“That’s A-W-I-L-L-T-H-A-G-R-E-A-T, and no you’re not hearing things, it’s T-H-A.”
AWillThaGreat, or AWill if you will, just so happens to be one of the most promising up-and-coming rappers in Milwaukee right now, and Marquette Radio was lucky enough to recently have him on for New Music Monday. The man can do it all. As 1/6th of the local collective Vogel Park, comprised of Renz Young, CAMB, Drudini, Tyso SPRME, and Von Alexander, AWill definitely has “his hand in all the pots.”
Alec: “So you don’t just sing and rap, right?”
“I sing in the shower only. I sing in my free time. But yeah, I rap. I do photography on the side as well, and I do audio engineering too. Like I said, I’m part owner of Studio 440. And also, I do small videography here and there, and I’m trying to teach myself graphic design at the movement. I try to keep my hand in all the pots, if possible.”
Sydney: “How did you guys all meet, and how did you come together?”
“Funny story: I met Renz, who founded the label, through a mutual friend of ours almost three years ago now. When I very first started making music, he did some work on a song for me a long time ago, and you know, we’ve just stayed in touch ever since. He’s kind of just watched me elevate and grow over the last couple of years and been able to give me great advice and kind of act as a mentor role for me.”
With all that talent, commitment and guidance in mind, one can only wonder what he’s been up to lately. His EP, “For Better Or Worse,” has been his main point of focus lately and will be dropping soon on April 24.
Gabby: “So you’ve been working in the studio, getting stuff ready for this spring?”
“Shhh… (laughs), Yeah I have. At the start of the year, I dropped a song called “Distraction,” and then after that — just recently on Valentine’s Day — I dropped a song called “You Don’t Know” which will be featured on my EP that I’m dropping hopefully in April. It will be called “For Better Or Worse,” and I’m going to let you decipher what that means when you see it. But it’s basically a bunch of love songs. I’m spreading love this year. It will be about 5-6 songs.
If you haven’t had the chance to see him perform live yet, I highly recommend doing so. AWill has been all over the city in the past year, from Breaking and Entering’s “An Evening With” series at Tonic Tavern to charity shows at After Gallery. His songs have a great energy and flow guaranteed to keep you on your toes for the whole night. His next show will be at Big Beat MKE on May 10, so be sure to clear your calendar for that. If you want to check out any of his work, you can find him on almost every music streaming service on the web.
https://soundcloud.com/awillthagreat
