After building her identity in the underground scene, performing at Warped Tour, and helping explore a sound that would later become known as trap metal, Lucifena is entering the biggest chapter of her career yet. As Young Money’s first female rock artist, she is preparing to release WARZONE, an album that moves through shoegaze, hardcore, alternative rock, metal, pop, and rap without abandoning what she considers essential: “No matter what genre I do, it will always sound like Lucifena.”
In the interview, the artist discusses the evolution behind “IT’S YOU,” recalls the feeling of making history by bringing her hardcore sound together with Lil Wayne on “Tyrant,” and reflects on the years she spent being underestimated as a young woman making heavy music. Lucifena also reveals that WARZONE was shaped by battles in her personal life, internal struggles, conflicts unfolding around the world, and the constant sense of being at war within the music industry — turning the album into a statement of survival, transformation, and victory.
Warzone marks your debut album with Young Money and introduces you as the label’s first female rock artist. What does this moment represent after so many years of building your identity in the underground scene?
It’s a big moment! I want to take my genre to a new level and do what hasn’t been done in the underground space. Being on a label like Young Money feels like the sky is the limit and with this album I’m bringing a variety of new sounds.
“IT’S YOU” will be released alongside the album announcement. Why was this the right song to officially introduce your new era, and what part of yourself lives within it?
“IT’S YOU” is one of my favs off of WARZONE and it definitely shows my evolution. The track has a pop yet alternative vibe with an attitude, and it still has my iconic screams popping on it.
The project blends shoegaze, hardcore, alternative rock, metal, pop, and rap. How do you make sure that combination remains an authentic expression of your story rather than simply a mixture of genres?
It’s authentic to me because no matter what genre I do, it will always sound like Lucifena. I always make sure to include key elements of my sound in any project, even when I switch up the vibes.
“Tyrant” introduced your collaboration with Lil Wayne and generated significant online attention. What was it like building that track together, and what did his presence add to its narrative?
That track felt groundbreaking when I first heard Wayne on it. Having the best rapper of all time on a hardcore song with a Latina woman made me feel like we made history.
You began in the band You Only Live Once, toured, and performed at Warped Tour. Which lessons from that period became essential as you survived and reinvented yourself as a solo artist?
I learned a lot of lessons from being underestimated as a young girl doing heavy music. I always felt the need to go harder than the men I would play shows with. And as I grew older, I learned how important it was to evolve as an artist, have creative freedom, and grow as an individual.
You were among the early women exploring trap metal and have collaborated with artists connected to both rap and metal. What obstacles have you faced because your work does not fit neatly into a single musical scene?
I first met my producer morgothbeatz when we were both young in metal bands. Then, we reconnected years later, and he was working with rappers. That led to us making our first song together, where we merged hard beats with screams and guitars, and we realized we had made something completely different from the norm. Later, people started calling it trap metal, but when we initially did it, there was no name for it.
The title WARZONE suggests conflict, survival, and transformation. Which personal, creative, or professional battles run through the album, and how do you hope to emerge from that “warzone” after its release?
It reflects how I dealt with what felt like war in my love life, the external wars I see happening around the world, and the internal battles I’ve struggled with. It also speaks to the constant feeling of being at war within the music industry. But the overall message is: yeah, life may feel like a warzone, but we’re coming out on top of this mf to win!
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