Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Will Renfroe. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Will, thanks for joining us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

In 2017, my then-fiancee and I became pregnant. In October of that year, 2 months into pregnancy, our apartment caught on fire–we lost all of our physical possessions. At the time, I was a freelance Production Assistant, and work was pretty infrequent at the time, and I wrote and produced my own projects on the side. My then-fiancee was in between jobs. Money was tight, a baby was baking in the oven, and we had just lost everything. A decision had to be made. I was offered work in Maryland with my father-in-law’s company and if accepted, I’d have to drop everything and move across the country, leaving my creative endeavors behind.

After the fire, coupled with the ensuing arrival of our daughter, a shift in my mind had occurred from artist to realist–I had to provide for my family. Fast forward almost 6 years, we got a divorce and I moved back home to Los Angeles. Inevitably, it seems, I am back to making music. The difference today being my intentions–although it would be nice to monetize my music, I am somewhat aware of the luck required to “make it” as an artist, thus I am creating from a passionate place, and not out of necessity. To supplement my income, I work a normal job. My younger self gagged at the idea of working full-time and creating when time allowed. Looking back, I do wish I had stuck to my gut and continued to create, through the adversity of losing it all. Life absurd and too brief for regrets. Although I am not doing it for the financial incentives, I continue to create.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

For starters, I am a rapper. My rap moniker is Landafterliftoff. I consider myself pretty unorthodox when compared to the majority of rap that fills mainstream airwaves. I like to include depth to my raps. I curate lyrics based on intellect and personal experience. Rap gives me the freedom to figuratively exaggerate reality. My most recent work is a music video I directed and edited for a song titled “Back Then”. On the surface, the song is braggadocios–I sing “Back then they didn’t want me, now I’m hot they’re all on me”, sampled from the popular Mike Jones song. But, the underlying meaning harps on my failed relationship. My marriage was pretty toxic, and ended on a not-so-friendly note. “Back then they didn’t want me, now I’m hot they’re all on me” refers to a world in which our relationship continued to unravel and because of fights/arguments, the police were involved and were now onto me. Another layer of the song includes me shouting out my hometown, Northside Long Beach. For visuals, I imagined returning to my high school, Long Beach Jordan, and getting a shot in front of the auditorium which has a mural of the school’s mascot, a panther, painted on it. So, I did it. In a guerrilla-style shoot, I bought a ladder and climbed up top the roof, and got a pretty epic drone shot of me dancing and rapping in front of the mural. If you’ve ever driven east on the 91 freeway, the panther can be seen to your right as you pass the Atlantic exit in Long Beach.

For me, this project symbolizes my “career” as a rapper. I write up lyrics, hit the studio and record, then if I the vision appears, I set out to capture the song in picture form. The song is very catchy, and if I had to sell myself as an artist, I am a phenomenal lyricist, and can translate my writing skills across different music genres. The video can be found on Youtube–type ‘Landafterliftoff Back Then’ into the Youtube search bar. A few of my other projects can be seen there as well.

In addition to rapping, I am continuing my education as a Philosophy major. My interests include the question of free will, moral responsibility, and also neurobiology, as it pertains to human behavior–‘why do we do what we do’ in a nutshell. After completing my undergrad, I will consider law school or a Neuroscience program. The knowledge I acquire in my studies will definitely impact my music creation and vise versa.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Robert Saplolsky, author and professor of biology, neurology, neurological sciences, wrote a book called Determined: A Life Without Free Will, in which he argues that humans do not have free will. The argument is pretty fringe as most people believe we do have at least some degrees of free will. Sapolsky disputes this outright. He argues that we humans make decisions based on the biological makeup of our brain, and our brain is influenced by many variables including but not limited to one’s childhood upbringing–the fetal experience, the environment which one was raised, the socioeconomic status of one’s parents or guardians–the development of one’s frontal cortex which is in charge of the brain’s executive function, one’s ancestral lineage, and so on. There is no action, Sapolsky argues, that is independent of the influences of minutes before the action took place to centuries before the action took place, thus free will is a myth. This implies that we aren’t as responsible for our own successes and/or failures as we’d like to think. The implications for this are huge, especially when discussing criminal justice reform.

In regards to being an artist, toying with the idea of having no free will, or at the very least, far less than I previously believed, allows me to take it easy on myself when things don’t work out just I expect them to–the losses and failures aren’t my fault. The parts of myself I dislike, I grow to accept. It is also humbling to consider that I had nothing to do with becoming a creator…I didn’t give birth to my intellect or lack there of. I could have very well been born someone else, on a different date, in a different place, and could have developed different characteristics and traits than those I now exhibit. Thus, I chalk my abilities up to luck, and under the influence of the the past, I will do all in my power to succeed and share the gifts of success with everyone I can.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

The fact that I have, thus far, failed to generate a significant fan base, and make money from my music, yet I continue to create, sums up my reliance. It’s not easy to share my work and receive little acknowledgement, knowing that it’s very good. The industry is saturated with musicians and rappers, it is discouraging at times to consider how hard it will be to break through and gain some notoriety, yet I continue to create. I will continue to create. I’ve made the mistake of not creating before, and the results were dismal. I know my work is good, and I believe that is the foundation of resiliency–internally believing in one’s self, independent of an outside source of belief.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/landafterliftoff/
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/6vH4eHK4HMQ?si=bgRUHmBg5ZsNVrBr