A Conversation With Rhode Island Artist Lunchbagg

Providence, Rhode Island rapper, songwriter, producer and visionary Lunchbagg has been under our radar for almost a year now. After spending most of last year releasing eclectic singles with his producer Larry Ohh and collaborating with The Skye Empire and Kato On The Track, he’s just dropped his brand new single “Bagg Alert”. I had a chance to speak with the man himself. Read below.

Hey Lunch, how are you doing?

I’m fantastic man, 2019 is off to a great start. Bigg Baggs all 2019.

Great. How was your Christmas and New Years celebrations?

They were good man, I use the holiday to reflect on my life up until that point and I couldn’t help but be proud of the work that my team and I have been putting in. The growth I experienced in 2018 definitely has allowed me to see over some walls thats for sure.

For sure, you had a fairly successful 2018, are you optimistic about the new year?

2018 is just a sample of what I have lined up. Baggs will be secured in 2019 and beyond, that will change my life and my team’s life completely. I’m super excited because, like you said, 2018 was fairly successful in terms of drops and outreach. Now it’s time for taking those efforts to the next level.

That’s the right energy to have. Are you now a solo artist or still class yourself as a duo with LarryOh?

I work frequently with Larry, he and I get into the studio every week and work on new music. Once the songs are ready we’ll let them out of the vault. He mastered my latest single “Bagg Alert” and thats my brother; major mentor and wizard.

Listening to your music, I can hear a young man who grew up listening to an eclectic selection of music. What style of music were you exposed to as a child?

Everything *laughs*. My friend used to have Limewire on his computer when we were kids and I would use that and Wikipedia to find music from all over the world to listen to. Everything from Black Metal to Aborigine Rock from Australia. I would load up my little mp3 player with all old school Punk bands like Misfits but also have Soul music like Al Green and Teddy Pendergrass. My exposure came through that. I also was exposed to a lot of Blues which had a big impact on my style of playing guitar. I like to use the guitar for saying those inexpressible things I’m feeling. It just gets the listener a little deeper into my mind.

I knew it! That’s amazing! Did those artists inspire you to pursue a career within music?

I think it definitely prepared me, I became obsessed with music. I used to skip school just to sit home and learn guitar and write my own songs. It was a trade off *laughs*.

If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing? Be honest.

I don’t know but I’d be successful.

You’re in a competitive genre right now, I can see you’re passionate, at times I get frustrated seeing artists like yourself being overlooked. What do you feel the game needs? Or even lacking?

You just gotta be patient. People will find out about the music in time, this interview will be part of the legacy for both of us bro. Things that are quality always rise to the top but have to sift through the debris in the way. The trajectory is there though.

Nothing but facts. What artists are you currently listening to right now?

I’m listening to the studio tapes from a John Coltrane session with Thelonius Monk. Some jazz vibes always flowing.

Nice. What’s the music scene like in your city?

It’s healthy man. Healthier than it has been in a long time, if ever. I feel very lucky to be involved and happy to continuously be seeing clubs, events, curators and artists popping up all the time. I still travel a lot for shows but hometown always holds it down.

Let’s talk about your new single “Bagg Alert” — what’s the inspiration behind that?

The Bagg is whatever you want it to be. It’s whatever you’re working towards at that moment. People who are achieving are Getting to The Bagg; it could be bodybuilding, baking, painting or clocking into a job you hate but you gotta grind. Whatever you’re doing, I want you to have expectations for yourself. That expectation of yourself is how You’ll be successful. Bagg Talk. I never knew I was working towards anything when I was writing raps starting off but now I’m aware of the talents I have as an artist and individual.