South L.A. artist 42 is ready to shake the musical world

London James Lucas, who goes by 42, dropped his first EP “Breezy World” on Jan. 29. With eight tracks in 18 minutes, listeners got a taste of a linkage into his “breezy” universe. The long awaited EP is just the initiating climb of the crest of his musical career, 42 said.

“We’re in the homestretch now,” 42 said. “My goal of this project is to attract new people to my music and show I have what it takes to make it far with this.”

The South Los Angeles teen fuses passion and artistry into his music, and he felt he needed to do it now, he said.

There is a world out there where everyone dreams to become something, to be somebody to someone. For 42, he wants to be that somebody to his family. Making it big in music, he said “would be like a happy ending to a Disney movie.”

Classical endings being the prince kissing Snow White to bring her back to life, Woody from “Toy Story” accepting Andy’s departure to college, and now 42 can picture a newer magical ending — being able to be successful for his family while pursuing something he’s greatly ambitious about.

As a child, 42 said he grew up with a precocious behavior and felt mentally more mature than others because he dealt with experiences that made him perceive the world differently at a young age. He felt confident enough that he’d be able to give his loved ones the world that they deserved in the future.

As a high school graduate from James A. Foshay Learning Center in the Class of 2020, Lucas has been expectant on beginning this chapter of his life, eager to have a jumpstart. 

When someone experienced four years of high school, there’s a short time to relax and let everything be still for a bit before college. Some people hope for a little extra breathing room. It wasn’t just hope for 42, it was possible.

An unfortunate pandemic knocked on the door, and the next minute 42 was given more leeway for his craft. He was in his bedroom trying out different beats on the Garageband app and seeing various ways he could have his voice at a good frequency and utilizing all the features that were available to him on his phone.

Phones could be seen as not the most ideal studio engineering system, but it was the best thing he had. With talent, there’s no device too ineffective that wouldn’t pick up on that. To test the waters of his flow and play with sounds that work best with it, his development became truly beautiful. He released three singles last year: “Alone Zone”, “Had Enough”, and “Let it go”.

The music 42 creates reflects the particular sound process he creates — a collision of versatile mellow instrumentation fused with his lyrics that blend with the ambient mood.

“I know that music has always helped me feel good when I wasn’t. Music was always there for me when I was in my most meditative state. I usually confide in myself and don’t mind being in solidarity,” 42 said.

That is what makes his music so intriguing, you could hear him finding opportunities to connect with the surface, where it’s just him and “earth’s artificial whistles” — what 42 calls the best alias name for his music and his zone.

42 said he has never really wanted this career for fame. In his song “Glory Boy”, 42 sings “I do not care about blowing up / I’m just really trying to look past beyond this / I do this for family, I do this for my future kids.”

(42 / London James Lucas)

42 is searching for a meaning deeper than the material, what it will mean for his future kids and the family he’ll form, he said. What his music will mean to everyone who supports him. In the time of this pandemic, artists of every category (music, cinematography, writing, graphic designing, etc.) are finding more ways to explore their craft and inspire others to follow pursuit, as space feels more enclosed, this is the moment for creativity to unleash out of the box.In creating realms for people that are not in violation of the stay at home order, it’s a welcoming to open locked-doors of their mind to overstep their comfort zones .

Every song takes the listener into another dimension — from the intro, where 42 really wants to let you know that “We can get up” to the end where the lyrics relate to “flying”.

The EP altogether sparks credence in a mission one sets for themselves to find their purpose. The EP delves into what it’s like to dream, achieve advancement, elevate oneself higher, and be determined to stay focused. 

“Breezy World” is available for streaming on Soundcloud.