Lucha Libre releases The Takeover
Lucha Libre unleashed
Lucha Libre unleashed
We’re sitting in Da Ricanstrukta’s (Josue Guadalupe) apartment on Madison’s south side. It’s the place where Guadalupe crashes and Lucha Libre — Spanish
for free fight — practices and hones their craft — and records their music as La Bohio Studio. Guadalupe is joined by Mic Virus (Michael Berndsen), NV1 (Juan
Cotes) and Arthur Richardson who is helping to promote the group. Berndsen is a construction worker and Guadalupe tends to the monkeys at a primate center.
Cotes currently doesn’t have a day job and is putting all of his efforts into the music business.
The genesis of Lucha Libre heralds back to when Cotes moved to Madison to live with Guadalupe, his cousin. “A year later, he started making beats,” Cots
said. “I started having fun rapping over his beats. He got involved with a group and started getting more professional with it. So he brought me into really trying to
make it in this industry. He’s the one who got me into the whole thing. He used to live down by Rimrock Road with my other cousin. It used to be a party spot. Da
Ricanstruckta made the beats and we used to just rap over them and it came to what it is now.”
Berndsen entered the scene back in 2001 when he moved to Madison to attend the Madison Media Institute. While they were in different groups — Berndsen
had already been performing for 2-3 years — they became friends and stayed in touch after Berndsen moved back to Milwaukee.
Guadalupe invited Berndsen to come up to Madison to perform on a couple of tracks on a CD they were recording. “I came up and ended up being on like
six songs,” Berndsen said. “One day I got a phone call in Milwaukee and it was Da Ricanstruckta. He asked me if I wanted to be a part of the group. I said ‘Yeah.’
Shortly after that, almost a year after that, I moved up here again. Where I was working, I was travelling a lot and all of my free time I was spending here. I was
working in Green Bay for four months. I would drive back to Milwaukee, unpack from working, repack and come up here for a weekend. I did that every weekend. I
didn’t really have any ties to Milwaukee besides family and it is only an hour away.” Berndsen ended up crashing on Guadalupe’s couch.
While the members of the group love the music — Guadalupe has been playing guitar since he was young — and were drawn to the music for the sake of the
music and expressing themselves, they are serious about their art form. They spend most of their free time in Guadalupe’s apartment practicing and practicing
and practicing.
“These guys were down to put in the time and effort,” Berndsen emphasized. “It’s hard to find people who are dedicated enough to put in every last free
second into something. These guys were willing to do it. So we formed I Need a Raise Records. We’ve put out two CDs and mixed tapes. It’s a beautiful thing. We
all share the same passion for music. That’s hard to find. A lot of people say ‘Yeah, I do this and I rap.’ But they don’t really put in the time and effort and money
into it. They like the whole image, the fun part, which is doing shows and meeting people. But behind the scenes, the being here every day after work recording
and writing songs and handling the business aspect, talking to show promoters, getting shows together like this CD release party, it’s a lot of work.”
In between practicing, recording and shows, it’s evident that Lucha Libre has thought a lot about the music industry and how they can make it in a very
competitive business. “We’re trying to build it up so that people want to see us,” Berndsen said. “The thing with Madison, which I think is funny, is it isn’t hard to
do shows here. Anyone can say they rap and know someone enough to get booked at a venue. But the quality of the show is not going to be that great. What we
are trying to do is set ourselves apart from everyone else in the so called scene that does music. We try to bring new elements, free giveaways, and do shows at
places where you have to be talented and established to get into.”
And it is hard work — and a willingness to critique themselves — that will allow Lucha Libre to rise above the fray. “We stay grounded and keep growing,”
Guadalupe said. “We don’t stop. If you have a show that isn’t that good or a CD that might not have sold, you go ‘Oh, man,’ and then, it’s back to the drawing
board.”
And once they make it, the group feels it understands the pitfalls of the industry enough to avoid them and continue enjoying their music and success.
“There are definitely cats in the game who sold out where the record labels are telling them ‘This is what we want you to be like,’” Berndsen said. “’This is how we
want people to perceive you. This is the kind of music you are going to make.’ That’s selling out. Nowadays, you don’t get a deal unless you have props already
within your region. If you are on the radio, if you are selling units and your shows are selling out, then record labels start to look at you. There are a lot of cats on
television that have record deals who are broke. They are not only broke; they are in debt and have spent all of their money. All a record deal is is a loan. They
give you a loan and say ‘Bring us back this product by this time. You have this much money.’ What do people do? They go and buy a house. They buy nice cars,
jewelry and they don’t spend any money on what is going to make them money back. They fall into debt and then they own you forever. So signing a record deal
went from the best thing that ever happened to you to the worst thing that ever happened to you.”
While the group is in it for the music, they also wouldn’t mind making a comfortable living off it as well. “We don’t want to get rich off of this,” Cotes
emphasized. “But if I could make the same amount of money I would make at a 9 to 5 job, it would be good. Maybe we could make a little more. You pay your
bills and you live straight and you go on tours. That’s cool.”
If hard work is any indication, Lucha Libre will be climbing to the top. In the meantime, Berndsen, Cots and Guadalupe will be mixing it up with DJ Pain 1
on Madison’s scene. Who knows where this tiny studio in a tiny apartment on Madison’s south side will take them.
On July 12, Lucha Libre will be having a release party for their CD, The Takeover, at The Annex, 1206 Regent Street, from 10 p.m. – 2 a.m. Cover is $5, $10 after
midnite.
for free fight — practices and hones their craft — and records their music as La Bohio Studio. Guadalupe is joined by Mic Virus (Michael Berndsen), NV1 (Juan
Cotes) and Arthur Richardson who is helping to promote the group. Berndsen is a construction worker and Guadalupe tends to the monkeys at a primate center.
Cotes currently doesn’t have a day job and is putting all of his efforts into the music business.
The genesis of Lucha Libre heralds back to when Cotes moved to Madison to live with Guadalupe, his cousin. “A year later, he started making beats,” Cots
said. “I started having fun rapping over his beats. He got involved with a group and started getting more professional with it. So he brought me into really trying to
make it in this industry. He’s the one who got me into the whole thing. He used to live down by Rimrock Road with my other cousin. It used to be a party spot. Da
Ricanstruckta made the beats and we used to just rap over them and it came to what it is now.”
Berndsen entered the scene back in 2001 when he moved to Madison to attend the Madison Media Institute. While they were in different groups — Berndsen
had already been performing for 2-3 years — they became friends and stayed in touch after Berndsen moved back to Milwaukee.
Guadalupe invited Berndsen to come up to Madison to perform on a couple of tracks on a CD they were recording. “I came up and ended up being on like
six songs,” Berndsen said. “One day I got a phone call in Milwaukee and it was Da Ricanstruckta. He asked me if I wanted to be a part of the group. I said ‘Yeah.’
Shortly after that, almost a year after that, I moved up here again. Where I was working, I was travelling a lot and all of my free time I was spending here. I was
working in Green Bay for four months. I would drive back to Milwaukee, unpack from working, repack and come up here for a weekend. I did that every weekend. I
didn’t really have any ties to Milwaukee besides family and it is only an hour away.” Berndsen ended up crashing on Guadalupe’s couch.
While the members of the group love the music — Guadalupe has been playing guitar since he was young — and were drawn to the music for the sake of the
music and expressing themselves, they are serious about their art form. They spend most of their free time in Guadalupe’s apartment practicing and practicing
and practicing.
“These guys were down to put in the time and effort,” Berndsen emphasized. “It’s hard to find people who are dedicated enough to put in every last free
second into something. These guys were willing to do it. So we formed I Need a Raise Records. We’ve put out two CDs and mixed tapes. It’s a beautiful thing. We
all share the same passion for music. That’s hard to find. A lot of people say ‘Yeah, I do this and I rap.’ But they don’t really put in the time and effort and money
into it. They like the whole image, the fun part, which is doing shows and meeting people. But behind the scenes, the being here every day after work recording
and writing songs and handling the business aspect, talking to show promoters, getting shows together like this CD release party, it’s a lot of work.”
In between practicing, recording and shows, it’s evident that Lucha Libre has thought a lot about the music industry and how they can make it in a very
competitive business. “We’re trying to build it up so that people want to see us,” Berndsen said. “The thing with Madison, which I think is funny, is it isn’t hard to
do shows here. Anyone can say they rap and know someone enough to get booked at a venue. But the quality of the show is not going to be that great. What we
are trying to do is set ourselves apart from everyone else in the so called scene that does music. We try to bring new elements, free giveaways, and do shows at
places where you have to be talented and established to get into.”
And it is hard work — and a willingness to critique themselves — that will allow Lucha Libre to rise above the fray. “We stay grounded and keep growing,”
Guadalupe said. “We don’t stop. If you have a show that isn’t that good or a CD that might not have sold, you go ‘Oh, man,’ and then, it’s back to the drawing
board.”
And once they make it, the group feels it understands the pitfalls of the industry enough to avoid them and continue enjoying their music and success.
“There are definitely cats in the game who sold out where the record labels are telling them ‘This is what we want you to be like,’” Berndsen said. “’This is how we
want people to perceive you. This is the kind of music you are going to make.’ That’s selling out. Nowadays, you don’t get a deal unless you have props already
within your region. If you are on the radio, if you are selling units and your shows are selling out, then record labels start to look at you. There are a lot of cats on
television that have record deals who are broke. They are not only broke; they are in debt and have spent all of their money. All a record deal is is a loan. They
give you a loan and say ‘Bring us back this product by this time. You have this much money.’ What do people do? They go and buy a house. They buy nice cars,
jewelry and they don’t spend any money on what is going to make them money back. They fall into debt and then they own you forever. So signing a record deal
went from the best thing that ever happened to you to the worst thing that ever happened to you.”
While the group is in it for the music, they also wouldn’t mind making a comfortable living off it as well. “We don’t want to get rich off of this,” Cotes
emphasized. “But if I could make the same amount of money I would make at a 9 to 5 job, it would be good. Maybe we could make a little more. You pay your
bills and you live straight and you go on tours. That’s cool.”
If hard work is any indication, Lucha Libre will be climbing to the top. In the meantime, Berndsen, Cots and Guadalupe will be mixing it up with DJ Pain 1
on Madison’s scene. Who knows where this tiny studio in a tiny apartment on Madison’s south side will take them.
On July 12, Lucha Libre will be having a release party for their CD, The Takeover, at The Annex, 1206 Regent Street, from 10 p.m. – 2 a.m. Cover is $5, $10 after
midnite.
By Jonathan Gramling
On one level, this story is as much about me as it is Lucha Libre, a local hip-hop,
Reggaeton group. We had a great interview, Lucha Libre and I, at a small south side apartment
that doubles as Lucha Libre’s recording studio. They gave me a copy of their new CD, The
Takeover so that I would get their names spelled correctly.
Well, I ended up having a love-hate relationship with that CD and made me wonder why I
was writing the article. The hip-hop reggaeton beat is really catchy with its synthesized sound
and the voice over in English and Spanish on the tracks is pretty smooth. But in listening to the
lyrics, I understood why the CD has a “Parental Advisory – Explicit Language” label on it. Lucha
Libre is not shy about using swear words, the N-word, the B-word and other unflattering
references to women, and frequent references to violence.
There’s a sense of anger in the lyrics and in some of the tracks, a level of political
consciousness. It creates a picture for me of young men of color — African American and Latino
— trying to make it in a world that hasn’t given them a lot of options to make it. And it put me in
a quandary on whether or not to run the story.
In the end, I decided to run the story because I want to understand the people behind the
lyrics, although the lyrics themselves are run-of-the-mill commercial rap lyrics that have been
severely criticized in other articles that have appeared in these pages. Lucha Libre has a lot of
talent and acumen going for it. I just hope they arise above the negativity of many contemporary
rap standards and find a new way to express the emotions inside and the world around them.
On one level, this story is as much about me as it is Lucha Libre, a local hip-hop,
Reggaeton group. We had a great interview, Lucha Libre and I, at a small south side apartment
that doubles as Lucha Libre’s recording studio. They gave me a copy of their new CD, The
Takeover so that I would get their names spelled correctly.
Well, I ended up having a love-hate relationship with that CD and made me wonder why I
was writing the article. The hip-hop reggaeton beat is really catchy with its synthesized sound
and the voice over in English and Spanish on the tracks is pretty smooth. But in listening to the
lyrics, I understood why the CD has a “Parental Advisory – Explicit Language” label on it. Lucha
Libre is not shy about using swear words, the N-word, the B-word and other unflattering
references to women, and frequent references to violence.
There’s a sense of anger in the lyrics and in some of the tracks, a level of political
consciousness. It creates a picture for me of young men of color — African American and Latino
— trying to make it in a world that hasn’t given them a lot of options to make it. And it put me in
a quandary on whether or not to run the story.
In the end, I decided to run the story because I want to understand the people behind the
lyrics, although the lyrics themselves are run-of-the-mill commercial rap lyrics that have been
severely criticized in other articles that have appeared in these pages. Lucha Libre has a lot of
talent and acumen going for it. I just hope they arise above the negativity of many contemporary
rap standards and find a new way to express the emotions inside and the world around them.
| Mic Virus (l-r), Da Ricanstrukta and NV1 along with DJ Pain 1 (not present) are Lucha Libre. |