Rent is too high in L.A. On Smino’s new album ‘Luv 4 Rent,’ it’s on the house
‘There is no place like home’
For L.A. rapper Smino, the place is LA. As his next album opens with the title “Luv 4 Rent,” the rapper who shot to fame with his single “Goodbye, 2 U” and the Grammy-nominated “Dedication” is living his life in the city that made him.”Luv 4 Rent” is a love letter to his adopted hometown and its inhabitants. As he raps in the album’s opening song, the rapper finds himself in his element.
“The music of the last years has been really heavy,” Smino begins. “I’ve always been someone who’s obsessed with music. In school, I really wanted to be a musician. Before I went to school, it was like I needed to live in a bubble because I had no friends or no family. I was just completely alone. I was an only child, so I had no one to play with. I’d wake up every day and just have the feeling that I have to go to work.”
Smino, 20, has been in the business for about two years now. After getting signed to Young Money Entertainment, he was ready to continue his career and began working on his debut album.
“I was in the studio for a while,” Smino told us. “I wasn’t really focused on the album. I was just trying to make the album happen before I left for a year.”
Despite the time spent in the studio, Smino says he still listened to music. “Every day, I listened to music. I would put it on and just let it play, and I’d listen to it and I just wanted to see what it was like.”
“Luv 4 Rent” is the rapper’s first album in nearly four years and in that time, he’s had to adjust to a new life in Los Angeles with an adopted family and a career that demands a lot from an 18-year-old.
“I’ve never really had a lot of structure,”