Lisa Jo

Lisa Jo opens up about transforming real-life trauma into “Lord of the Night,” her perfectionist process, self-produced sound, and the unstoppable creative force balancing inner chaos with a calm, presence.

1. “Lord of the Night” is rooted in real events. How did transforming a true story into lyrics shape the emotional intensity of the track?

Lord of the Night was the first rap song I ever wrote. And yes, it was based on true events that occured one evening in my life in late 2017 in a club in Clifton Park, New York during the darkest point in my life. I had just walked away from my brand new home I built with my own hands out of what was left from my paycheck each week that took about 2 years because I needed to end my marriage of over 30 years. During the wake/funeral service for my sister evidence was handed to me that my husband and best friend had been covering an affair for months. This new information layered on top of the pain and anguish only a week or so before of finding my sister deceased on her bathroom floor with an empty heroin needle still stuck in a vein of her left wrist brought my lifelong pain and rage (see my life story in The Hands That Held Me @ a.co/d/i0lAAw5 for further explanation) to a level that could no longer be contained. I knew if I didn’t leave I could have made an entirely different decision that would have resulted in having to adjust to prison life.

So as I sat in the club that night and bullets shattered the pieceful aura, the glass of wine in my hand was struck by a stray bullet and shattered with it and a second later a total stranger forced me to the floor and covered my body with his to protect me. When the bullets stopped and the shooter exited the club screams and cries filled my ears from everyone around me, yet there I was, so very calm because at that point I didn’t care if I had survived it or not and the level of chaos outside of my body that night still could not begin to compete with the chaos that had been roaring continuously inside my body.

With that said… I do not feel the reality of those events had any effect on the resulting intensity of the my song, but rather it moreso reflected a lifetime of feeling something similar to a tazmanian devel on steroids with loaded weapons going off at full throttle inside my soul and mind, but having had a lifetime of practice to master a smooth, calm, confident exterior that still easily portrayed to those around me how serious and how dangerous I had (or have) the ability to be as a result of a lifetime of abuse, severe trauma, loss and betrayal had created in me.

I hope that paints an accurate and clear picture that answers that question fully and honestly.

2. You recreated the song multiple times before finding the final version. What were you listening for that told you, “this is the one”?

I had created The Lord of the Night several times before I was satisfied that the sounds heard from the song accurately reflected the cold, dangerous ticking time bomb inside me while still reflecting the calm, confident, emotionless exterior that I possess and live by that makes me who I am. Best example or analogy I can give is… If my buddy took someone’s life in a fit of rage, his nerves and conscience eould destroy him, whereas if I did the same, I could calmly go home, eat spaghetti dinner, turn on the tv and sleep soundly without giving it another thought. I do not wish to give the impression that I am heartless, rather it is because my heart is huge and soft and damaged that I am this way. The battle is real. The music combined with the lyrics “drop you in front of your ma then I’ll make your lady squeal” and “I don’t owe you nothin but the bullet in your back” perfectly portray the point I was trying to make.

3. You handle both lyric writing and beat creation yourself. How does producing your own beats influence your flow and storytelling as a rapper?

Sadly, the answer to this question I believe I already gave within my response to #1 and #2. My lyrics do not influence my beat, nor vice versa… Rather they are 2 parts to one tool with the goal of simultaneously conveying both my interior and my exterior… I guess, now that you ask and I analyze it… I believe I am using my lyrics to express my internal frame of mind while using the beat to convey my smooth yet still very much dangerous exterior, if that makes sense.

4. Your influences span classic 90s gangsta rap and modern hip-hop voices. How do you balance nostalgia with a contemporary sound?

This one is easier to explain… Every part of who I am can only be expressed by 90s gangsta style rap, while I still have an ear and respect for what is current in the sounds of music.

5. With over 30 songs created in just three months, what drives your creative momentum, and how do you avoid burning out creatively?

Also an easier one to answer… I will never burnout because what drives my creative momentum is the spilling over bubbles of pain and rage seeping from the seems of my body that have been needing and desperately seeking a constructive, non-deadly outlet for about a hslf century now. I really don’t have to write my songs, I just have to peal the lyrics from the inner linings of my soul that have been already written without my permission. Honestly it feels like there is likely hundreds of songs taking up space inside me and necrotizing my flesh from inside out that I am struggling to get out fast enough to rid myself of the disease of emotional pain before it wins the war and takes me down.

6. You’ve said you refuse to fit into one genre and are now exploring sync opportunities. How do you see this genre-fluid approach shaping the next phase of your career?

The genre fluidity of my music will open more doors moving forward in the direction of sync publishing deals because it allows me to fit into openings of several genres rather than seeking to fit into one open box.

SoundPulse Record Label LLC (@lisa_jo_9) • Photos et vidéos Instagram