By: Anna Sipek, Assistant Editor-in-Chief
Designed by: Eury Kim
Three years ago, Lucien Parker, a 21 year old Minneapolis native, was running recording sessions out of his Sellery dorm room charging $10 an hour. Today, he’s in the process of opening his second recording studio and releasing an album. Within the next few months, he’ll be going on an international tour. Though ambition and hard work have paved the way to Parker’s success, the path hasn’t always been so clear.
“I was just a kid trying to play football and go to college,” he said. Then, leaning in as if to tell a secret, “I definitely didn’t plan on this.”
Before being surrounded by the bright lights, the thumping bass, the crowds, Parker was just a kid with a voice. He didn’t live and breathe music, and he wasn’t a child prodigy (though he would learn several instruments over the course of his childhood). He was, however, looking for a creative outlet, a place to say what he meant and how he felt. That’s how Lucien Parker, the spoken word poet, was born.
Brave New Voices, an international youth poetry competition, provided him a platform for expression unlike any he had encountered before. He could write about the issues that affected him and share his stories with the world. That is, until it was determined that his voice wasn’t so new anymore.
“I couldn’t [perform] because I had aged out and I was kind of like, well, where can I take this now that I can’t slam?” he said. Lost, but not without hope, Parker found hip-hop.
Parker didn’t start out with much. Most of his early days were spent experimenting musically with friends. “We had boot leg mics and logic nine in the crib or in somebody's basement and we’d just mess around,” he said with a reminiscent smile. Slowly, his spoken word evolved into recorded music.
“I [would] sit with the music and just go MIA and work,” he said. From his freshman to sophomore years of college, Parker honed his skills. “I really just spent a lot of time trying to record myself, learning to track my own vocals, learning to track other people's vocals, writing, and really trying to elevate my sound.”
In June of 2016, he released his first album, Black Sheep. Ever since, his music has steadily grown in popularity, even being featured on an episode of Cloak & Dagger, a TV series based on Marvel comics. While he attributes much of his success to Midwestern work ethic, Parker has depended on the infrastructure of LA and New York to further his career.
Some artists abandon their roots in order to search for fame, and in the process forget them. Parker insists, however, on two things. One, it is possible to make it. Two, once you do, you have to help your community.
“We have to leave the Midwest, bring back what we learned, and try to open the doors for everybody else,” he explained. Parker’s long term goal is to build the infrastructure the Midwest lacks in the music industry.
“I need a platform so I can do all of the things I want to do,” he added. “I want to teach kids how to record. I want to teach kids how to produce beats. I want to teach kids how to write out their life experiences. I think that I wouldn't be here without that and I have a lot of friends who wouldn't be here without that, so I think teaching kids how to write it out is an important thing that we're trying to do.”
It seems he is on track for this plan. Most recently, Parker released Common Knowledge, a song he wants to act as “a catalyst for growth” for his listeners. The lofi track serves as a smooth introduction to his new album, entitled Mephoria, which will be released on October 17th.
It is with this album that he hopes to inspire others to find themselves and to tell their own stories. “I think Mephoria is growth. I think Mephoria is learning to be independent. I think Mephoria is reminiscent as we go into the fall. I think Mephoria is going to be my best album yet.”
For information on Lucien Parker’s tour click here.
