Lou

Bio

Active in the international Hip Hop scene for over 15 years, Lou Piensa has been involved in many aspects of the movement including radio, music production, performance, and events organization. He has shared the stage with such artists as Common, Dead Prez, Tony Touch, K'Naan, Jean Grey, Foreign Beggars and more. Since 2000, he has been living in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Montreal, Canada. A trilingual MC (English, French and Spanish), Lou also has a decade long tie with the Cuban Hip Hop scene, particularly with the pioneering duo Obsesion.

In 2004, he helped initiate the creation of Nomadic Massive, a multilingual and eclectic live Hip Hop crew with whom he has been making noise both as an MC and producer. His nomadic childhood (Lou was born in France and grew up in Ecuador, Algeria, Canada and Cuba) has given him an ability to adapt with ease and it has fueled his international vision of Hip Hop culture. His production reflects an eclectic musical upbringing, finding inspiration in the rhythms from the all over the world. When he is not teaching high school kids or working on a project somehow related to Hip Hop, he can be found making beats and writing rhymes in preparation for traveling the world with music. Ahi na'ma'!

Interview

What music are you listening to/art are you checking out these days?

Whatever gets passed on to me by friends. I really enjoy discovering new artists, it’s so much easier nowadays to look for new material with the internet. I try to expand my horizons musically to get new inspiration. I also like discovering old music, for example, just over a year ago I discovered Tim Maia, the godfather of Brazilian soul and that was a huge revelation for me. I’m a big reggae fan, I’ve been listening to a lot of Alborosie and Warrior King lately. New singers I like a lot are Nneka from Nigeria/Germany  and Soha from France. I love old school salsa like Hector Lavoe and Willie Colon. As far as hip hop, I’ve been into a lot of hip hop from around the world: Afrob from Germany, Salah Edin from the Netherlands, Tumi and the Volume from South Africa, Z’Africa Brasil from Brazil, Blitz the Ambassador from Ghana/New-York, Obsesion from Cuba, Falsa Alarma from Spain, Kamau from Canada or Sam the Kid from Portugal and I really enjoy the new stuff coming from Kery James in France.

Why should people, especially youth, vote?

Voting is important because it means participation. When you start participating, you realize you’re part of community and you have a part to do. The big problem is often to find someone who is running in the elections that you actually relate to. In other instances, people feel that their vote means nothing because the candidate they vote for only gets a 2% or 3% vote. However, that 2% is a symbol of the fact that people are asking for an option to what the large majority are going for and that percentage, as small as it may be, plays a huge role in showing people that other opinions exist and has to be considered.

For you, is there a connection between art and democracy? What is it?

The connection is that art allows people to express themselves and have a direct podium. As an independent musician for example, when you put out your song on Myspace, you might reach thousands of people. And if people connect with what you’re saying, then they will pass it on, talk about it, write about it and suddenly you find that your views and ideas are being heard, shared and brought forward. For artists who are more established and have a bigger stage to express themselves, they become public figures and if they are connected to the people, they can be a valid spokesperson for alternative views and they can help bring these ideas to places where they need to be heard. Art seeps into peoples’ minds very comfortably and oftentimes, it makes political opinion much more accessible and interesting than politics do.

Why do you care about community when it is so easy not to?

I grew up with a sense of community ever since I can remember. My parents always had lots of friends gather over at their house. Even if I grew up away from my cousins, uncles, aunts, and grand-parents,  when I did see them there was always a big sense of solidarity between everyone. My parents always taught me that everyone is equal, regardless of their origin and instilled in me a sense of purpose and consideration for others. In all the work they did, the most important thing for them was to have a connection with people. My community today is one of diversity, building bridges between people to realize that we have more in common that we think.

What do you look for in a politician? What do you expect from your MP?

I think politics are very dirty. It’s very difficult to completely believe in a politician. There are so many factors that force a politician to make compromises if he/she wants to reach a position of power that will affect change. That being said, I look for someone who is able to inspire people to change their everyday outlook and sense of participation.  Transparency is an ideal because politics mostly happen behind closed doors. So for me, I look for a leader who is confident and knows how to move people towards getting themselves involved and collaborating with others. The real change has to come from the way people live and think on a daily basis.