Ivan L of BroLife Music talks to WVCC about his New LP: FRANK
Back in 2008, before Vice City Cypher ever thought of hosting its first show, much less launching a Radio Station; my former group “A1phaNum3ric5” got booked by long time friend and future V.C.C. DJ, “Deejay Twin”, for his weekly showcase “The Mixtape Show” down on South Beach. We showed up ready to rock as always, not expecting too much out of the line up since TWIN was known for booking acts with that Dirty South street sound (not really our Underground Hip Hop Vibe; we were pretentious Hip Hop Snobs I know, smh ). To my surprise, we shared the stage with a couple of groups that were not only blazing hot (Dirty South sound and all) but became long time associates and friends with these artist. One Artist in particular continually surpassed all my expectations through-out the years. He goes by IVAN L, Founder of BroLife Music Group, and he is a Visionary who doesn’t ask…He just Does.
On the eve of the release of his new album “FRANK”, WVCC Radio reached out to the Broward County Representative in hopes of getting some insight into his New Project, His influences, His relentless drive and future plans. Step into the Cypher and lend an ear to a brother who has more than paid his dues and earned our attention.
WVCC : “Whats good Brother I.V. Thank you for taking the time to do this Interview with #WVCC #CyphLyfeBlog. Why don’t we start off by telling the folks on the Inter-webs where your from and where you Rep. “
Ivan L: “I’m from Broward County born and raised but spent time all over Miami too. Mainly North Miami.“
WVCC: “Whats the first type of Music you got into as a jit?”
Ivan L: “First type of music I really got into as a kid was Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. I thought that whole style was so dope. Later I got into Biggie, Busta Rhymes, and 2Pac.”
WVCC: “That explains why I hear both East Coast and West Coast influences in your music. I actually always notice a lot of different musical styles in your productions. Who Produces your beats? More importantly, who Produced the new FRANK project?”
Ivan L: ” On FRANK, I have production from my homie Ghost The Young Sage ( IG: @sagecraftstudio https://www.instagram.com/sagecraftstudio/) from Sage Craft Studios in Hialeah and a couple of other long time collaborators like Lebanon Don & Chemist. “
WVCC: “Shout out to Ghost and Sage Craft Studios, homie is fire with the Beats and behind the Boards. Really good Peoples too.”
Ivan L: ” Yeah he is! He engineered almost the entire album also .”
WVCC: “If the album sounds anything like that “TADA” single you let us premier on the #NewBlazeTuesday show this week, I’m excited to hear it the whole thing. While we’re on the topic of the New Album, Why the name FRANK?”
Ivan L: ” Thanks bro. The title came from a lot of my influences. One of my favorite albums of all time is Frank by Amy Whinehouse. One of my favorite movies is King of New York featuring the character Frank White. Then there’s the show Snowfall I just started watching with a character named Franklin. So the title just felt right over time but most importantly I named it Frank because I feel like lyrically it’s a very frank matter of fact type of album. Just telling it how I see it from my view point . “
WVCC: ” Damn bro! That’s a Quadruple Entendre in a one syllable title. Extra Points awarded. Lol. Now, we’ve been rocking together since back in 2009 when DJ Twin was hosting the Mixtape Showcases on South Beach and ofcourse you’ve rocked a number of Vice City Cypher shows. Back then you were 1/2 of a group called BROLIFE. How long have you and your boy BRIZZLE WORRELL been making music together? ”
Ivan L: “We’ve been down going on 10 years now. That’s like my brother in this.”
WVCC: “Yeah man, while researching for this interview I came across your track “ASKING FOR A FRIEND” with Brizzle and I was pretty blown away. Shouts out to Brizz Worrell. Yall compliment each other real well, and the track itself has an Underground vibe I wasn’t expecting from you. I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve added it permanently on the #ThursdayNightCypher Playlist. lol.
WVCC: “So put us on game. How did you take BROLIFE from a 2 man Group to an Independent Label with, How Many members?”
Ivan L: “Well originally BroLife was a crew anyway with more than just me and Brizzle involved. It had a lot of my homies from high school and my neighborhood. In 2016 I decided I wanted to expand and make the crew into a real imprint and that’s when we partnered with dope artists like Beretta Biz, Jansport Jack, J. Serve, My NZA, and our latest partner NAC David.”
WVCC: “Now that’s what I call expansion. I cant deny that every time I see you back on your promotion grind it seems you have leveled up in one way or the other. Always seen consistent growth from you as an Artist and Entrepreneur. One of the things that really floored me was when you went on tour. Out of the many Local Artist that we’ve booked, your one of only a handful that has taken there show on the Road. Tell us about the tours you were on over the past couple of years. “
Ivan L: “The first tour I was blessed to be on was a Curren$y tour presented by Dope Ent. He’s one of my favorite MC’s so that was super dope to be able to watch and study his work up close. After that, I took what I learned on that tour and started applying it to tours with my crew. We’ve hit Chicago, Indianapolis, Memphis, LA, San Diego, Vegas, and places all over Central FL. My next plan is to do something overseas.”
WVCC: ” Wow… That’s quite a run. Are you getting any plays overseas? “
Ivan L: ” Yeah, overseas I’m getting some love in Russia and that’s been super cool to interact with the people over there. I did a song with a Russian rapper and I’m working on some upcoming music from a Russian producer named Smiles.”
WVCC: “No shade on any other crowd, but what was your favorite crowd to rock for, and what was the one show that will always stick out in your memory?”
Ivan L: ” My most memorable show had to be opening for Denzel Curry in Tampa where I literally jumped off of the stage and into the crowd messing up my knee in the process. All worth it though! “
WVCC: “I remember you posting about that when you messed up your knee. Didn’t you keep performing after that?
Ivan L: ” Yeah I kept performing! Getting an MRI done soon for it haha.”
WVCC: “Damn B…Talk about dedication. What gem can you share with aspiring artist in the South Florida scene who’d like to get out of Miami or Broward and expand their Audiance? “
Ivan L: “The best gem I can give is to be open to connecting with people outside of your home market! Link with people through social media like IG, hip hop forums, and even foreign social media sites and offer to trade shows with people from elsewhere. SHOW LOVE to others and it’ll come back eventually”
WVCC: We at #WVCC can definitely co-sign that. It’s literally been the secret to our success all these years. Ok… ( I’ve always wanted to do this) Lightning Round.
1. Favorite Football Team
Dolphins!!
2. Favorite Outcast Album
Stankonia
3. 3 spots we should go eat
Happy Wings, Steak & Shake, Zuccarellis
4. Performing or Recording?
Recording
5. Favorite Album this Year?
Rick Ross – Port of Miami 2
6. PennyWise or the Joker?
Joker
7. Dream Producer to work with?
DJ Premier or Kanye West
8. Dave Chapelle or Kevin Hart?
Dave Chappelle all day. He’s the GOAT in my book
WVCC: We suffer together as Fins fans this season I guess. Shout out to all the Suffering Fins Fans out there waiting for next Season to enjoy football again. LOL. Let the Cypher know where to find you homie…
Ivan L: ” You can find me almost on any platform via @IvanLRhymesWell and my website BroLife.net( https://brolife.net/ ).”
You can also catch Ivan L and the whole BroLife Music Family rocking live at the Listening Party for FRANK tomorrow night, 9/27/19 at THE SPOT in Allapatah. If this show is anything like the ones I’ve always see him rock, your in for a treat. If IV’s track record shows us anything, its probably going to be even better than I could expect. Like I’ve said, Homie always finds away of surpassing my expectations.
8ch2Owens of Vice City Cypher
#WVCC #CyphLyfeRadio
Tune in Tues and Thursdays 9 – 11pm Streaming Live on FaceBook @Rudy Barrro
*****Last Minute Update: After reading the Interview, The big homie Ivan L was so impressed with our work and turn around that he blessed us with the link to the Complete FRANK project for the #WVCC #CyphLyfeBlog Readers to enjoy. Check out FRANK on Spotify and come back here and let us know how you feeling the album in the Comments.
We’ve also been commissioned by BroLife Music to do the Official FRANK Album Review. So drop your comments, let us know what you think and I’ll include some of your feedback on the Review to be released next week. Never say #WVCC dont look out for its listeners and followers.
