@LupENDBlog: Ukulele

If you visit this blog on a regular basis, you probably already saw at least one video of Ariel covering a Lupe Fiasco track on his ukulele. Now I had the chance to do a short interview with him...check it out:

Sean: What's up Ariel? Let our readers know who you are and what you do.

Ariel: What’s good? The name is Ariel, pronounced, R-E-L. I’m 18 years young & I’m a full-time student @ SDSU. Sports wise, I’m into basketball & volleyball. Been playin’ bball since I was like 6. I played vball throughout high school, but I’m too short for the big leagues.

I’m real big on music. Music played a big part of how I grew up. Back in 6th grade, my family moved to Italy. That’s like, the period in life where people find themselves I guess. & that’s when I started really getting’ into the hip-hop scene cuz the Euro scene is REAL. My big brother intro’d me to talib kweli/mos def type stuff. Which led to Kanye, which led to Lupe, hah. Aside from kickin’ it with my homies, listenin to music was all that was left.

I TRY to keep it well-rounded in terms of what I’m bumpin’. A lot of Hip-hop/R&B/Acoustic stuff though. But I don’t mess with country or any of that super hard rock/metal. I respect the work they put in, but it’s just not me. Other random facts: I love fried chicken, I don’t like sauce on my food (with few exceptions), & I like to draw.

Sean: I got to know you through your youtube videos in which you mostly cover Hip Hop and RnB tracks on your ukulele. When did you start to play?

Ariel: I started bringin’ my uke to school during my Senior year (c/o ‘08) I would start strummin’ a beat, then me & the homies would just freestyle in between classes. Since then, it turned into something that I would just do. So I guess I’ve been playing for about a year, give or take a few months.

Sean: Do you also record your own music and do you try to do it professionally or is it just for fun?

Ariel: Yeah, I wrote like 4 original songs that I recorded & put up on youtube. Those songs, and the other covers I do, are all just for fun and because I really like the songs. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, hah.

Sean: Did you ever try to get in contact with a record label? If so what was the result?

Ariel: Not a record label, but I did a song called “L.O.L. (the language of love)” that was about cellphone texting. I emailed all the big-time cellphone companies in the US to try get the song in a commercial, but they aint never hit me back. Those jerks. Jk. Check it out though. Its gully.

Sean: I noticed that you cover a lot of songs by Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West and Common. Are you a fan of their music or is it just easier to play their stuff?

Ariel: Yeahhh, those 3 are definitely on my list of artists to hear before you die. I wouldn’t say that their music is easier to play. I just have more motivation to learn how to play their songs because I like them so much. Sometimes its hard cuz you gotta catch the actual sound of how the lyrics are being sung because of all the drums/other sounds that don’t really translate into specific notes. But that’s the fun part.

Sean: What are some other artists that you like and what's your favorite song/album right now?

Ariel: Let’s see, Ryan Leslie, Musiq’s older stuff, Estelle, & John Legend are my R&B heaters. I’m always down for some Old School West Coast rap. Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz hold down the acoustic fort. I like Lil Wayne’s old freestyles & mixtape stuff before he got REALLY big.

This one cat I met not too long ago, I been a big fan of his, he’s underground, puttin’ San Diego on the map, SON OF RAN. He works with DJ Virus & the Messangers. Look out for them. No joke. I can go on for days with stuff I like haha. But yeah, recently I’ve been listenin’ to N.E.R.D’s “Fly or Die”, Estelle’s “Shine”, & Game’s “LAX”.

Sean: Ok cool. now let's dream a bit...if you would get a phone call from...let's say Lupe Fiasco and he'd tell you that he want's you to play ukulele on one of his tracks....how would you react?

Ariel: LOL. Wow. I’d prolly drop a deuce on myself yo! Then I’d ask him how he got my phone number. Hahah, that would be insane, but definitely something I would gladly accept.

Sean: Yeah...eell...I'm almost finished with my questions...just one more thing...what can we expect from you in the future?

Ariel: In the future, hopefully ya'll can expect to see more good music on the uke by me. & hopefully a collab with Lupe, the man himself. But for now, imma keep daydreamin’. HAH, that was super corny -_-==;

Sean: Thanks for taking the time to answer those questions...and if you have anything else to say, you can do it now !

Ariel: FOR SURE, thanks for givin’ me the opportunity to say wassup & for puttin’ my vids up on the site. I really appreciate what ya'll do. Uhhh, lets see. WORD TO JC, MY BIG BROTHER, MY LIL SISTER, MY MOMS, & MY POPS WHO’S OUT IN THE MIDDLE EAST HOLDIN’ IT DOWN, THE HOLYSMOKES KREW, HG, KILLA B, FRESH KID ICE, THE REST OF THE HOMIES/GIRLS FROM ORHS ’08, KAT B, ALECKS V, A-SQUARED, & JW, EVERYBODY REPPIN THE 619/858, UKULELE UNDERGROUND HEADS, & ANYBODY THAT LOVES GOOD MUSIC! & TO THOSE THAT DON’T. . . GOD BLESS YOUR SOULS. OH & LUPE, IF YOU EVER READ THIS, THANK YOU FOR DOPE MUSIC. IT IS DEFINITELY APPRECIATED. & MY HOMEGIRL WANTS TO HOLLA, SO HIT ME UP. LOLZ, DEUCES!

Make sure to check his YouTube Channel