Gotta show love to Le Messie and Amanda! Le Messie is a designer/music producer out of Singapore. He’s THE MAN behind Lu’s favorite streetwear brand FALSE and the guy behind the board’s and beats on “Fighters” from that GRAMMY NOMINATED album The Cool.

I recently got the time to chop it up with Le Messie (via email of course lol) and we talked about everything from whats it’s like working with Lupe, everything about his FALSE brand, and even his involvement in Japanese Cartoon!

For those who may not be familiar with you, describe yourself and your work…in 5 words.

Everything Is FALSE . .

You founded and created your own street wear brand “FALSE”. Tell us the history behind FALSE and the inspiration behind the brand.

FALSE was started by my fiancée Amanda Scully and myself in 2005. It was an avenue for us to merge art and fashion into a singular output through individually hand-screened clothes. A strong essence of debunking false ideologies lies in my design output and till today we still are one of the only brands on our level that still individually hone the art of hand-screen & hand-finishing our garments.

You have expanded False into other artistic and creative ventures (False Mag, False Sounds, The Black Watch Co.) Is there any other creative outlets that you would like to expand the False name into?

Eventually we are looking to expand towards independently owned and architecturally designed FALSE retail boutiques and various creative establishments around the globe.

You also wear the hat of a record producer. How long have you been producing music and what are your feelings on the current state of Hip-Hop music?

I have been making music since 1999 and it’s been my true original craft from the beginning. I do love how various parts of hip-hop are looking to embrace different aspects of music inspired from electronica to rock and ultimately that fusion.

How would you describe your sound?

Messilicious..

Can you see yourself crossing over into the American mainstream with your music?

Looking at the reception of Kanye’s 808 & Heartbreak, not that my sound is remotely anything the same but the willingness of the listeners in America to open and appreciate new music say “Oh most definitely!”.

How did and you and Lupe Fiasco hook up?

This was back I think in 2004 (he was one of the first legit supporters I had for my earlier works) when I invited him down to Singapore for a design convention we had participated in here in Singapore, he surprised me by agreeing to my wild invitation and flew some odd number of miles down to see these nobodies in me and Amanda and we just hit it off 5 years later we’re still more like family and chopping game from the clothes end to the music realm. We’ve been deeply blessed as with most of our success Lupe has been a defining factor and continue to avidly be a great pillar to what’s to come from us.

There’s been some misunderstandings between F.O.R. Trilly and Truly, and Fallacy of Rome. Can you PLEASE explain the differences between the brands?

Yeah we talked about this in Singapore in his last trip. I think Lupe stems deep in his artistic output and just like FALSE dig truly deep for any project with his name to it.
I think he set the record straight with his last post on it at his FNF blog but I shall elaborate as best I can further.

F.O.R (Fall Of Rome)

The original Lupe Fiasco uberluxe street wear brand that has metamorphed into his vision of luxury formal wear. Now all Fall Of Rome releases come in much higher-end with a taste to the higher levels of high-fashion. This is a home for his love of High-Fashion.

Trilly & Truly

This is all Lupe and the styles he loves on the streets and for the streets. You see him wearing this everywhere right now, everything he loves from the types of designs to concepts he spits to denim cuts etc will be homed here. This is a home for his love of Street-Fashion.

Fallacy Of Rome

Now of course my favorite. This is personally Lupe’s and my playground. Here we have FALSE take a concept Lupe throws to us and turn it into life in our own vision, a place so anything can happen from small capsule runs to full collaborative releases. We’re still in our infant stage so we’ll see where Lupe directs us to go towards the future. This is our home for our love of collaboration.

What’s the creative process that goes on between you and Lupe when creating pieces for the Fallacy Of Rome and Trilly & Truly brands?

It’s a very open place where we throw ideas around and it gets chopped and meshed and sprinkled with salt and spices, like 2 chefs in a kitchen a very fulfilling process that I thoroughly enjoy.

You produced “Fighters” on Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool. How did that record come about?

Lupe invited me to throw some ideas on a track around and come up with something original albeit defining my sound and I came up with that infamous riff to that track he just brought it to life with his poetry and Matthew Santos put the icing on that cake, my first official release on anything major ever. Earned me a Certified RIAA Gold Plaque and a Grammy Nomination… not too bad huh.

What were you doing the moment that you found out that your song made the final cut for the now GRAMMY NOMINATED album?

I believe i was hand-screening a ridiculous number of t’shirts that day, was tired as hell and the news just reinvigorated me!

Like yourself, this blog was on The Cool. Did you, like most people we come across, go directly to the blog after hearing the link after Fighters?

Yes as a matter of fact I did the very first time he sent me the original finalized song. So I believe we were like the first people to hear the track and visit the site!

What can you tell us about Japanese Cartoon and are you apart of that project?

I am apart of the project but really truly can’t say more. All shall be revealed in due time. This ones crazy cool.. and it’s the future!

A question that we like to ask Lupe’s peers (as part of our What The Artist Say… segment) whenever we get the opportunity is… What are your thoughts on Lupe Fiasco (his music and his artistry) and What do you feel he brings to Hip-Hop music?

A might sound bias but he’s that piece of the puzzle needed for the current generation and those superseding it.

How many copies of The Cool do you own? (Us ladies over here own ATLEAST 5…each ☺)

I got 2 sent directly from the Record Label.

Short Answer Questions

Favorite Lupe Fiasco Song?:

Fighters? Heh heh.

A Rhyming Ape or Revenge of the Nerds?:

Ohh could you really choose…

Favorite Lupe Verse? (he has many, I know!):

“I like FALSE t’shirts…”

Describe Lupe’s personality in 1 word:

Humble.

Song that you personally would like to see Lupe create a video for:

Need I say… Fighters..

Fill in the Blank: When I listen to Lupe’s music I think about

“creating”.

Any Shoutouts?

To all our loyal fans and supporters around the world. We wouldn’t be here today without you guys so my love constantly goes out to you all.

*Thank you Le Messie & Amanda from myself and everyone at The Lupe Fiasco Show!

Le Messie of FALSE interview by Kaycee

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