We were lucky to catch up with WILCON recently and have shared our conversation below.
WILCON, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
Hᴏᴡ ᴅɪᴅ I ʟᴇᴀʀɴ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴏ ᴡʜᴀᴛ I ᴅᴏ?
I had to suck.
The key to being great at something is sucking so bad at it and being completely oblivious to it. When you’re bad and you don’t know it, you’re more likely to take risks simply because you don’t know what’s going to come; you don’t know what you don’t know.
As you learn more about the craft, it becomes harder to take big risks because you have more knowledge of possible outcomes, good or bad. Keeping a sense of creative naïveté is a challenge, especially as you grow and evolve as an artist. At the end of the day, the journey from being bad at something to being good at it involves major risk taking — that’s without question — but the journey from being good at something to being great at it involves major risk taking too.
So, I learned to be a talented rapper by being an untalented rapper and jumping headfirst into the unknown.
Kɴᴏᴡɪɴɢ ᴡʜᴀᴛ I ᴋɴᴏᴡ ɴᴏᴡ, ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ I ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴅᴏɴᴇ ᴛᴏ sᴘᴇᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ ᴍʏ ʟᴇᴀʀɴɪɴɢ ᴘʀᴏᴄᴇss?
This is a tough question, because I am very aware that I am a victim of my own laziness. I am certain I would be a much more prolific artist if I devoted more of my time towards music production and engineering, but my drive to be a fantastic writer beats out my musical ambitions, because — this is going to sound cocky as hell — I know I got it. My sonic emphases vary greatly but my resolve to be proficient and prolific with the pen remains steadfast.
Wʜᴀᴛ sᴋɪʟʟs ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴍᴏsᴛ ᴇssᴇɴᴛɪᴀʟ?
The ultimate skill in anything is being yourself while doing it. When I started rapping, I was trying to be someone I wasn’t, and it took me a fair few years to figure out that it is hard to feel confident and be authentic in your true self and that authenticity takes time.
However, once I finally came to the realization that I am who I am — and I can’t change that — life and music became so much easier. And since my life became easier, it’s been full steam ahead with the music.
Wʜᴀᴛ ᴏʙsᴛᴀᴄʟᴇs sᴛᴏᴏᴅ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴀʏ ᴏғ ʟᴇᴀʀɴɪɴɢ ᴍᴏʀᴇ?
The only thing that stood and continues to stand in the way of learning more is myself.
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.
Music has always been in WILCON’s life. By the age of two, he was banging on pots and pans in the kitchen and by elementary school, he had evolved into a drum prodigy. His sense of rhythm carried him towards the music industry, and it wasn’t until May of 2017 that he knew rap was the best creative outlet for him.
It was a book report — more of a spoken word summary with a rhyme scheme — on the novel “Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini. Upon mesmerizing his entire English class and his teacher (he received an A on the assignment) he embarked on a journey that he never knew he would be on more than half a decade later.
He sucked at first.
WILCON began rapping under the moniker 3 Bar the Rapper, and while he attracted much attention from his classmates, it was mostly remarks on how bad his early songs were. By the time he moved to Michigan, he changed his name to what it currently is: a portmanteau of his middle name “Will” and the beginning of his last name “CONybeare.”
WILCON’s first “project” came in April of 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. “3 Song Night” is a collection of tracks recorded during his freshman year at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York. The EP’s three tracks — “Float,” “No Stress,” and “Crossed the Line” are considered by some diehard WILCON fans to be some of his rawest, best works.
His next collection of songs, “Low Quality Music 4 High Quality People,” was entirely composed, recorded, mixed and mastered by WILCON himself during his second year of college and first year overall in Southern California. The intro track “Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen” is considered by a few to be a cult classic, and “Lord” showcased his early lyrical prowess. With a solid 6-song EP under his belt, it was time to move on to a debut album.
That debut album arrived on April 2, 2021. “Free Carlos,” a collaborative project with San Diego producer Max Crowe, includes ten tracks that capture the mind state of a 19-year-old WILCON. The album contains the fan-favorite song “COPPER!” as well as the innovative three-part track “300 YEARS, 48 MONTHS, 15 CENTURIES” and the first song he released a video for, “NO SHOTS.”
After a quiet year-and-a-half, WILCON announced he would be releasing his second full-length album, “YOUTUBE JESUS,” on Jan. 28, 2022. “YOUTUBE JESUS” is a concept album that saw a now 20-year-old WILCON creating songs on beats made in the style of other artists. Included on YTJ are the tracks “Scholarship” and “Natural” — both of which were accompanied by music videos (though the former has since been deleted) — as well as the bombastic “Actually Good” and the triumphant outro “Triple Check.”
WILCON’s musical career continued to develop in Oct. 2022 when he released the single and music video for “I Can Rap.”
After a year-long hiatus, WILCON returned with the release of “Listen (Earl Joint)” on Oct. 13, 2023.
He followed that single up in December with “Crazy” featuring Shno Xavier. A video accompanied the track.
To start 2024, WILCON dropped “Focus Up” off his upcoming album. A video also accompanied this track.
Towards the end of 2024, WILCON dropped a song and video for “Whole Wide World,” the second track from his upcoming album.
He is dropping said album in the first part of 2025.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
To get right into it, I used to be a homebody; I was born and raised in the New York City area and had no intentions of leaving for my entire life, really. That was upended when my father got a job in South Bend, Indiana, and moved my family back to the southwestern corner of Michigan, where he grew up, when I was in the middle of my junior year of high school.
The transition was incredibly rough at first — I ended up being hospitalized for a mental health episode during this time — and without music, this interview would likely not have been conducted. If you know what I mean.
After persevering through what I hope will be the toughest period of of my life, I realized that change is the only constant in life, and that if I could move from the greatest place on Earth (New York City) to the bottom left corner of nowhere, I could really go anywhere and be fine.
Since I came to this conclusion, I have decided to focus on going outside and NOT being a homebody. After moving to Michigan, I moved back to New York, back to Michigan again, then made the trek to Southern California and zig-zagged to Scotland for a few months. To top that off, I’ve been to 38 states and nearly 20 countries.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
My love language is affirmations, and releasing great music (or doing anything exceptional) is a bona-fide way to receive positive affirmations. That’s not to say I make music for others — it’s always been about what I want to say and how I want to say it — but I have found that the way I convey my message is digestible for a wide variety of listeners. The positive affirmations I receive from friends, family and especially strangers is what drives me to remain myself and continue to do what I’m already doing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wilconswebsite.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_wilcon/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@iamwilcon
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/wilconofficial
- Other: Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/wilcon/1540305706
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6Rrbkd3XtA9V74xZPkpJJ0?si=eFsvfmS2Q76s4tAEvTifXw
Image Credits
Photo credits: Obinna Anyanwu | CA1NE | Max Crowe | Alex Maitam