Queens-rapper Louwe Supreme sits down to talk about his music, new and old.
By Curtis Ashley, Music Director & Editor
Louwe Supreme is just a kid that likes making music: when you take away the glamour, money, crazy fans and all other theatrics, you get the honest living that is making music for the enjoyment of others.
Supreme, known amongst his friends as Romel Barry, rapped and produced for about two years each. His craft is a subtle reminder of the art of hip-hop, untouched by the murky recording industry.
The 20-year-old Cambria Heights-rapper sat down with HangTime Music to talk about his humble beginnings, and where he finds himself now. Accompanied by his younger brother Omari, in an upstairs bedroom of their two story house, Supreme lets us know that it’s all fun and games, While most of his remarks were prefaced by a slight laugh, he still expresses how much work he puts in.
HangTime: Did anyone influence you to become a rapper?
Louwe Supreme: “Omari. He’s been producing for about 11 years. Just being around him all the time, seeing him work hard, being around the music he makes. It’s real fire, so I was just like, ‘I want to do this too.’ I can say Travis Scott too. I am a big Travis Scott fan.”
HT: How did you come up with your name?
LS: “Louwe Supreme came from this little character I used to draw in my notebook in class. I used to call him ‘Louis,’ but I didn’t want to call myself that, so I was like, ‘I’m just going to call myself Louwe.’”
HT: There was a producer you worked with frequently, a Marzboygenius, before you started producing most of your own work. Do you still work with them?
LS: “That’s [Omari]. We about to drop something soon together.”
HT: It seem like you don’t care for features. Is there anyone you want to collab with?
LS: “Yeah, just Marzboygenius,” Supreme remarked, chuckling at the hypothetical thought of working with any other artist. “I don’t do too many features. I really just make tracks by myself. Times when I did want to features, there was a lot that was going on, and people weren’t coming in with their verses, So I was like, I don’t have time for that, I’m just going to do the songs by myself.”
HT: You don’t have much structure regarding when you release music? What’s that about?
LS: “I don’t really think too much about strategies and stuff like that. I just release music whenever I want,” he stated, sporting a smile. “I originally started making music because I didn’t like what I was hearing. So I was like, ‘I’m going to make music for myself.’ And I don’t really think about it. I’m just having fun.”
HT: The singles that you release: are they going on a project or are they just throwaways?
LS: These are just songs that I make on a daily basis. I just put them together and then I put them out. But I do have a project that I’m working on that’s dropping October 30th. That’s going to be my main big project that I am going to put all my hard work in to.”
HT: Recently you took to Instagram and claimed you didn’t want to make music anymore. What caused that?
LS: “I just said that just to be stupid. I like to say stupid stuff on the internet here and there, just to have fun. I don’t take the internet serious, so I just say stupid stuff on there from time-to-time.”
HT: What’s really keeping you going? Why are you really doing this?
LS: “What keeps me going is that a lot of people mess with my music, a lot of people think its real fire. My beats are getting better, and it’s something that I like to do. It’s something that I’m passionate about. I make beats everyday. It’s good to create. I feel like just me being able to influence people is what keeps me going.”
“I’m a cool kid; I just like to have fun,” he proclaimed, unable to keep that same smile from showing up. “I don’t really take it too serious to the point where I stress myself out, or go crazy. I don’t really care what people think. I just make music and release it.”
When you make music everyday, you might find yourself sitting on tracks, just waiting for the perfect time to release them. Supreme found that October 12th to be a good day to drop off new music, and HangTime Music could not agree more. With that said, we are proud to premiere a brand-new Louwe Supreme track, titled “Venom.” You can stream the new track below, but be sure to listen to the rest of his discography here.