A Chat with Lil Crush (31.03.26)
Colombian artist based between Minneapolis and Bogotá, Lil Crush’s latest album, Reel Music, is a genre-bending, 30-track offering. The album explores themes of love, loss, addiction, and personal growth, acting as a musical diary of his life experiences. We chat with Lil Crush below.
OSR: What was the creative vision behind Reel Music, and how did it evolve over the course of making it?
Lil Crush: The creative vision behind Reel Music was to sonically illustrate my complete narrative’s beginning by using techniques such as layered foreshadowing and prologue hinting. Every single release, mixtape and album/project prior to Reel Music served as a compelling teaser, using hints and foreshadowing to build mystery, establish atmosphere, and hint at future themes/plot points. Preparing my listeners for the overarching narrative while building suspense. As I’ve gone along my journey, I’ve learned to understand that most won’t know how my story began and how or what has transcended from the beginning to now and what all has occurred in the periods in between. In an attempt to inform and update old/new/future listeners on what’s happened to what’s currently taking place in my long-term thematic journey, I’ve utilized my previous years to first establish a contrasting shorter story. Reel Music acts as the start of my redemption arc, transitioning myself away from a path of addiction, whether it may have been (substance, lust, toxic habits and/or toxic traits), towards learning how to live a life with full accountability and move past my addictive and dependent persona.
OSR: With 30 tracks spanning multiple genres, how did you decide on the flow and track order?
Lil Crush: Deciding on the flow and track order happened naturally. What was meant to be a 10–15 song album eventually grew into a sonic universe of 30 multi-genre-defying tracks. The goal was to bridge my earlier work with my current creations to fully showcase my artistry and range. Songs written decades ago, five years ago, and as recently as 2025 were all brought into the project, dissected, reformulated, and re-recorded ‘live.’ By tailoring the instrumentation (Live, Piano, Acoustic) to each specific track, I was able to emphasize nuance through prosody and inflexion.
OSR: How did your collaborations with Colombian Crush, THR333, The Latin Prince, and others influence the album’s sound?
Lil Crush: The collaborations that make up this album essentially allowed us to refine our sonic palette. Dating back to 2023, when I reconnected with Minnesota producer BRIZO (Samantha Olson), it sparked a new workflow, which led to being able to establish and set a signature sound that also gave us the flexibility to experiment and explore other useful elements that could be utilized later down the line during our creative process. Our first project together, ‘BURRRBON’, blended country, hip-hop, and pop and received coverage in our hometown from Minnesota news outlet KARE 11. Later that year, the first versions of ‘Blurrr’ and ‘I Hate Partying Alone’ were made. Those three songs would serve as the foundation of our collaboration journey, and when it came time to make Reel Music, they helped set the tone for the rest of the project. ‘BURRRBON’ was reinvented into an acoustic version while the other two were rerecorded and composed as live versions, with ‘Blurrr’ receiving a name change to B.O.B (Blacked Out Blurrr). 15 other live versions would later be remade with our newly formed band in 2026, along with 7 more acoustics, and 7 Piano tracks.
In 2024, I fully leaned into my Colombian roots as BRIZO and myself worked on a 15-song Latin album titled TRIP333, paired with a 12-song acoustic version titled MATTH333W. My persona as Colombian Crush was a way of merging Lil Crush and The Latin Prince, creating an electrifying alter ego with deep roots and a fearless spirit, allowing me to redefine Latin music through a genre-bending fusion of Reggaeton, Bachata, Cumbia, Corridos, and Vallenato. Making every project a statement, every detail intentional, addressing that what’s being created isn’t just Latin music. It’s the future. Adding more fuel to the fire, our Band THR333 gave us the ability to really go all in and create completely different and new live versions of songs we’ve made in prior years and add a new flavor to new tracks that would make up Reel Music.
OSR: Were there any moments during production that surprised you or took the music in an unexpected direction?
Lil Crush: The project took unexpected turns at every corner, growing from a 15-song album into a 30-track experience as new ideas took over. A prime example is ”Lies – Freestyle’ Originally titled ‘Lies’, the plan was a simple re-recording. Instead, we shifted to a freestyle approach to capture a more authentic, “real-time” energy. While we kept the original cadence and message, we reworked the instrumentals and restructured the lyrics to focus on raw thoughts in the moment rather than reflections from the past.
OSR: Your music blends hip-hop, R&B, alternative country, and experimental pop. How do you approach genre experimentation?
Lil Crush: My sound is a product of constant travel between Minnesota, New York, Bogotá, and Europe. Each location introduced me to a new layer of my musical identity. Colombia, immersed in the rhythms of Cumbia and Reggaeton by family, while simultaneously obsessing over my mom’s iPod shuffle, resulting in me memorizing every word to Eminem, Lil Wayne, and Akon. Europe, long middle school train rides across various countries became my gateway to punk rock, fueled by bands like We the Kings, Green Day, Blink-182, My Chemical Romance, Falling in Reverse, Bowling for Soup, Neck Deep, All American Rejects, Simple Plan, Avril Lavigne, 5 Seconds of Summer, Pierce the Veil, and Nirvana. In New York, my uncles introduced me to the heavy hitters of hip-hop, from 50 Cent, Kanye, Drake, Rick Ross, Tyga, Kid Ink, and Kendrick Lamar. While in Minnesota, growing up between the city and the north woods, I spent long drives soaking in 80s hair metal like Mötley Crüe, Kiss, Def Leopard, White Snake, Scorpions, Twisted Sisters, Bon Jovi, Silver Heart, and Poison along with the storytelling of 2000s country like Garth Brooks, Luke Brian, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, Dan + Shay, and Florida Georgia Line. This mix of coastal Latin roots, gritty punk energy, and stadium-sized rock is exactly what defines the genre-bending nature of my music today.
OSR: Which track on Reel Music feels the most personal to you, and why?
Lil Crush: The most personal track for me is ‘De MN Pools’. It uses a third-person perspective to confront my greatest past challenges: sobriety. To date, this article, I am two years sober. This song reflects on my history with substance abuse and the multiple near-death experiences I faced before becoming sober. It’s a direct look at a life-changing journey that defines who I am today.
OSR: How do you balance vulnerability and confidence in your songwriting?
Lil Crush: Being able to showcase your vulnerability is one of the highest forms of confidence. By simply being myself and not trying to fit into any category is the way I’m able to balance them. Sticking to my morals allows others not to influence a change in my character.
OSR: The album incorporates bilingual elements and cultural influences. How important is that cross-cultural storytelling to your music?
Lil Crush: Cross-cultural storytelling might be one of the biggest key characteristics that make my music so special, not only for myself, but I believe as well for my audience and supporters. With the idea of drawing from my Afro-Latin heritage, as The Latin Prince, I don’t just pay homage, I reimagine tradition, boldly pushing sounds into uncharted territory. My music is a celebration of culture and innovation, building bridges between generations while breaking boundaries between genres.
OSR: Can you describe a specific recording session or moment in the studio that stands out to you?
Lil Crush: One of the most memorable moments was recording ‘I Hate Partying Alone’, which features a chorus of friends who had never been behind a microphone before. Rather than hiring professional vocalists, we brought in a few close friends at the last minute to join the chants, including Samantha Olson, Courtney Weinrich, and Conner Anglin. The session was awkward and silly, but deeply inspiring; it proved that genuine relationships and a sense of community can spark a level of creativity that polished talent can’t replicate. It turned a simple recording into a celebration of inclusion and the power of the people around us.
OSR: Looking back on Reel Music, what do you hope listeners take away from the album?
Lil Crush: This album reflects embracing imperfection through trial and error, learning from your past mistakes, finding a way to sober up during struggling with addiction, death, and heartbreak, all while figuring out how to love, trust and believe in yourself in order to be able to love, trust and believe in others in a healthy way. Overall, this was a musical journey of self-evolution. I hope this body of work helps listeners navigate and provide perspective to the hardships, struggles or problems they may be going through or have gone through.
Many thanks to Lil Crush for speaking with us. Find out more about Lil Crush on his official website, Facebook and Instagram.
