We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dwayne Williams. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dwayne below.

Dwayne, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I first knew I wanted to be a creative for a living when created the Surf Klub 216 brand. I’d been dealing with a serious bout of depression, and music seemed to be the only thing I did to make myself feel better. I was a member of a rap group (Everybody’s Cousin) and wasn’t really happy with the direction the group was taking, so I created my own brand. From that moment, I felt empowered by taking charge of my own creativity and felt a rush of inspiration. This inspiration birthed music that would become songs I am know by in my own city (Cleveland, Oh) to this day. The overwhelming positive reaction I received from this point on made me feel like I could take on the world and I realized that this was a feeling I wanted to chase for the rest of my life.

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

My artist name is MegaDon216, and my artistic journey has been crazy and diverse, lol. Really all over the place, First I created my name by combining different elements of my rap style -Mega (due to my use of twisting/“rapping fast” ) Don (due to my use of aesthetic pleasing imagery) and 216 (my city’s area code). Then, after starting SurfKlub216, my wife and I started promoting fellow artists from my city. This led to a variety of different ventures and collaborations, the most current being the assembly of SurfKlub216 (our management label) and Wearethewave216 (our promotion brand) , which took off when Me and my wife met fellow entertainer /promoter MalanTheArtist, whom we used to manage full time. We’ve (Me, my wife and Malan)have had an amazing run throwing our own events locally, frequently booking our fellow teammates (Bass, 2OOKG, and Lmg Flynn ) and other artists we frequently work with. This is what sets our team apart: us and our frequent collaborators are like a family, and we bring genuine fun and class to the events we put together. I am especially proud of this fact because I believe we are truly a breath of fresh air to the arts scene of our Cleveland and beyond.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Stop viewing other artists as competitors. We are all a family and we all want to be heard. If we band together, we are more powerful than we would be if we don’t cooperate and support one another.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Marketing! It’s so important, and not enough artists are aware of what it actually is. It’s far more than just posting (or reposting ) on social media sites.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @MegaDon216
• Twitter: @megadon216
• Youtube: YouTube.com/megadon216

Image Credits
Tiffadelic Photography and MegaDon216