Hard Work Over Everything With Lupe Looove
Instagram Handle: @lupelooove
Every week we feature one inspirational women as a part of our Women Crush Wednesday series. This week, we sat down with the one and only Lupe Looove. Lupe is an entertainment reporter for outlets like Revolt TV, Karen Civil, Home Grown Radio, and formerly, In Touch Weekly. We asked her what advice she has for writers/content producers, how she stays motivated and whether she likes Rihanna or Beyonce!
1.What does Women Empowerment mean for you?
Women empowerment means for me helping women succeed on an everyday aspect, whether if its helping someone with something small, or helping them with a project, or helping them feel better about themselves; anything that involves women bringing each other up and passing the torch to become someone better in life.
2. Advice to writers/content producers?
I started doing, or drifting into what I wanted to do in 2012. However, my work and ambition did not see the light until 2 years ago in 2015. The advice that I would give to any aspiring writer, journalist, whatever it may be that you’re in the field of the industry, would be that...don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to learn everyday. Don’t be afraid to be yourself. Like for example, if you want to write about something that you are strong about, go ahead and do it because most likely theres gonna be someone in this world thats gonna wanna know about that specific subject. Don’t ever think that whatever you’re doing, or whatever you wanna ask is dumb because theres nothing dumb about it. Also push yourself to be the best that you can be. Because when I started, I sucked. Like I was horrible when it came to writing. My grammar, my punctuation, were just horrible. I was even told like, “Hey, have you ever like written? [before]” ... I’m like, "No, the only thing I’ve written have been essays and those have been like the night before, in college.” And the advice that they gave me was that every night, before I went to sleep, I would read a few articles of my favorite publications whither it was from Complex, or VH1, MTV, Hot New Hip Hop, and I would make sure I read these articles before I went to sleep. Also, I had, a few of my favorite writers and journalists, who I, until this day, look up to...I would either read their interviews, study their work, and till this day I still study their work because they’re the go to, they’re the head of you know, what I aspire to be, and I’m always learning. I’m always taking whatever I can to adjust, and continue getting better with my career, with what I want to do.
We have the same capacity as men, so men are not above us. Men are not below us. Men are equal to each other. We are equally able to do whatever they can do, and shit sometimes we can do it 10 times better as they can. Yeah, sadly, if you’re in this industry, if you know, if you’re in the entertainment, film, music journalist field, you’re gonna see everyones true colors, but when it comes to you know, helping women, everyone has the same 24 hours. Everyone has that same grind and ambition, its up to you, how you want to do it, if you’re gonna sit around, hoping for something to magically appear, like you’re in your room, in your e-mails, out of nowhere..good luck, honey. You have to put in the work. Put in the long hours, because those long hours are gonna turn into "late nights, early mornings.” Someone will see that work that you’re doing, and will, either motivate you or either tell you know, “This is good, but its not good enough." You can either take it good or take it bad. Its up to you, how you do it. Another thing is, don’t take personal things, don’t take it personal. If they want to bash whatever the heck you’re doing, let them. Its up to you how you take it, and how you rise from it. I’ve been told, you, you’re not good enough, you don’t have the look. Thats cool. Thats fine. I know that I’m capable, and thats all that matters. You have to believe in what it is that you want to do, you have to put in the work, and see the vision of what you want to be.
3. How do you define sisterhood?
Sisterhood is a relationship between women, between young girls, when women come together as a community, as a whole, and link up for certain common interests. Whether its... you’re sharing your experiences, sharing your concerns, or you just want to come together to make a difference. Thats what sisterhood means to me, and sometimes you know, as a whole, theres gonna be trials and a tribulations, but if you have a circle of girls, have a circle of sisterhood, you’re gonna be able to overcome whatever it may be, and you know, maybe you may be going through something that you can tell so and so, thats part of your group, "Hey you know what, so I went through this, you ever come across that?” Don’t be discouraged, you know, don’t let it effect you. Pick yourself up and continue going. And thats the meaning of sisterhood. Helping one another, continuing to grow, if something goes wrong, thats ok, let it go wrong. But don’t don’t let it effect you that you’re going to stop doing, what you’re doing.
4. What do you do to keep yourself motivated in a men’s dominated industry?
Every single day, when I wake up, its a new day to continue to achieving what I want to achieve. I tell myself “I’m powerful. I’m capable. And I will do it because I can, and I will.” Yes, its a very male dominated field, however, we have now surpassed it, and have overcome it in many aspects. I look up to many amazing women in this industry, wither if its Letty Martinez, wither if its Angie Martinez, wither its Yesi Ortiz, or Laura Stylez from Hot 97, all of these women, came before us, however, if they’re working, and they’re able to do it, so can I. As i mentioned, there is notable men, however, in many situations, these men help. And are able to lend a hand to these women. And we live in a society, in this day, where there is women you will do whatever it may be to get to the top wither its something shady, wither if its sadly, sleeping their way to the top, you know, its up to you to be like you know, “I’m not gonna take that route.” I will definitely put in the work no matter how long it takes. You have people. You have men that are gonna be able to help you. I currently have, a solid team behind me. Next to me. That always motivates me. I have DJ Hed. I have Chuck Dizzle from Real 92.3 who have been helping me for a year and a half and I think they spend the most time, and the most supportive, and the most realistic when it comes to helping my craft. Over the years, I haven’t had a circle of men that I’ve had people, or men that just be like “Yeah, yeah, you can do it yeah. You can definitely do it.” However, its come down to teaching me, showing me, sharing their stories, that have made me who I am in a male dominated field. And honestly, you have to have a thick skin in this field, you can’t have feelings and if you do, my love, you gotta brush those off. Its ok to cry. Its ok to be open about it. However, don’t show it in a way that’s gonna make you vulnerable and if you do end up showing be like “Ok, I cried. Yes, I’m a girl. Yes, I’m in my feelings, but thats not going to stop me, that doesn’t show truly who I am."
5. Beyonce and Rihanna. Or both. Why?
I would say both. They both stand for something. When it comes to Rihanna, Rihanna has that fuck attitude, that fuck off attitude. She does not tolerate anything. However, when it comes to Beyonce, she’s like you know “I can do whatever I want, in my six inch heels.”So I don’t think you can’t go wrong. Both of them are spectacular women in this industry. They both help. They both lend a hand when it comes to helping less fortune people. They both have set prime examples. They are really powerful in this music industry. You can’t go wrong with both of them. If I can choose both of them, I’d choose Beyonce and Rihanna because they’re boss queens.
6. What do you think about SZA’s music?
I feel she’s a little Amy Winehouse but a little Kehlani in there. She’s exactly what this generation needs. She will tell you how it is. For example, her music, she will tell you “I will not be that good girl, you need to go finish whatever you’re fucking doing, and we can maybe talk about it later.” She is another boss queen. She’s exactly what this generation needs. I feel like a lot of these teens are able to relate to her and same goes for men, a lot of men who are attracted to her music. But the way that she speaks through her music, is a really powerful statement. Always have something to say, and that will relate to someone. That one of her songs in her album, “Ctrl”...”20 something.” Oh my God I cried when I heard that song for the first time because I was able to relate to that. “I’m 20 something years old, and I definitely don't have it together. I definitely don’t have something, or now I do, but at a certain age, you know, when I was younger at 20 something years old, I didn’t have anything on my name you know. I was still struggling trying to figure out if I would have someone there with me when it came to a relationship status, so when I heard that song, it made me cry because I was like, "Oh my god, she’s speaking to me." And yeah, she’s another force that speaks to the soul of so many people in today’s world.
7. What TV shows are you watching?
Watching a show for a long period of time, doesn’t really grab my attention, however, I do watch snippets. I’ll watch snippets of Insecure. Insecure is such a primary, another show that is such primary, and hits so many problems in today. That lets them know that its ok to be brown, to be a minority, and to be rising to the top in a very hard working way. I feel like thats a really, really good show for that.
8. How do you feel about the gender wage gap issues?
Its still there, its really still there. However, being a women of color and being a women in general in this field has, theres a glass ceiling for us now. You know when we first started in the early 2000’s late 1990’s, women were struggling however, its gotten better, and there is hope and chance for us. Women we just have to join and be a pack of a sisterhood to continue pushing and going over these boundaries that every now and then seem to block our vision because we are women, but gender gap that means nothing we’re a group of people both doing it. We have the mentality we have the tools, its just being there, and doing it all at once.
9. What advice do you give to young girls living in this year of 2017 with all that we see on social media?
Its a sad reality, because you know, young girls still do compare themselves to that Kim Kardashian, to that Hollywood life. I would say to not compare yourself, be who you are. Be who you were born to be. Lady Gaga said it in one of her songs. You know God made you perfectly imperfect, and you’re gonna be that. Thats a huge thing I would tell young girls in society. Another thing is that, you go out there and do what you want to do. Doesn’t matter if you’re gonna be the outcast. Because if you’re the outcast, you’re gonna be able to relate to someone in this world. And you know just continue to celebrate your accomplishments wither its little or big. Because eventually all of these little accomplishments will become a lot [of many] big accomplishments in life. Don’t compare yourself. Be who you want to be. Go out there. Show the world what you’re able to do where you can make a difference, and just continue pushing because in the long run, its gonna be worth it, and it maybe cloudy and blurry now with whatever you want to do in life, but in the long run, its gonna be clear. And you’re gonna be like “ok, this is where i’m suppose to be. This is what Im doing. And i’m going to get there.”
