Willie the Kid

Siege Magazine: First of all congrats on your new mixtape…

Willie The Kid:  Thank you I appreciate it.

Siege Magazine: Well lets get a lil background on you, where you were born and raised etc and how this all began for you?

Willie The Kid:  I was born and raised in Grand Rapids Michigan. I was doing my music thing out there, on a real minor scale…because its not really a threshold for hip hop music there, especially as I was coming up..But I was always around music for a long time. My father was a dj and my older brother had the opportunity to put out an album in affiliation with the WuTang Clan back in the late 90's, so i was young watching all of those things go on and then music became something also that i was serious about.

Siege Magazine: So who would you say has basically influenced you to do what you do? Willie the Kid: Um, I would definitely have to say my father and my brother. Siege Magazine: What would consider was your first big break into the industry?

Willie the Kid: There have been so many minor things, that have led up to one big piece, You know what i'm saying like so many pieces to the puzzle, that made it all come to together. Moving to Atlanta was a major thing, Thats where I met Don Cannon and DJ Drama and came together and made the Aphilliates and made Gangsta Grillz sent it out to the world, and that did well. Then we came and got some record deals put out a couple albums so….I would say that moving to Atlanta set all of that off, you know…

Siege Magazine:  And we noticed that you say you put out "quality street music", explain to us a little bit about what you feel quality street music is…..

Willie the Kid: I would say that quality music, is music created with an emphasis on art, artistry and being a cautious and careful about the things you say, and the messages you're relaying …just making real music being creative. Sometimes in hip hop we get stereotyped and classified as people who aren't making "real music" my focus is not just making music but creating art work, no matter what i'm doing.

Siege Magazine: So would consider yourself more mainstream or more independent?

Willie the Kid: Everything, at this point I consider myself to be a musician, I really wouldn't want to put my self in any category, i'm a musician i just make the music…you know what i'm saying..

Siege Magazine: Ok so we know, that you have your mix tape out currently, what other projects are you working on?

Willie the Kid:  Yea, "The Fly" is out right now, its crazy and i'm in the studio right now working on an EP called "Never a dull Moment" also working on Dj Drama's Gangsta Grillz 3 the album, another mix tape project coming with me and DJ Sense, its called "Guns and Roses" its a r&b influenced type project that we are putting together. We are going back and grabbing a couple old r&b favorites and remixing them and a some new exclusives for the clubs, its gonna be crazy , its fun…

Siege Magazine: What is your take on the industry right now, do you feel that hip hop is not where it use to be? …and is the hip hop genre fading?….

Willie the Kid: I think that its doing good, I think its doing well. Hip hop is so diverse, that no matter who you are , no matter where you're from, no matter how much money you make or what your experiences are your race, gender…there is a certain type of hip hop for everybody… it's so diverse that it caters to whoever may want a piece of it. And if you can't relate you may say it not real music but hip hop itself is doing well.

Siege Magazine: So what makes you as an artist stand out amongst the others?

Willie the Kid: Honestly, I feel that everything in hip hop, on some level has been talked about before….hip hop has been around almost 30 years now…and i think that within that span of time everything has been touched on…i think more so now its about relaying what your saying in a different way. Its about making it interesting, telling a story. Bringing entertainment back into the music.

Siege Magazine: Who are you looking forward to working with?

Willie the Kid: I would have to say more producers than artists, i would like to work with Organized Noise, I would like to work with Kanye West on a production level Havoc of Mobb Deep you know experiment with different producers and go out to the west coast and work Dj Quick and Dr. Dre and people like that and expand my sound.

Siege Magazine:  So would you consider yourself a rookie at this point or pretty seasoned in the game at this point?

Willie the Kid: No, I wouldn't consider myself a rookie no i wouldn't but at the same time i'm not a vet…..Like i said i'm a musician when we start putting ourselves into different categories we begin to put limitations on ourselves. I have a record on my album with Brian Cox, I have a record on my album with Common, so as a rookie i probably wouldn't be able to attain things like that…but at the same time i haven't really put out a mainstream commercial release enough to consider myself my vet. But I can say this… that i am a musician and take my craft seriously and everything I do is based on that and not on a title.

Siege Magazine: In few years what would you like to have accomplished?

Willie the Kid: I want to be able to reach my fans and go out in the world and connect with the people that can identify with the message,skill, talent and integrity that i put into my music….and make a connection. So when i put a song out, people hear it and they respond it to…and we start touching hearts and inspiring people…and entertaining.

Siege Magazine: For our readers who may not know about you…what do you want them to go away knowing about Willie the Kid?

Wille The Kid: No matter Willie the kid, will always put an emphasis on making carefully put together music…. go make meals not fast food….its real. it's like the fast food industry is a booming business and some artist take a fast food approach to making music…and thats cool….but i'm on that home cooked meal approach right now. I want to make music that I can be proud of…I want the hip hop generation before me to hear my music and be proud to say that I am the future of hip hop.