From LordWillin's Ill Roc Street CD " Escape From Rhode Island"
When people think of Providence, Rhode Island they typically think of organized crime, Italian food and a few failed television series. Not often is the city of Providence or state of Rhode Island associated with the music industry or even artists, with a few exceptions of course. Providence, Rhode Island native, rapper/lyricist/musician/hardcore enthusiast LordWillin has high hopes of changing that and finally putting the city he shares a love/hate relationship with on the map for good. Growing up in a culturally diverse neighborhood and with a father who once worked for the biggest concert promoter in New England, LordWillin was exposed to numerous genre's of music at an early age. Some of his earliest memories are of his father coming home heavily intoxicated at 2 or 3 in the morning and blarring classic rock, jazz, funk and r&b until it woke up his mother and a full fledged shouting match emerged. At a very young age LordWillin developed a talent for perforrmance and music and would often create songs at the spur of the moment to sing at family parties or would record himself singing on his mother's tape recorder. He was then introduced to rap music and the Hip Hop culture by kids in the neighborhood and from what he saw on television and heard on the radio. He quickly took a profound interest in this ever emerging art form and begun listening to as much of the music as he could. Around the age of 8 he started making an attempt to rap or "freestyle" to himself, sometimes creating alter egos of different rappers and singers and pretending that he was them. In middle school he would spend hours upon hours DJing and making basement demo tapes at various friends houses who he had introduced his musical tastes to and now they themselves were aspiring "rap artists". He also had other friends who were into the rapidly growing 90's alternative rock scene which also led him to discover Heavy Metal and Punk. LordWillin and a friend started to take their djing to the next level and begun rocking house parties & school dances, even getting paid for it most of the time which was pretty exciting for two middle school kids. While LordWillin enjoyed being a DJ his true passion was to be a rapper like the many that he admired, probably too many to even list. He would freestyle to himself or in front of friends for hours and would make bootleg recordings of his freestyles or pages of unorganized attempts at written rhymes. He would constantly go to any live show he could, whether it be one of his favorite artists or a local showcase. This continued throughout middle school and high school and for the most part he was shy about his secret talent unless he was around other artists or musicians. He took much inspiration from many local Rhode Island rappers and more underground artists. Always feeling like a rebel or someone who thought differently, he related much more to these "underground" styles of music as opposed to the more materialisic , pop sounding music that was reaching the masses, especially after the birth of the new Millenium. He spent much of his time in High School, writing rhymes, getting high, petty hustling, getting into trouble and not really caring much about his school work and developed little regard for authority and even more important the conformity that other students seemed to embrace. After High School the artist known as LordWillin truly came into fruition as an aspiring rapper and artist. After a failed attempted at Community College he decided that he was going to put his all into being a professional artist and full time rebel because he understood that his views and thoughts were not of that of societies mainstream. After about another year or so of recording rough demo style tracks he decided to finally enter a real studio and start transforming his rhymes into song worthy art work. He worked numerous odd jobs and did many both legal and illegal side hustles to put studio money into his pocket. Being one who didn't relate to the 9 to 5 day job mentality he knew that he had to go all out with his music which entailed much more than just recording songs. He then started to perform at local open mics and showcases and started recieving positive reviews on his rapping and performing ability. Through performing and networking he fully realized that this is what he was meant to do. During this time period he was introduced to local Hip Hop veteran/Lyrical heavy weight and Providence All City Graffitti bomber and vandal Troop Raw. Troop had been on and off the local music scene since the early 90's and was recognized as one of the rawest and most fierce rhyme sayers in many Rhode Island rap circles. The two clicked instantly and begun working on collaborations .After much time in the studio LordWillin released his debut mixtape " The Beginning Of The End" in 2006/2007. Around this time LordWillin heard the music of Boston's illest rapper, rising star and Lord Ezec affiliate, Slaine. He instantly became a fan of Slaine's music and contacted him about a collaboration, This would later prove to help build the bridge between LordWllin and Ill Roc Records founder Lord Ezec aka Danny Diablo. Also around this time LordWllin and Troop Raw decided to form the duo of Boombox Saintz and started working on their debut self titled mixtape which would feature the LordWillin collaboration with Slaine entitled "Life Is A Gamble". After successfully releasing the mixtape on their own and performing at just about every venue in the area they decided to work on another release which they named " Fear And Loathing In Rhode Island" in honor of one of their inspirations gonzo journalist and the figure Johnny Depp played in " Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas" Hunter S.Thompson. Boombox Saintz started to gain much recognition as a force to be wreckoned with both on the local scene, opening for legendary artists such as GZA, Ill Bill, Black Sheep, Immortal Technique, Raekwon and many more and also begun to acquire many fans both local and worldwide via the internet. For years LordWillin had been a fan of Rock music even though he himself made rap music and took much influence from it. He attended as many punk, hardcore & heavy metal shows as he could. One of his favorite bands became Lord Ezec's (Danny Diablo) Skarhead and so he traveled to New London, Conneticut to see them perform live at the El N Gee. By chance he saw Ezec and gave him a copies of his group's mixtapes and gave his respect. Several months later Ezec contacted LordWillin and told him that he had heard his song with Slaine and really liked it and that he would give the mixtapes a listen. This was the beginning of the relationship between LordWillin and Lord Ezec. Currently LordWillin has just finished a third mixtape style release with Boombox Saintz titled "Enter The Boombox" which is now available for purchase and a free compilation "All Saintz Day". LordWillin has also been featured on underground Hip Hop and Germany natives Snowgoons studio albums "The Trojan Horse" and " Kraftwerk" on songs with Reef The Lost Cauze, Sabac Red F.T. and Block McCloud. LordWillin has a become a member of the Ill Roc Records family and will be releasing a collaborative E.P. with Canadian rapper Swann (who Ezec linked together ) under the label as well as a debut solo street cd and hopefully other projects in the future. LordWillin is a truly dedicated artist and takes pride in his hardcore attitude and rebellious ways and has no plans on embracing the corrupted mainstream music industry because he feels that he can become very successful on his own terms. Be on the lookout for the LordWillin/Swann E.P. and the LordWillin debut street cd " The Legend Of The Ski Mask Monk" dropping on Ill Roc Records in 2011!
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