Pennsylvania rapper Eric Will shares his journey of becoming a rapper and his true goal of inspiring others.
TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF. WHERE YOU'RE FROM, HOW YOU STARTED, AND WHAT YOU’RE ABOUT?
I'm from Easton Pennsylvania. I started back when I was 14 years old. I mean, I started when I was younger, I learned a few instruments and stuff, but then I got like a piano and I started to make like little hip hop beats with my friends, and from there we just kind of started writing stuff and doing like little recordings. My dad was really into music, so he got like a microphone setup and everything, so we would just mess around with little instrumentals and all that kind of stuff when I was 14. And then from there, me and him just kind of kept doing it and just working towards that, and it's been quite a journey. I have so much more to learn and master my craft and stuff, but it's just been an amazing journey so far.
WHEN DID YOUR WRITING DEVELOP? YOU’RE MAKING THESE INSTRUMENTALS, STARTING OFF WITH THESE BEATS, WHERE DID YOU FIND THE INSPIRATION TO CRAFT AND WRITE LYRICS?
So me and my friend, we actually both started out with just freestyles. And then probably when I was about 15 or so I started to write my own stuff. I actually had like a whole book- a little book- with a bunch of words that like a rhyme together [laughs]. I would just go through the book and like write a song, it wasn't anything great but it was little exercises to learn more rhymes and stuff like that. You know, it started when I was 14, but I feel like I didn't really get extremely serious until I was like 17. That's when I really started to sit down and produce and write, you know? My songs like really came together and my voice and my mind and who I am.
WHAT CHANGED? WHAT MADE YOU THINK, ‘I NEED TO SIT DOWN AND GET SERIOUS ABOUT THIS.’ WHAT IN YOUR LIFE MADE YOU COME TO THAT REALIZATION?
So, like, in high school, I had a few very close friends and they all kind of liked my stuff so they told me like, ‘dude, you should just keep pursuing it.’ And of course you have haters and stuff in the beginning, and they're all trying to hold me back, but you know I feel like both ends of the spectrum -people that hated it and people that encourage me to do it- really like flipped the switch on me. And people were like, ‘dude, you should just keep doing it, just keep doing it,’ you know? I turned 17, I had a job, so I like went and bought everything so I could record my own stuff. That's really what did it, was when I went out and bought all the recording stuff to help produce my own music.
WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE YOU FACED ALONG THIS ROAD?
From people, of course. Everyone has an opinion on music and stuff. When I first started, you know, you're never going to jump into anything you do and be like amazing at it. You know, a lot of people, when I first started, that were like ‘you shouldn't do this and this and that,’ and everybody hated and stuff, so that was a huge thing. Getting over that barrier, passing that barrier, where everyone said I should stop. And, you know, it's hard to keep doing something that everybody tells you, like, ‘no you shouldn't do it anymore.’ So that's definitely one challenge. And of course the money, you know, and going to school. I don't know how it is down there, going to high school and stuff. Over here, going to high school, we can get up at 6 o'clock in the morning. So I’d go from 6 o'clock in the morning to 11 o'clock at night after work and then come home and try to write lyrics, it was crazy. That was definitely a huge challenge. But you know it's that grind that you put into it I guess that really shapes it.
YEAH, IT'S YOUR MOTIVATION THAT MAKES YOU STICK OUT. THAT’S WHAT HOLDS PEOPLE BACK AND THAT'S WHAT MAKES PEOPLE STAND OUT. SO WHO ARE YOU WORKING WITH RIGHT NOW? OR WHO HAVE YOU WORKED WITH IN THE PAST?
I guess I'll just start with like my management. I got a manager early this year, he's an awesome guy. He really helps me out with all my promotions and stuff like that. I have a producer that I actually just recently got, his name is Homage, we are working on an album just recently. We just decided that we can definitely make something cool, so we just started just signing some contracts and stuff like that. I worked with Hi-Rez. I mean, he's an awesome guy. He was kind of like the first big person that I got to work with and I remember messaging him- it was crazy- he got back to me right away, and I was like ‘oh my God’ [laughing]. He’s like one of my favorite artists for such a long time, since high school, so when we got to talking it was just awesome. Then he actually hooked me up one day with Emilio Rojas, and he's an awesome guy too. We actually had a track as well, I plan on working with a few other artists in the future. I would like to maybe work with like Chris Webby, and I plan on working, down the road, again with Hi-Rez and Emilio, maybe working on a track.
SO YOU TALKED ABOUT HOW YOU’RE KIND OF IN THE PROCESS OF A NEW ALBUM COMING OUT, HOW FAR ALONG ARE YOU?
We're just planning it out right now. It’s going to be more like a mixtape, not like an album, like 7 to 9 songs, give or take. We’re still like planning the release date, I’m not a hundred percent sure what time. We're looking at it right now, and in the next couple weeks I'll definitely be able to give a timeframe for sure, and that’ll be released on my social medias and stuff. We are just planning stuff out and getting the feel. I definitely want to have like a trap-y and old-school feel, and really combine the two, almost two rap types.
YEAH DEFINITELY, THAT WOULD BE UNIQUE. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR STYLE, OR EVEN YOUR TASTE IN MUSIC, MAKES YOU DIFFERENT THAN OTHER HIP HOP ARTISTS?
I think what makes it unique, my style, is that I like to combine old school and trap, like I can do both, alternative rap, all these different types of rap, and I think that is a huge thing. I want to make stuff that, not only can you party to it, but when you're alone and you listen to it, you can really sit down and be like, ‘Wow, he's talking about this and it's real stuff.’ I think is important to have that mixture and I plan to definitely in this album, I plan to have you know some songs that start off old school and then they go off into this trap vibe, and just really give it an awesome combination of two awesome types of rap. Just combine back in the 90s, to the early 2000’s, to now, 2016, 2015, and stuff.
THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD COMBINATION. SO WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION FOR LYRICS THAT PEOPLE CAN REALLY GET A MESSAGE OUT OF? FROM YOUR LIFE AND YOUR OWN PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS AND STRUGGLES, OR WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND YOU?
For the most part, right now, I take what's going on around me, just things in my daily life. I like to reach into some of my old stuff [from] when I first started. My friend’s not really doing it any more, I know he kind of got into some trouble, but I like to reach back into that old stuff in my past. Stuff that I wanted to say back when I first started but I couldn't or whatever, like to put it in now. For other songs I kind of see what's going on around me, stuff like that.
WHAT DO YOU SEE AROUND YOU, OR OTHER ARTISTS, OR OTHER PEOPLE, THINGS, IN GENERAL; WHAT REALLY INSPIRES YOU?
A lot of artists, like Logic. Old school Logic, and his new stuff, he really inspires me. Futuristic, Eminem, he's come out recently with his new song, which was like crazy, crazy, crazy awesome. That kind of stuff inspires me, and then everything that's just kind of going on in the world too. It’s just crazy, if you look at the news and stuff. I like to kind of tap into that, but put my own style into that. You know, like I said, talk about this real stuff but kind of put it onto a beat that people can party too, so it's kind of like a subliminal message. You know, they’re partying to it, whatever, but they're also understanding this is going on.
YOU GET THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS IN THAT. SO WHAT YOU SEE FOR THE FUTURE?
For my future, I'd really like to reach out to maybe some labels and stuff like that, in the future. I mean, my main goal in all of this music, really, the reason why I even started in the first place, was just to inspire people to follow their dreams and their passions, and that they can do it and stuff like that. So definitely trying even more to get my music out there to connect to people that feel like they can't do it and tell them that they can. I feel like that's definitely a long-term goal that I would really love to share with other people. And of course, like, reach out to other labels and all that kind of stuff and then just build up my brand and everything.
HAVE YOU EVER DONE ANY SHOWS?
I have done a few. I've, so far, I've only done like college shows. I actually might have one coming up, I have to talk to my manager a little bit about it more. One in Maryland, and I might have something that's coming up soon, but yeah. I have done a couple shows at Stroudsburg University and then a few stuff up there. I plan to do some stuff at Shippensburg University and just some more stuff hopefully up the East Coast and future, later on, down the West Coast.
WHAT DO YOU FIND DIFFERENT IN RECORDING YOUR OWN SONG OR PERFORMING FOR YOUR FRIENDS, WHAT DO YOU FIND DIFFERENT ABOUT THAT FROM PERFORMING ON STAGE IN FRONT OF STUDENTS AND A BUNCH OF PEOPLE? DO YOU EVER GET NERVOUS?
I definitely do get nervous. I think what's really different, especially because I always do it in front of my friends and I can just do you so easily I guess, because they already know what I have to offer. When you go perform in front of, especially college kids, they’re like ‘all right what is this kid doing’ and then you get up there and they're like ‘wow, it's crazy, this kid’s like really spitting bars!’ And it's definitely like the reaction of the crowd that really gives you like the confidence and stuff. You almost like feed off of it, it's just awesome. It’s always nerve-racking, right before you go on, but once you get a song or two out it gets a lot easier. Definitely an adrenaline rush.
WHAT’S ONE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU'D LIKE TO GIVE SOMEONE SO THAT THEY DON'T GIVE UP ON A DREAM LIKE THIS?
I would just tell people, you know, if you believe, you got to believe in yourself. It’s your passion, it's your love. If you have such a love for something never let it go. Just follow it, you know, and everything will come along with it. Don’t worry about the money, don't worry about all that kind of stuff, as long as you follow your dream and your passion and your want for something that's so strong, everything will come along with it, that's just how it works. It’s important. I was actually just talking to a kid that messaged me today for advice on his music, and I said just believe in yourself. You know? That’s the most important thing and when people don't believe in you, you gotta believe in yourself and your craft and do it for yourself and everything will come along with it.
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