John Lubeen Hamilton

Next up is John Lubeen Hamilton, who you’ve probably watched perform at some point or other.  (And if you haven’t, you’ve missed out).  Congratulations Lubeen!

Name, Hometown, School: John Lubeen Hamilton, Lubeen, Lube, or any derivation of the aforementioned product

Born and raised in Queens, Ny – Saint Albans to be exact. CC student – Shout out to the Psych department for allowing me to take some dope classes and graduate w/o having to write a thesis!

Claim to fame? Rising from the darkness of my tiny Wallach single like Plato, I’ve become one of the more visible members of CUSH – the Columbia University Society of Hip-Hop. I’ve gotten the chance to perform my music & freestyle (quiet literally) almost everywhere on campus, including on the Bacchanal stage w/ my homies opening for Snoop Dogg two years ago. I’m also a pretty nice guy who’s always down to talk to anyone for a bit as long as I’m not writing music or playing Age of Empires.

Where are you going? Literally? I’m moving back home to Queens. I’ll be setting up a semi-permanent recording studio in my basement, so if you ever want to make some music and don’t mind public transportation, come through! But in the more existential, “where is your life going?” sense, I really have no clue right now. But that’s cool.

Three things you learned at Columbia:

1. Columbia’s culture of commiseration is like quicksand. One minute, you’re a freshman who’s so eager to get out of the house, explore the big city, meet cool people and enjoy everything college has to offer. The next, you’re a second semester senior who spends more time arguing with friends about who has less fucks to give and complaining about how uncomfortable the seats are on the struggle bus than you spend really enjoying your life.
   
2. In relation to #1, I’ve learned that perspective is everything. The only way to escape the utterly depressing – and I mean that very literally – side effects that this place can cause is to always remind yourself that things aren’t as bad or insurmountable as they seem. It will suck, and you will not sleep, but that paper will get finished. You may not that get that A+ both you and your parents aim for/expect, but you must remember that every passing grade at an institution like this is something to be proud of. And even when you do happen to miss the mark completely, remember that a failure is just an opportunity to learn from your mistakes and begin preparing to succeed next time. I know that this all seems like hyper-optimistic bs, but being able to take a third-person view of your situation can really do wonders for your peace of mind.
3. Good Friends, Good Music and Good drinks almost always makes for a better time than a large scale shindig. The low-key turn up is unequivocally real.

Back in my day… Ferris had bomb ass burgers w/ brioche buns, Wiz Khalifa and Ghostface Killah made me believe that Bacchanal was the mother of all college concerts, and CUSH cyphers consisted of about 10 folks in a room rapping over laptop speakers.

Justify your existence in 30 words or fewer:

I succeed at my own pace while you fools [are] racin’,

Idolizing idiots, while I’m my only motivation.

Just in case you forgot, I’m DOPE:

Diligently Overcoming People’s Expectations

Write a CU Admirers post to anyone or anything at Columbia: Yas, Lord knows how the hell we made it this far, but I really do shudder to think where I’d be if we didn’t.

Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese? LOOK AT WHAT CHEESE DOES TO PEOPLE! The choice really is obvious, word to Akinyele & Danny Brown

One thing to do before graduating: Other than go to as many CUSH events as possible? Break your routine. Often. Go out and do something unexpected and fun. Have friends over and play board games. Relax. And not in the “I just finished this problem set, so I’m gonna watch an episode of Game of Thrones before I start my other one” sense, but in the “I’m not trying to do shit but sleep, eat and kick it today” sense. Despite what your GPA is telling you, you really do deserve the time to yourself.

Any regrets? I regret not learning these lessons early enough to apply them to my own college career. Oh, and I regret spending so much damn money using campus foods every time the temperature fell below 74.9 degrees and I deemed it too cold to walk over to the dining hall.

Much Love, and feel free to keep in touch