With decades of experience in the dance music and nightlife scene, artist, producer and label owner LouCii is taking it up another notch with some big plans and releases for 2021.
LouCii began DJ’ing in the late 80’s in Washington, DC where he crafted his own unique sound that appealed to International students and instilled in him a love for dance music that will last as long as he lives.
With his first track being played on radio when he was only 16, LouCii has crafted a massive library of music and plans on releasing a ton of music this year that includes 3 albums at once that cover 10 genres of music. Yes, you read that right.
Learn more about his plans for this year, a bit of his backstory and why you just might end up watching him perform on Mars sometime soon.
thatDROP: Yo! You have a crazy music video out for your latest release, “Future Rave on Mars.” What’s that all about?
LouCii: I started thinking, “Why not be different and do something that maybe in 100 or so years people can look back and say, “LouCii predicted that one day artists can travel across planets to perform”? My crazy mind started from nothing and ended up with a full music video two weeks later. I also wanted to showcase another one of my artistic sides and become the music producer who did all the music and the entire video clip including all the 3D animations. It was fun and I will do it again with another song in the future.
thatDROP: You seem like you have a lot of history in the dance music scene…what’s your backstory?
LouCii: I was one of the first to bring electronic dance music to the U.S. How long ago? Well, Avicii was not yet born when I was rocking the biggest clubs in the [Washington] D.C. region, to give you an idea. My first original track was played on FM radio when I was 16-years-old. I studied music theory at a very young age and played keyboards, drum and guitar. My love for music never stopped since the day I started and will not end until the last day of my life. I accomplished so much over the years, but I am not done yet. I produce in so many genres and languages that I don’t like being labeled with a certain genre. The next music chapter will have all of this on full display.
thatDROP: Tell us about your label, Lalee Records. What were the biggest releases? What other artists are signed to your label?
LouCii: Lalee Records – which derives from the Arabic nickname of my daughter and means “nightlife” – was founded so I could have a vehicle to release my music without any politics or limitations. I’ve helped a few of my artist friends release music on my label, but the goal is to be my label and my music. Many of my past dance releases made the Beatport “Top 10” ahead of some of the biggest labels in the world (i.e. Spinnin’ Records, Revealed, etc.) I have a bigger plan for the label as soon as I move on to my other goals. Stay tuned.
thatDROP: So, you came up as DJ back in the day in Washington D.C. What clubs were you resident at? When did you make the move to Miami?
LouCii: I started DJ’ing in the D.C.-area back in the late ‘80s when there were only a few clubs. Most of the people going out were international students. House music was the one genre that was relevant before I started introducing European dance, trance, and other genres; the music in the U.S. was always behind what was hot in Europe. I had a huge vinyl library (which I own to this day) and I made a name for myself at the clubs, with crowds lining-up for hours. That made me one of the most sought-after DJs in the region and I held a residency at D.C.’s Zei Club, one of the most elegant nightclubs D.C. has ever seen. I made my move to Miami about 14 years ago because I wanted to be somewhere warm. I wake-up seeing the sunshine and it gets me going 100 miles-per-hour. I’ve also played so many of the biggest clubs in Miami. I took a step away from playing to focus on building my label and music catalog. I have close to 80 unreleased tracks that will start getting released soon.
thatDROP: We hear you had a couple of really big-selling dance mix comps from back in-the-day. What were they? Tell us about ‘em.
LouCii: Those albums are directly tied to my time in D.C., Most of the big-spenders were international students. To give you an idea, the 75 to 100 people on my guestlist would spend more money than the entire nightclub. I wanted to please them and play music from their culture, but the problem with the music of the Middle East at that time was the lack of a strong beat and bass. So, I started mixing Arabic music with dance music and hip-hop to produce a new sound. That ended-up becoming a series called, Arab Dance Remix USA. To my surprise and without any YouTube or any of the amazing online platforms we have today, the music reached the entire world and became the only thing the young and older Arabs (and non-Arabs) wanted to hear! The demand made all the music producers in the Middle East imitate the style, and I ended-up changing the entire sound coming out of the Middle East. Hundreds of singers who could not sing the traditional sound erupted on the scene as their voices were not the driving factor in the music as the beat and the bass were.
thatDROP: What’s one of your early big tracks worth noting?
LouCii: “Move Your Belly” was released on EMI and that track made people belly dance in countries like Korea. Could you imagine that happening without the elements I’d added to make it appeal to non-Arabs? To put this into perspective, my belly-dance fusion sound was before Shakira knew she had hips that could move. I’m known as the founder and godfather of the Arabic music remix.
thatDROP: Are you into streaming? What playlists are your favorites?
LouCii: Not really. I barely have time to take care of my daily tasks. Between creating new music, video editing and the day-to-day of running a label, I have no time to do anything.
thatDROP: You seem like a fitness buff with physical fitness seemingly very important to you. Is that an accurate assessment? What’s your typical health and fitness regimen?
LouCii: I am so much into fitness, eating healthy, smoking my LouCii Hookah, and staying fit. People who haven’t seen me in years wonder how I still look in my early ‘30s. I take great care of my health and I’ll continue to do so as I want to still DJ and make music well into my eighties! [laughs]
thatDROP: What are some of the best live gigs you’ve ever played that stand-out in your memory? What made those shows so memorable?
LouCii: There are so many in so many places around the world, but nothing compares to the vibe at the ZEI Club, that was something I can’t even put into words.
thatDROP: What’s next for LouCii?
LouCii: Everyone wants to be the best in the music industry. I personally don’t believe in anything but being the ultimate best. So, for the first time in the history of music, I will be releasing not one, not two, but three albums at the same time to cover more than 10 genres of music in three languages, English, Spanish and Arabic. The three albums will be broken down as follows:
1) Back2BassX: This album will include house, deep house, tech house, melodic house.
2) Dark Like Kryptonite: This album will include future rave, big room, progressive house, future house, dance/electropop, chill-out.
3) LouCii Presents Global Vibes: This album will include pop, reggaeton, world music, Latin pop, Arabic traditional, Arabic remix.
Follow LouCii online!
- Official: www.LouCii.com
- Instagram: @iamloucii
- Twitter: @iamloucii
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/73gzMHDw96YKOzD8OfwxaE?si=jZZW_NdsRS2efuGgtOzOBg
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEzpu1WHtqiCT4wlMA9DcFg
