One Be Lo thaws it out

“My music is inspired by people. By human beings. Everybody needs the truth, everybody needs positivity. I don’t want to own my music to the point where I say this is what I want people to get out of it,” said Nashid Sulaiman, known also as the Michigan based hip-hop artist One Be Lo.

People do get something completely unique out of One Be Lo’s music–and even more out of him.

He will be playing tonight at Berbati’s Pan.

One Be Lo’s perspective is progressive, but fresh. His is not the standard “truth of the slums,” “reality of hard times,” “revolutionize the system” hip-hop. Those ideas do come through in his music, but not in such a heavy-handed fashion. His rhymes are subtle and approachable, wrapped in multiple layers that make each listen new and stimulating. He is creating a dialogue between artist and listener, in other words, between people.

There are hints of other artists in One Be Lo’s work. The smooth melodic nature of his hooks, as well as their catchiness, is similar to Lupe Fiasco. He uses dialogue clips throughout his 2007 album, The R.E.B.I.R.T.H., in a way that is reminiscent of the Wu Tang Clan. At times even his subject matter, such as the state of being bi- or multi-racial, comes up in a way that brings other rappers such as Murs to mind.

But One Be Lo is not a combination of those artists, and his music is more than a combination of common elements.

“I try to find a human thread in my music,” said One Be Lo, and he does. However, it doesn’t always come out in a narrative fashion. He has managed to get in touch with the deeper motivations that drive us to do what we do.

“We can relate to each other in more ways than one,” One Be Lo said, “I’m just trying to show people back home that people on the other side of the world are the same as us.”

Relating is something he obviously takes seriously, and puts into action even outside of his work.

He’s one of the rare artists who works with youth in, and outside of, his community.

“I remember being in school and they would bring in these people, these older people that we couldn’t relate to, and [I] just wasn’t trying to hear that shit. They were trying to tell us the same thing, but they wasn’t speaking our language,” said One Be Lo. “With hip-hop I can really connect with the youth. I can relate to them.”

However, One Be Lo isn’t all social progressiveness and connecting with others. He understands balance and reality.

“It’s spiritual but it’s not all spiritual,” he admits. “It’s revolutionary, but it’s not all revolutionary. I’m just a rapper dude. I don’t know what I do. I just do it, and people are embracing it.”

This isn’t to say One Be Lo is unclear about his personal responsibility as an artist.

“I think every artist’s responsibility is to make the best art that he can make,” said One Be Lo. “I don’t think that every artist should be talking about the president. If you ain’t a political type dude, then don’t talk about politics. The problem is not who’s responsible and who’s not. The problem is that there’s not a balance.”

One Be Lo is aware of his own place in that balance. “This ain’t about dope beats,” he said. “People don’t like me ’cause my beats are nice. People don’t like me because I rap real fast.”

People like him because he speaks in a way that they can understand and relate to. One Be Lo’s rhymes approach the motivation more than the situation, and that is a refreshing change from the mainstream, progressive and underground hip-hop scenes.

As for what you can expect from his performance tonight, he said, “I’m going to give you something that’s not on the album. If you come to just drink and dance, you can wait for the next artist. Come to the show, experience the One Be Lo Experience.”One Be LoTonight at Berbati’s Pan.Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the doorAll ages