LouBands brings the unwavering hip hop hustle, hunger, and entrepreneurial spirit to his latest album, Bando Wave.
Boston-based rapper LouBands is wasting no time making a name for himself. He started rapping only two years ago, but has already attracted the creative support of Young Jeezy’s producer, John Scott, to drop his latest album, Bando Wave. The album offers an equally distributed three-pronged approach of celebratory party bangers, relationship-focused slow jams, and get-that-money hustle anthems.
Bando Wave was designed to be LouBands’ medium to channel inspiration to his listeners and help them express their emotions. Describing the album, he says, “I want to present my own words with a vibe. I called it Bando Wave because it’s my personal wave, vibe, and sound to help you feel what I’m feeling…No matter what you’re going through, there’s a wave for you.”
Produced at Phoenix Down Recording in Somerville, Bando Wave has feature spots from local rap luminaries like Kyle Bent, Vooms, and HollywoodMIGS. The album starts off fast, with the hard-hitting rap banger, “On Everything,” which carries a beat with heavy moments supported by an echoey modern synth sound. The lyrics give us insight into the artist’s past and what it’s taught him. The lyrics, “Had to live in struggle / But it taught me how to dream” highlight one of LouBands’ main themes of hustling to accumulate wealth and improve his life. He says, “I was tired of the little taste of things in life and just being regular…so I wrote what has become my favorite line, ‘Imma get it how I wanna’…as the hook for ‘On Everything’ because I wanted to show that I’m taking charge.”
LouBands shows off his singing chops on smooth tracks like “Every Week,” a chill parking lot car cruiser track with a pleasing sing-song chorus and minor voice modulation that keeps the song on pace and in step with its mellow vibe. This theme is also present in the song, “Really With It” which has an increased focus on instrumental experimentation and autotune vocals, making for ear-candy flows. Lou’s vocals also stand out on the bedroom-eyed slow jam, “Yea Yea Yea” as well as “For The Stack,” which lays a smooth hook over haunting pianos.
However, not every track on Bando Wave is meant to be mellow and serious about life. For a weekend party anthem, check out “Movie Lit ft. HollywoodMIGS” which has a music video shot in the city that’s full of partying, get-down dancing, and smiles. “It was my birthday,” Lou explains, “and my girl rented a suite for me for the weekend. It was dope, so we decided on making a video and having a turnt up party too. We had a good time doing it.”
LouBands is trying to grow the Boston hip hop culture with his music, but he also says that there are a number of major obstacles facing rappers in Boston to grow their audience. To combat this, he says that Boston should encourage rap artists to support each other by getting behind each-others work and helping cross-promote. LouBands will continue to contribute to Boston’s hip hop culture by dropping fire records and giving local rap fans something to work with.