We recently connected with Monique Wilsonn and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Monique thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My mother is one of the main people in my life who has been my biggest supporter since I first told her that I want to pursue music and I wanted to make a career out of it. Since I was performing in school choirs in elementary school, she along with my grandfather was front row at almost performance. When I started performing live she was right in front with her camera recording me haha! In 2019 when I dropped my first single, she promoted it more than I did and played it everywhere she went along with my album. She made sure EVERYONE knew how big I was going to be. When I didn’t believe in myself, she was the one that believed in me and kept my dream alive. For that alone I owe her everything. She has supported my career in and out of school since the very beginning and was invested in it. It means a lot when a parent nourishes your dreams and believes in it more than you do. It really makes you feel like you can really do anything. My mother has taught me a lot of valuable lessons in life that I never knew that I needed. Especially when it comes down to finding myself as a human, an artist and as a woman. If it was not for her unconditional love, her grace, and her encouragement and motivation I would not even be as close as to where I am today. She has done one hell of a job raising me to be the best version of myself that I could possibly be to flourish in this world. Leaving her to off to college was extremely tough for me in the beginning because we always stayed at the hip. But I knew that I was still going to make her proud.

Monique, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

.I discovered my voice at the age of 6. I had a speech impediment which caused me to stutter a lot. I was bullied because of my stuttering. My two speech therapists recommended to my mother that I start singing to help slow my tongue down to help formulate my sentences better. I started singing around the house, at school, and even in random places, and my speech improved over time. But I also realized that I wanted to do something with my voice. I always knew I had a gift. I was afraid to show it because of my confidence and thought my voice was not good enough. I was always singing in choirs and school choirs ever since middle school. In my last year of high school, I finally decided to go to school for music and see where my voice could take me. I first applied to Morgan State University, majoring in Vocal Performance, but I was not accepted. So I enrolled in the community college of Baltimore county for vocal performance and to obtain my A. A Degree. While I was in college, at 18, I was going through a very tough time emotionally and fell into a deep depression to the point of ending my own life. But I know God gave me a gift that I could not waste. So I began to write music again. At 19, I released my first single, “Too.” The song was based on heartbreak and knowing your worth when someone keeps taking you for granted and playing with your feelings. After releasing the song, I attracted a lot of traffic in Baltimore, and I gained the opportunity to be on a radio show called “Charm City Direct TV” with host Edigga to discuss my new single. I have also been gifted to be on the radio show “Vibing with Cynamin” on power 4.4 radio to discuss my song and my musical journey. I performed at two pop-up events and was a sponsor for a small black-owned company. During this time, I was blessed with the opportunity to be a part of GrammyU of the Washington DC district, which has allowed me to collaborate with other artists in the DMV area and build a connection with everyone. I have spoken with R&B singer Ledisi, R&B artist Jacquees, and plenty more. Over time, I became a grammyu student ambassador to spread the word about GrammyU and its benefits for artists, songwriters, producers, etc.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The rewarding aspect of being an artist is that I am able to speak for those that does not have a voice or that does not have an outlet for how they feel about certain things in their life. Its a blessing to me that I am able to be an inspiration to those who have been feeling the same thing(s) I have been feeling at a certain point in time and I can basically speak through them. Being an artist means you are also becoming very vulnerable with who you are and also your feelings which can sometimes be tough especially in today’s society. Personally I don’t mind being vulnerable even in my music because you never know who needs to hear that in the world who can help them overcome the things that they are currently going through. You and your art could help them get through their tough times and could also help them see another day.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

When I first started my musical journey, I was actually scared to put myself out there due to me thinking I wasn’t talented. During the pandemic I started being more comfortable with showing my talent and what I could do. I had to break out of that nervousness and start just doing it. I was putting out music and singing videos here and there and also on tiktok at the time. This year, when I moved to Philadelphia for school, I knew I had to FULLY break out of being shy because that would block my blessings. My success was on the other side of my fear. So I decided to throw caution to the wind and do every and anything. As time went on, I have started to build a bigger fanbase by simply saying to people “hey I sing we should collab soon!”. I was already surrounded around musicians, I already had the resources. So why not put it to use and actually do something with it? They have started noticing what I do and other people have started to notice what I do as well. At this time, I have started to study the traffic I was getting. For instance, when I constantly post my podcast on my story and page, I gain a few more followers than the last time and I would have a few more views on my analytics as well. Also, when I post singing videos, I gain a lot of likes and a more followers as well who would send me beats, to look at their music, to collab, or who just wanted to watch me flourish during my journey. Which is a huge win for meThe advice I would give to those who is starting to build their social media presence is to 1st, not be scared to put yourself out there. You don’t know whos watching you! I would also say just to engage and network with others as well. Adding on, know your fanbase to see what they would like more of from you in terms of your work

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/Iam.moniquewilson
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iam.moniquewilson/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydney-wilson-7b3934187/