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

Edgar, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I would definitely have to say my first album as Entity with a close friend of mine who went by SPVCECVSE at the time. It’s a self-titled album and it was the beginning of a decade long era that led to me being a solo artist today. It’s a pretty feature heavy project and to see where everyone is now that was involved with the album makes me appreciate that time and reminds me to appreciate what’s going on now. Plus, there’s a song on there named First Love that I still perform to this day even though its 10 years old this year. (September 2015)

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Edgar and I’m an artist by the name Faze the Villain. I’ve been releasing music that I mixed and mastered and performing for over 10 years now, and I got into it because I love music enough to want to be a part of it. My first experience with hip hop was finding Ice Cube’s War and Peace albums along with the Westside Connection album in my dad’s cd stash when I was in kindergarten. I would listen to Linkin Park after that almost exclusively which is why I credit Mike Shinoda for being the reason I wanted to rap. After writing lyrics for a few years and wanting to record something, and seeing how expensive it is to make music, I ended up attending the Los Angeles Recording School to learn proper recording equipment and techniques that I used to start releasing the music I have streaming today.
For the entire beginning of my career I was in a group I put together called Entity Collective until we split up during Covid. We opened up for some big names from Sugarfree to Griselda records in that time.
I think what sets me apart is my unwillingness to dumb anything down involving my music, especially lyrically. I get told a lot that I sound like I’m influenced by certain artists without sounding like I’m trying to copy their style, which I’m told is rare and I’m pretty proud of that.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The look on people’s faces when I either spit a verse that is either impressive or resonates with them on some level. There’s no greater feeling than knowing I made someone’s night with my music and message.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

There’s a couple things I feel society can do, starting with being willing to spend money on the upcoming artist they like as opposed to the millionaire artist on a major label. We all have merch we sell for a few extra bucks to keep this going and I would always hear, “sorry I’m tapped out, I just spent a lot of money at a music festival”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Fazethevillain.com
• Instagram: @faze_thevillain

Image Credits

@j.frvnco