for my family.  People out here know what it is, everyday is a struggle.  I don’t give up, and that’s one thing I want people to remember about me.

Loud.com:  Lex Butter sounds almost like a throwback name, was that on purpose or how did you come by that name?

It was given to me from the hood.  I was always bein that dude, whether it was the gear, the flow, the whips.  I had whips with the name BUTTER on the plates, it just came in and kind of stuck.  Heads might not even know my government in the hood, it’s funny.  LEX is an acronym though.  It stands for Lift Every Xpectation, and is derived from my given name, Alex,.  Lex came from my family, Butter, my adopted family.  That’s where it all came from and it stuck.  It wasn’t preconceived.

Loud.com:  That’s fresh.  So I’d say most people on the site know you from winning the Wu-Tang/Rock The Bells contest.  Tell me how that came about and how you approached the song.

When I first saw they had it up, I was already sharpening my teeth up, like, let’s see what we gonna have to choose from.  I saw people were bangin it out, doing like 10 different entries.  I wanted a track that could vibe off of, so I went thru the whole list.  I ended up using  “The Alert,” the last one on the list.  It just struck me, I was sayin, ‘This is it right here!’  I started spittin the hook, went about writing it, and had it done in like two hours. 

I think what separated it from the rest was that it wasn’t a straight quickie, it had a concept.  The name of the track is “The Spot,” and it’s basically how music is more like a drug to us out here in this culture, and the club is the spot.  So I was basically getting my hustle on in the spot, and it took me to Hawaii!!  Once it came together I was like yeah!!  I told my wife, like, not getting cocky, but I was like, ‘Get your bags ready.’  Ha, she’s laughin at me right now, even as I tell you this. 

But when I got the call, telling me about goin out there, it was just a culmination of so much blood, sweat and tears, God just let me know.  Like, He sees me, sometimes it really looks like you ain’t getting the shine you want or deserve.  It’s crazy out here, but I knew I could do it, that’s what I felt through the entire process.  All the drive and the dedication to succeed would come out and it did in that song, it perfectly captured the moment.  And even if I ended up not winning, I knew I gave my best effort.  That whole Rock With Wu was a great opportunity.

Loud.com: So did they let you do a full set out there?

They told me I had 15 minutes.  And I had like 2 days to get a set together!  But it was all good, I can’t say nothing else, I was just so thankful for the chance to be out there.  To get 15 minutes together was no problem.  I bunched it in as much as I could, and I actually got like 18 minutes on-stage; the set, it was beautiful.  The whole vibe, everything.  The energy in Hawaii was crazy.

Loud.com:  Was it weird writing to a RZA track knowing that you might actually get to spit it for him in person?

Not to say so much as weird, because like, you want that.  Like something like that is what you want, you’re hopeful, you know what I mean?  But it wasn’t weird, I was just… you know, hoping.  Once I heard RZA was actually doing the judging, I was saying ‘if he really does, he will HAVE to feel what’s goin down on this track.’ 

But it’s like we all feel that, when you put your baby out there, that it’s gonna do it’s thing.  There were a lot of haters on that leader board, and people know about that, it got a lot of people discouraged.  My track is on page 25, type of thing, lost in the sauce or whatever.  You just have to promote and get your name out and spread the word.  It’s a blessing, I have no negative energy at all about the whole experience; it was positive for music, for hip hop and Loud.com as a community.

Loud.com:  What was it like meeting Wu-Tang?

It was beautiful.  Meeting someone that you look up to that’s doin it, it’s surreal.  You know their whole album, their words, I was a fan, I can’t lie!  I was like ‘Wow, I’m shakin the RZA’s hand right now!’  Bobby Digital baby!  It was remarkable, kind of like a once-in-a-lifetime event.  Thus far, it’s the biggest show I’ve ever done in my life.  To be there and meet them and talk about regular street shit.  They’re down to earth kids.  There’s a little kind of, I don’t know, turmoil going on now, but at that point I felt they were a team and in the mix.  Rollin out with everybody it was crazy.  I was thankful more than anything.

Loud.com:  Is there a message that you try and convey in your songs?

I want to come off to the listener like ya mans talking to you on your block.  I don’t sugarcoat things, I will tell you what you gotta hear.  I will give you my best on every track.  And I’ll never downgrade the music where I’m gonna be telling you bullshit.  But the overall message is don’t give up; a lot of my songs come from the viewpoint of like, there’s no stopping us, Drugs vs. Lex, I got tracks letting people know what the swagger is about, of course, hood wylin type shit.  And, you know, sometimes the energy around you is negative, so it’s your responsibility to capture that, too. 

But when you listen to my whole catalog of music, it’s going to be positive.  I can’t get down with that negativity, because regardless of all that, you can still put your mind to something and finish it.  In any aspect, people out there that are ballplayers, you can’t get mad if they startin so-and-so, but when you get on the court, you do what you gotta do to shine.  Anymore there are images bein fed to the hood, people get caught and can’t get perfectly right, asterisk on their record bullshit.  From within we can’t be caught looking at something in here or how we doin in here, that we stuck in this box.  There are other things available to us besides basketball and rap.  You could even be a cop.  As long as you do something right, I don’t care.

Loud.com: The songs on your Loud.com page always seem to feature a hook and it’s usually pretty catchy.  Does that come naturally to you?  Is there a process you find yourself repeating when writing one?

Thank you.  But not really, you know?  They all come out different.  I hear the music, the beat and I can just hear the hook already.  For some reason, I can put a track on and the words come out first and then the melody, or vice versa, sometimes both at the same time.  I can do tracks to pretty much any song on the Loud.com pages, there’s heat all over the place.  But it just hits me and it happens and I start doin it and givin it love. 

That’s really the key, though, you can’t force it.  You might could make it happen, that way, and don’t get it twisted, forcing it or whatever can get you a hit, but the best work comes when it’s natural.  For me, there’s no real pattern, at least not that I notice.  People that work with me, they put the track on, get quiet, and then kinda let me do my thing.  I thank God for all of that, letting the beat take over.  It’s a part of me, I don’t even think about it.  Everyone has his or her own little techniques, but, yeah, that’s just me.

Loud.com:  Your music has a very mature sound to it, the delivery, the structure, the content.  At this point in your career are you looking more to write songs than just come raw?  What’s your mentality when approaching hip hop?

If you want to get serious about the music, you have to understand it’s a business.  You could be the hottest rapper and kill a bunch of people on your tracks, but if you aren’t relating to your audience, and giving them something real, they can tell. 

I stand behind my music 100%.  I have to be honest with you, the songs just happen.  My content just comes out that way.  I’m happy when I hear it, it makes me smile.  That’s what’s up!  You know?  I don’t approach my music as trying to come off any certain way, but I’m an aware individual, you follow me?  There’s a bigger picture than what we see in our faces day-to-day.  That Hawaii trip, you see the same interaction between the hood and the cops out there that you see in the BX.  All in all, it’s the same deal wherever you go, so when my music comes out, I write it from my perspective but it seems like everyone can relate to it.  I guess that’s where people come together, kind of like I’m makin the song that you could have made.  It’s just I thought of it first! 

The bottom-line is that I want to stay aware and positive.  I’m not big on makin a diss track or an ‘I’ma kill you’ track, talking about how I flipped 8,000 birds next Friday.  Like, we spit that out here cuz it’s a part of our swagger, and sometimes the swagger shows up in my rhymes, but when you hear the music, you just hear it as a cool dude on your block that you could kick it with.  So-and-so could have beef and I could be fam with both of them and I’ll be chillin.  If I keep things real with everyone I meet, I don’t have to worry about the bullshit and the music comes across like that.  If I don’t feed the bullshit, it’s always love.

Loud.com:  What kind of movement do you have on a street level, like are you out at the venues in NYC doin your thing?

Everything is poppin right now.  Workin on some mixtapes, shout out to DJ Who’s Kid Is This, Maximillion Entertainment, SOS, the US Unit, Kam crew, Murderville dudes and a grip of other cats that have shown me love and that I’ve gotten into it with. 

Other than that, I’m always jumping around networking.  Definitely still on top of my production game, lacin the squad up, you know, I blaze tracks.  I’m workin on my album, working with producers, networking, many things are up in the air right now.  I have a few titles I’m thinking of, either “Spic Bastard” or “To Catch a Predator.”  And that’s aside from the Loud.com grizzle, my nigga, I’m tryin to sit at the dinner table and ribs is touchin right now.  As far as my show game, I stay on top of that, I love to perform.  I’m tryin to get my own showcase situation to pop off, to help myself, my squad, everybody I get down with.  Got some tentative dates lined up for Dec, January.  But yeah, that’s gonna be happening.  Everything else is building upwards every day.

Loud.com:  In what ways are you finding that Loud.com has helped you?  Maybe in ways you didn’t expect?

It’s purely positive.  It’s given the opportunity for people who don’t have the outlets that other people have to do something with their music.  If they have the talent, they can get the shine.  That’s the number one thing, they bring to the table.  Artists can network, promote, and do what they gotta do. 

As a writer and lyricist, it’s a great tool; it sharpens you.  You could be out there makin a million mixtapes and get them anywhere in the world.  It forces you to stay on top of your game.  If you want to be a part of it, you’ll feel obligated to participate and to submit songs.  Anyone not on top of their game, well, they will fall out.  Maybe said artist only has three songs out.  I can’t knock those people, but as a lyricist, you are getting top of the line production to cut your teeth on.  There are beat tapes and all that available, but on Loud.com, you’re hearing tracks that no one has spit on yet.  It’s a raw piece of meat for you to season it the way you want.  It’s like Hell’s Kitchen, you know what I mean?  You got a lot of people tryin to be that person doin it right and at the end of the day, you go hard and hope they sample yours.  That’s why we in it. 

I initially thought Loud.com would be a positive experience, and it’s proved to be that.  Respect to everyone, but I came in expecting to win.  Yet I also knew I had to hope people would recognize that and give me that win.  The majority of people in this world are real and they want to hear good music.  Not everyone is gloomy.  I came in with something to bring to the table.  But my shit, like, if you want to hear something new, I’m the dude to check out.  I won’t let you down on that.

Loud.com has given me that opportunity.  My hood holds me down, the BX holds me down.  NY holds me down.  But now I got people in Cali and England and wherever else holdin me down.  There are people I would never have been able to reach before.  Bottom-line, Loud is the shit!!  Lex Butter said it!!!  No one else is getting an opportunity like this.  You wanna get on a Sha Money beat, join Loud.com.

Loud.com:  What are you most excited about when it comes to hip hop these days, what gets you up about the culture and the music?

The fact it gives a voice to the culture.  For the people not given the shining light, the people down in a rut and that can’t do anything with themselves.  It’s given me so much; really, it’s been a platform to speak.  Music is life.  I truly feel that. 

A lot of people that have been close to me have passed away.  The music is like, I don’t know, I feel like they are tappin people up there from heaven tryin to get me in the game the way I should be.  Hip hop is a way for my talent to not go by the wayside.  You might be the wildest basketball player ever, but never played in MSG and never got a real chance to shine.  Hip hop is like, you might not have had that silver spoon, but if you get on the mic and rip it, at the end of the night, it’s all love regardless.  It’s bigger than any kind of divisions they can lay on us.  We’re split up into social networks, social demographics, wealth and no wealth, popular and not popular.  But hip hop is a great leveling ground for the culture as a whole.  Whether people know it or not, hip hop is part of everything everybody does right now.  It’s an energy, it’s truly an energy.   There’s light at the end for hip hop.  It’s not dead and it won’t be dead.  As long as someone is spittin, there will stay hip hop.

Loud.com:  My thoughts exactly.  So is rap your only day job?

I’m a private contractor.  I work for a cable service provider, doing audits of systems in buildings and all that, so I get my swerve on in the morning.  Drop off the kids at school, wifey at the train, get my tools, throw my ladders up, hit the field, do what I gotta do, and then get on that music grind at night.  Of course, I stay on my Loud.com grind.  Constantly peeping my head in, trying to connect with people and all that.  I need a 25th hour, believe me, I need more time in a day.  But you know, it’s a routine that you make work.  Kids, studio, wifey,, work.  Staying on top of everything is hard, so you gotta be an opportunist. 

Loud.com:  Word up.  So… any final thoughts?  Anything we didn’t get to address, feel free to speak on it, the floor is yours.

I want to make sure I give a genuine and sincere gesture of gratitude to everyone that supports me.  My wife, my kids, my brothers… everyone that keeps me grounded and goal-driven.  The BX – for that strength, wisdom and experience.  Of course to Loud.com for the opportunity.  And lastly to hip hop for being the voice of my people and my culture.  I’d like to say rest in peace to Big Jim, Charlie Rock, Mike Diaz, he was taken from us last week.  Along with everyone else…

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