Image via Jelissa Holder
When it comes to mixtape covers, Low the Great keeps it personal. On his trilogy of solo releases titled, Vicky, the 27-year-old producer channelled his close bond with his late grandmother of the same name. Each cover features a photo of Vickyâs former house, where he partly grew up. A month before his late grandmotherâs birthday last December, Low dropped the final installment of the trilogy. Interspersed with samples of her voice, Vicky 3 is both an ode to the person who provided him access to his first computerâthe catalyst for his music careerâas well as a love letter to the city that raised him.
Lowâs studio is a cavernous room tucked off a busy thoroughfare in Southeast LA. Youâve probably heard his, âLow The Great!â tag sprinkled into the dozens of anthems heâs helped craft for L.A.âs rap renaissance of the last decade: Shoreline Mafia and Wiz Khalifaâs âHow We Do It,â Bluefaceâs âFamous Cryp,â Drakeo The Ruler and Stupid Youngâs âLil Boosie,â BlueBucksClanâs âWalking In,â and 1TakeJayâs earworm homage to the iPhone, âHello.â [honorable mention goes to Boosie Badazz, âOn A Dick.â] As an autodidact with an unwavering work ethic, Low has proven himself as one of the most significant producers in LA.
Given the personal significance of the series, Vicky 3 is Lowâs most realized work to date. Thereâs bouncy, eyes-on-a-swivel scrolls of rumination (âDrip Downâ with Baby Stone Gorillas and SlumLord Trill), and long-money soundtracks for parties on Loma Vista Dr (âBig Mozzarellaâ with G Perico and Royce The Choice), capturing the cityâs assorted demeanors and disparate voices. During our interview, Low describes using Vickyâs saved voicemails as intros and outros to give the album, and himself, a sense of closure. âMy Grandmother came to me and told me it was time to release,â he tells me over the crashing of live drums in the studio next door.
Growing up, Low moved around L.A. frequently. When his mother and father separated, he switched from 52nd Elementary to Normandie Avenue. Eventually, splitting time between South Central and East L.A., he enrolled at Crenshaw High School. This period of jumping around during adolescence gave him exposure to a vast array of interests; he skated, played football, ran track, and sold juice and chips after school. By high school, heâd formed a large network of friends from all over. Even with cousins tied to Blood gangs, and his mother and fatherâs family from different Crip sets, Low never chose a side. Instead, he followed his instinct to just be himself. It wasnât until after Crenshaw High, when a friend named Butter introduced him to beatmaking on FL Studio, that Low realized his lifeâs calling.
He started cutting beats vigorously on his Grandmotherâs desktop PC, which soon became so swamped with viruses that she graciously gifted Low a laptop for Christmas. From there, he landed his first beat placement on Rafly The Plugâs âProper Instructions.â This caught RonRonâs attention, who invited Low to join his HitMob production collective, widely recognized for helping shape L.A.âs traffic/nervous music scenes, made most popular through the sorcery of 03 Greedo, Shoreline Mafia, Ralfy The Plug, and the late Ketchy The Great and Drakeo The Ruler.
Low credits HitMob, especially RonRon and Joog, with playing a big role in his career trajectory. He brings up the small details: sharing drum kits and plugins, studio time, and $5 pizzas when the fatigue of hunger took over all creative capacity. All out of genuine comradery. While differences eventually set in, leading Low to split from the group, itâs still amicable. He doesnât consider the fallout anything more than distance. Since branching off, Low is poised to enter the next phase of his career. As CEO of Low The Great Records, he recently signed a producer, IsThatTrey, and currently manages CaliRant, who takes lead on the Azjah assisted âTwo Steps Forward,â a standout from Vicky 3. â Evan Gabriel
(This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.)