[HITC 2023 INTERVIEW] Spence Lee: The Art & Growth

Spence Lee, a Mike Will Made It, Eardrummers, and 88rising signee, chats with HypnoticAsia about his music, his art, and growth as an artist and recent festival participation.

The New Jersey rapper and songwriter formally went by the name Shotta Spence. Now, he embraces his birth name as a Chinese Vietnamese American rapper. These past couple of years have been the highlight of Lee’s career as an artist. He recently opened for MASIWEI on tour which allowed him to grow his audience. Furthermore, the rising artist performed at the NYC Head In The Clouds 2023 festival as well as Coachella’s HITC stage in 2022. Alongside those, he took on stages in Asia, performing in both the Philippines and Indonesia.

Lee says that creating “Arriba” in 2020 (which has more than 6 million plays on Spotify) was the moment he figured out his artistic identity. The artist signed with 88rising and was able to connect deeper with his Asian roots. Lee reveals, “I just want to serve the culture and do stuff that’s meaningful, do shit that’s going to stir the pot up a little bit”.

Spence Lee anticipates an album being released sometime this summer!

Interview With Spence Lee

Please introduce yourself to the readers of HypnoticAsia!

I’m Spence Lee formerly known as Shotta Spence.

If you had to choose one song from your discography to use to introduce someone to your music, what would it be and why?

Arriba. It has melody, witty bars, unique flows and a hard beat.

How do you describe your sound?

Ecclectic, warm and anthemic. Especially the new upcoming music.

When it comes to writing music, where do you pull inspiration from?

My past experiences, my culture and my vision for the life i want to manifest. Sonically, I love soulful chords and harmonies.

Who or what are your musical influences? Has it changed throughout your career?

My musical influences are soul, r&b, hip hop, reggae, dancehall and alternative. Mike WiLL and the Ear Drummers became a heavy influence when I met them in 2014.

If you could collaborate with any artist that you haven’t already, who would it be and why?

Vybz Kartel. His flows are crazy.

Earlier this year you opened for MASIWEI’s world tour. How was that tour?

It was an amazing experience. Masiwei is a real one and his crowd showed a lot of love. We made a bunch of music together and performed one of the songs throughout the tour. It was real fun.

You’ve performed at multiple festivals including Head in the Clouds LA, NY, and Coachella. How would you compare the experiences at each of these?

They are all lit. NY was special though because a lot of my friends and family were able to see me perform. Coachella was also dope because that 7pm main-stage crowd was electrifying. That one made me confident that I can perform anywhere.

You just performed at Head In The Clouds LA 2023! How was your set?

It was great. I premiered my upcoming single “SPEND MY DAYS”. It’s my favorite song and the crowd loved it.

Aside from Head In The Clouds, do you have any more performances or new music lined up in the near future(promote whatever you have coming up!)?

New song “SPEND MY DAYS” coming real soon. This one is special to me. I have a lot of amazing music and visuals coming, as well as, clothing that I have been designing.