From the Bay to Europe – The Luniz are still a hip hop phenomenon

by JR Valrey, Editor in Chief

The most famous Oakland/Bay Area Hip Hop song ever made is 1995’s “I Got 5 On It” by the Luniz, which used a sample from the Club Nouveau 1986 hit, “Why You Treat Me So Bad?” The Luniz song was recently remixed by the 2017 film, “Us.” which famously turned the weed anthem into the scary movie soundtrack song of the following decade.

The Luniz, consisting of rappers Numskull and Yukmouth, have taken their music from the streets of Oakland to around the nation and around the world.

This article originates from a conversation Num and I had recently about how much he regularly performs in Europe, specifically in Germany, how he is treated overseas, and his new album that is set to drop New Years Eve.

Now I have dozens of friends who are musicians, but very few, if any, who have taken their careers to the heights that the Luniz have, so his insights, history and knowledge of Hip Hop are invaluable. And yes, Num is gearing up to release his first long awaited solo album, which he’s celebrating by having a huge 3 day event in Belize for New Years Eve. So stay tuned, and hear what the laid back half of the Luniz has to say about the world, traveling and his career. Did I mention he produced almost every track on the album?

JR VALREY: Num, you just did a song for a compilation that was honoring two women. One was Assata Shakur; the other was Pauline Lumumba, the wife of Patrice Lumumba, the assassinated leader of the Congo. What made you do that song? What was in you that said, “I’ll participate in this project”?

NUM: Well, first you came to me with what was going on in Cuba, ’cause I didn’t know. And when you told me about it, I’m like, damn, that’s, some fucked up shit, and shit that needs to be spoken on. And then when you came at me with the compilation that your boy (Obi Egbuna) was doing, it just clicked. And Assata Shakur had been exiled. She was in exile in Cuba. So I’m like, that fits in perfectly. Plus, I know who she is, and I know who Lumumba is. I’m like, yeah, this is some history right here that needs to be spoken on, especially now. So I sat down, I figured out what would be good to talk about

But I couldn’t, I didn’t wanna seem like I was teaching people in the song. I just wanted to just put a little bit out there, about the destruction to these women’s lives. And I started writing, and I think it came out very well. I got great feedback. Not a lot of people thought I could even rap on political shit like that. But, you know, when it’s something that you really feel, it’s gonna come out right, with passion.

JR VALREY: That’s what’s up. When did The Luniz start traveling? When was the first time that you can remember, when y’all left the Bay, and what happened?

NUM: OK, you want a story So the first big tour we went on leaving out of California was the Jodeci tour. Jodeci was the headliners, the whole Bad Boy family was there, Naughty by Nature, Adina Howard, this group called The Basement, which Timbaland was in, and then it was us. So the story is, the first day we were in some super fancy hotel or whatever, and me, I’m from the hood, so I’ma throw a party in my hotel room,

So we’re in there cracking after the show, and my girl had bought me a pistol before I got up out of there, right? So I put my pistol up in the skylight. Police come in, and shit’s too loud. Everybody is out back in the pool. So the police come in, and they find the pistol. They’re like, “Whose pistol is this?” I’m like, “That’s mine. That’s mine.”

They take me down to the police car, put me in the back of the car, right? I see my security come up. His name is Anzazi and this dude was a human terminator. I’m talking about how he looked – way super cut, like a human terminator. So I guess somebody told him I was in the police car. I was like, “Hey, they got me.”

And he went to the police officer, bro. I swear to God, he just whispered in this police officer’s ear. That police officer walked straight to me, opened the door, said, “Get out.” I was like, “That’s incredible”. And I wanted to know what he told that officer. He never told me. But now that I’m grown and I know. He’s the man. Straight up. He knew what to say, for reasons that we’re gonna keep on the under.

JR VALREY: Did your music change once you started traveling, and if so, how?

NUM: Yeah. We grew, I would think. I think it did change because of how we saw the rest of the world. We were able to see what this country is like, what that country is like, what this country is like. We were able to see the cultures in those centers, right? And it kind of changed when we were able to hit different states in the United States.

We grew up. I’ll put it like that. You know what I mean? But when we first made the Luniz album, we were just speaking on what we were going through. That was, that’s what it was, you know what I mean? So yeah.

JR VALREY: But your production was from all over the country?

NUM: It was. We got people from New York. We had gotten people from, Houston and N.O. Joe and a lot of cats. So yeah, absolutely. We were always worldwide. That’s one thing about the Luniz. Our music was always worldwide. They thought we were from New York when we first came out. They, they didn’t know we were from the West Coast.

JR VALREY: Why?

NUM: I think ’cause of the flow style. I think how we talk about things, you know what I mean? If I could describe the Luniz right now, I would say the Luniz is comedic. Definitely … street realist. That’s what I would call it.

JR VALREY:And the Cheech and Chong of rap.

NUM: Yep. That’s probably the comedy.

JR VALREY:That’s true. Where is your favorite place to travel inside the country and outside of the country?

NUM: Inside the country, my favorite place to go is home. I love home. I love California. I love Oakland. Yeah. I love my home, you know what I mean? That’s where I’d rather be. But outside of the country, there’s a lot of different places that I love to go to. I love to go to Brazil. I love to go to Canada. I love to go to Alaska. I love to go to Germany and Switzerland. I mean, these places are beautiful places that I would go back to anytime.

JR VALREY:What is the first thing that you do besides check in and handle your music business? What is the first thing you like to do when you hit a new place, especially that’s out of the country?

NUM: I like to go see what the people are about, you know? So I’m going to the biggest city center where everybody “be at,” and then from there I can meet the people, and then we can go to the more hood type of spots, you know what I’m saying, the under spots. So I can see what the people are like.

I don’t like to go and do a show somewhere where I don’t kind of at least know a little bit about the people. ‘Did y’all win the game that day?’ OK. ‘Yeah, we won.’ ‘Congratulations.’

How does that change the show? It makes them feel like at least I put in a little effort to know who they are.And I think all artists should do that.

You’re gonna just go out there and just perform for them, because they like your song? Nah, man, nah. These people came to your show, you know what I mean? And that’s one thing I gotta tell people. I don’t never, ever say fans, because that’s short for fanatic, you know what I mean? And so I say fam, ’cause that’s short for family. They help me feed my family, so that’s what I call them.

JR VALREY:Straight up. Tell us about the new album.

NUM: So think of it like this. For all these years, I’m the type of person that remembers the things that we do when it comes to music. I remember the type of music we made. I remember what was what, at that time. So to me, everything, every album, every song that we’ve done so far, I put it all into all of my music now, when I write, I write. Everything that we’ve done before came into this album. So this album. To me, it’s a classic because I’m writing every song to be a single and something that everybody is gonna love; that’s gonna relate.

Num’s song on the Kotelemela Bolingo compilation honoring freedom fighters Assata Shakur and Pauline Lumumba

That’s what I attempted to do on this album. I think I did it. I think it’s a great album. I think it’s a classic, bro, and I really want people to hear it so they can know where I’m coming from. Talking about the production.

Production is me 80%. I think two or three songs are produced by someone else, but I produce my own music because nobody knows what I like to write to. I can give a producer an idea of something, but they’re not gonna come up with what I see in my head, so I do it myself.

JR VALREY:When, when can they expect it, and how do they get more information?

NUM: It’ll be out December 31st, New Year, new album, all that. I think they’re gonna be very, very happy about what I did with this album. It’s not an Oakland album. It’s not a California album. Yeah, I rep that for sure. You know, I rep home for sure. But, this album is a worldwide album, man, and that’s the only way that I can write.

You will never hear me rap about something I don’t do. You know what I mean? Yeah, I don’t lie in my raps, man. I can’t do that. I mean, we all got songs, where back in the day when we first started, where we’re talking about this and that and this and that, but I grew out of that a long time ago.

This is about what’s going on right now; about me, about family, my whole life, man. It’s not a boring album. It’s not a teaching album at all, but there’s some shit that I don’t like out here, and I speak on it. That’s what it is.

SF Bay View Editor-in-Chief JR Valrey is a veteran journalist His work can also be heard on www.blockreportradioworld.com. He can be reached at [email protected].

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