By coining the rapper name ‘Lil Feo’, sophomore Patrick Obando is on his way to making the world happier, one rap at a time.
His inspiration to become a rapper started when he was very young, after years of finding any excuse to incorporate rap into school projects.
“When I was little I always listened to a bunch of old school rap and I was always very fond of it,” Obando said. “I loved it so much that whenever I had projects in school I’d always do it on rap, or if I could make I rap I would do that.”
While his long term goals do not center around pursuing a rap career, Obando hopes to continue it as a hobby.
“I think rap will always be fun for me,” Obando said. “I doubt that I’ll ever stop making it for fun because it’s so much fun now, and I want to make songs that are actually good.”
Obando released his first song in November and was pleasantly overwhelmed with the reaction from his peers.
“The day after I released my first song, people were actually going crazy,” Obando said. “In the hallways, they would freak out when they saw me. It was just surreal because everyone was talking about it. It was the center of attention for a couple of days. I rode that up until the concert.”
On Nov 30 Obando held a makeshift concert in front of Marshall at dismissal.
“It was the greatest feeling ever,” Obando said. “It was the moment where I felt the most like a real life rapper.”
Obando does not see his music as an emotional outlet, and instead said that he views it as a way to make people laugh.
“My style is mainly just my own personality,” Obando said. “I never took it that seriously. There was always a humorous aspect to it. It doesn’t have any meaning. I’m not a good rapper, but I know that it puts a smile on someone’s face.”
Obando threads that humor through every aspect of his rap career, including his name ‘Lil Feo’, which translates from Spanish into ‘Lil Ugly’.
“I hadn’t picked a name yet, but I knew it had to be funny,” Obando said. “It had to be something that, when people looked up the meaning of it, they would be like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know that,’ and they just laugh at it.”
At the end of the day, Obando just wants to make everyone around him happy.
“I adore making people happy,” Obando said. “If that was a job it would be my career, just making people happy 24/7.”
In middle school, Obando struggled to come out of his shell and make friends because he was incredible shy. Now, Obando has a much wider social circle.
“I love being everyone’s friend,” Obando said. “Freshman year I got a bunch of friends, and I started talking to everyone. I started being super friendly and always walking around with a smile on my face.”
In the long term, Obando says that he hopes to use his love of making people happy in the field of pediatric care.
“In ten years I hope to see myself on my way to becoming a pediatrician,” Obando said. “[Children are] the cutest things in the world. They’re so happy, and I love them with all my heart. Medical school is my dream, but we’ll see how it goes.”
But for now, Obando uses rap as his way to create happiness, and hopes to spread that beyond Marshall.
“Before the end of the year, I’m trying to do a concert at another high school,” Obando said. “I’m not sure how that’s going to work, but that’s my goal.”
In addition to that, Obando has a new song in the works, which will be just one piece in his attempt to make the world a little happier, one song at a time.
“I’ve been working on a respect women song, and hopefully it comes out soon,” Obando said. “I see becoming way bigger. It’ll happen, just watch.”
His inspiration to become a rapper started when he was very young, after years of finding any excuse to incorporate rap into school projects.
“When I was little I always listened to a bunch of old school rap and I was always very fond of it,” Obando said. “I loved it so much that whenever I had projects in school I’d always do it on rap, or if I could make I rap I would do that.”
While his long term goals do not center around pursuing a rap career, Obando hopes to continue it as a hobby.
“I think rap will always be fun for me,” Obando said. “I doubt that I’ll ever stop making it for fun because it’s so much fun now, and I want to make songs that are actually good.”
Obando released his first song in November and was pleasantly overwhelmed with the reaction from his peers.
“The day after I released my first song, people were actually going crazy,” Obando said. “In the hallways, they would freak out when they saw me. It was just surreal because everyone was talking about it. It was the center of attention for a couple of days. I rode that up until the concert.”
On Nov 30 Obando held a makeshift concert in front of Marshall at dismissal.
“It was the greatest feeling ever,” Obando said. “It was the moment where I felt the most like a real life rapper.”
Obando does not see his music as an emotional outlet, and instead said that he views it as a way to make people laugh.
“My style is mainly just my own personality,” Obando said. “I never took it that seriously. There was always a humorous aspect to it. It doesn’t have any meaning. I’m not a good rapper, but I know that it puts a smile on someone’s face.”
Obando threads that humor through every aspect of his rap career, including his name ‘Lil Feo’, which translates from Spanish into ‘Lil Ugly’.
“I hadn’t picked a name yet, but I knew it had to be funny,” Obando said. “It had to be something that, when people looked up the meaning of it, they would be like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know that,’ and they just laugh at it.”
At the end of the day, Obando just wants to make everyone around him happy.
“I adore making people happy,” Obando said. “If that was a job it would be my career, just making people happy 24/7.”
In middle school, Obando struggled to come out of his shell and make friends because he was incredible shy. Now, Obando has a much wider social circle.
“I love being everyone’s friend,” Obando said. “Freshman year I got a bunch of friends, and I started talking to everyone. I started being super friendly and always walking around with a smile on my face.”
In the long term, Obando says that he hopes to use his love of making people happy in the field of pediatric care.
“In ten years I hope to see myself on my way to becoming a pediatrician,” Obando said. “[Children are] the cutest things in the world. They’re so happy, and I love them with all my heart. Medical school is my dream, but we’ll see how it goes.”
But for now, Obando uses rap as his way to create happiness, and hopes to spread that beyond Marshall.
“Before the end of the year, I’m trying to do a concert at another high school,” Obando said. “I’m not sure how that’s going to work, but that’s my goal.”
In addition to that, Obando has a new song in the works, which will be just one piece in his attempt to make the world a little happier, one song at a time.
“I’ve been working on a respect women song, and hopefully it comes out soon,” Obando said. “I see becoming way bigger. It’ll happen, just watch.”
