Earlier today HCM got up with two stand-out Emcee’s who go by the names Lenox Montrose & RyuNYC. Both hailing from New York, these artists have consistently put in work towards their craft, paying homage to hip-hop based at its roots. After reading their interview, you’ll hopefully come to understand what it means to be dedicated and committed to what you believe in and pursue those beliefs.
Lenox Montrose & RyuNYC Interview
HCM. How did you come by your stage name?
Lenox: I know for Ryu that’s just his name. And then he added NYC cause that’s where he’s from. For me, I combined Lenox Ave, where I was raised in Harlem, and Montrose, which was where the rest of my fam lived in Brooklyn.
HCM. When did you discover your love for music and what made you realize you wanted to pursue a career in music?
Lenox: When I was 11, I saw Ted Nugent playing the guitar, and I was hype. I started listening to all these guitarists like Jimi Hendrix, and then even some metal artists like Metallica. But then when I hit high school I got introduced to MF Doom, and right there I realized music was the game plan.
Ryu: When I was a kid, my mom was playing Biggie all the time, so I grew up with rap from a really young age. I just wanted to use music as a tool to express myself and show who I was and the skills I had. I have a really distinct memory of hearing 6 foot 7 foot and realizing this is what I needed to do.
HCM. To what or whom do you accredit your sense of style?
Lenox: Myself (Ahahahahaha). I mean, of course, I could say I studied a lot of artists coming up trying to emulate them. But this is all me.
HCM. On your current/upcoming release… How did you come up with the concept for this project?
Ryu: I feel like it kind of just naturally happened. We were just spending hours in the studio vibing and working on our own music. Lenox was always engineering for me or sending me beats from his collective FOGMOB. After a while, we just said let’s make a project.
HCM. What are some of your greatest challenges as an artist, and what is your greatest attribute when it comes to your work ethic?
Lenox: Honestly myself. This industry’s been going crazy, and I’m not into this internet stuff. So the greatest hurdle for me is remaining myself while engaging with how strange I feel like things are going. Everyone trying to make it where someone else at I feel like I’m just trying to be myself.
HCM. What impression would you like listeners to be left with after hearing your music?
Ryu: Hopefully people realize from this our ability. We’re working hard to get this music done, we’ve been developing this scene with some of our close friends. We just think it’s time to get that recognition.
HCM. Is there anyone you’d like to thank, any shout outs?
Shoutout TiQ for working with us and featuring on Maintain. Shoutout FOGMOB for always holding it down. Also big shoutout to our producers Lord Casso, Premiseonthebeat, and Yung Tago, and the rest of the team for helping us with this project.
For more details, information, and media inquiries contact via email:
Manager: jordan@focusjordan.com
Connect with Lenox Montrose and RyuNYC on Instagram
hoodcriticmagazine.com 