Hi I’m Lulu Be. – artist, producer and DJ. I’m a Chicago native now residing in LA. My single “HANDLE” and its video were actually created in two completely different years, cities, and emotional/mental states.
I made the song in 2020 (in Chicago) during the Covid 19 pandemic when we were all on lockdown. I felt like I was losing my mind and was having a hard time not letting my thoughts and environment do me in.
I made a beat in Logic Pro X, put it on loop, and sat in front of my mic with my eyes closed, and daydreamed while I mumbled the first picture that came to my mind. I just kept mumbling all the thoughts that gave me butterflies until it turned into a verse… and then an entire song.
I had the song, “HANDLE”, sitting on my hard drive for a year before I decided to do anything with it. It wasn’t until December 2021, when I had recently moved to LA and was in a happy place that my heart felt like it needed to put a track out.
I asked my bestie/producer/engineer Chef Lanre (who also moved out to LA a few months before me) to mix & master the track so I could put it out on SoundCloud on my birthday – and my mans went absolutely bananas putting life into it.
“HANDLE” was then released on SoundCloud on December 13th, 2021 and put through all streaming platforms a month later on January 10th, 2022. But to go backwards, the video was shot on December 22nd, 2021.
The ones responsible for making the visual come to life are DP/videographer, and new homie Sam (who I met through Lanre – love you Lanre); and his amazing editor Jesus.
Lanre sent me a few videographers IG pages and after I saw Sam’s work, I instantly DM’d him. Once we got past introductions, we hopped on a call and it was honestly go mode from there. I sent him the song and he sat with it for about 2 days and came up with treatment for the video.
Everything happened so quickly. I called off work and we started shooting four days later. The man is a beast! After all shots were taken, Jesus immediately started saucing up the whole look. All I can say is these guys are insanely creative and monsters behind the camera. They both really know how to jump into your mind, sauce up your feelings, and paint that picture you’re looking for.
I didn’t realize until now that the video was the manifestation of the mindset I had when creating the song. I love my city, but when I was making “HANDLE”, I felt like I desperately needed a change of scenery. I felt like I had no space to move around and nowhere to go until I would open Logic and start recording.
So moving to a new city, being introduced to an amazing videographer/creative director and editor, and then shooting the video after only four days of talking said it clear to me that this song was speaking life into existence.
I’d say the main theme of the video is the same as the song – kind of like being a flower growing out of concrete. But I feel like the theme on the backend is really to just confidently move with your passion. Everything doesn’t need to be super perfect and doesn’t need a huge budget or production, to let your voice and vision be seen and heard.
I didn’t even know what I was wearing until the day before we started shooting. Sam didn’t know until I showed up to the first location and I got dressed in the backseat of my car.
I REALLY didn’t know if anybody would be free to be in the scenes or if I was even going to have dancers until the exact day of the shoot – BIGGEST LOVE to Lanre, Bethel, Kenny, Mia, and Jaz’Leen for being there on such short notice and doing exactly what needed to be done. The vibes were just naturally right.
I make music for people who want to dance, so add this to your favorite playlist. “HANDLE” out now, everywhere!
Watch the video for “HANDLE” below:
