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

Hi Willie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I’ve decided to retire from my current day job. The goal is to put my full support into my business, personal, and professional goals of being an independent digital artist and producer.

I worked regular jobs in other industries since the age of 15 years old, and have kept a stable work-life balance. However, I have dreamed of being an entrepreneur for about as long as I’ve been an artist. I just didn’t have enough courage and confidence to know how.

The pandemic helped expand my eyes to mortality and increased emphasis on owning how I live my life. I am no longer just happy using most of my time for the benefit of less important matters, sacrificing my energy to its goals, and not spending more time creating and achieving my personal goals for a modest salary. Times are evolving, and I am committing to being visible to share my gifts, talents, legacy, and self-value now as so many wise people have done for themselves. If it doesn’t turn around to bite me, it will all be worth it!

Willie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m mostly a self-taught digital producer who started making music with a few videogames, starting with Mario Paint, I made a collection of over a dozen cassettes and a few CDs worth of beats and compositions of the house, hip hop, r&b, alternative, and cinematic style primarily.

I have made a lot of art and music, often to complement each other. Music tells a story and my goal is to let the listener paint a picture and be transported into the deepest realm of the imagination to follow it, regardless of the style it is.

After a little time in content creation on YouTube, I listened to suggestions from influencer channels and product pages to make my tools and investments into my business. I have created various songs and music on streaming sites, then signed up with CD Baby to release my first singles for worldwide distribution.

My goal is to be in the business of bringing joy to people through entertainment and storytelling to the best of my ability with an ever-expanding library of music. I continue to learn and experiment with music releases that will, hopefully, reach people and uplift their spirits.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

There are a few things.

Believing that animated shows, video games, comics, etc., were something to “grow out of” in adulthood.
Believing that LGBTQ+ was not a proper life “choice” and that I was in a very small population who’d often end up in jail.
Being taught a version of history that shines a bright light on authority and historical figures who are as corrupt as the Nazis and conquerors that were taught lived in other countries.
Recognizing the brainwashing in the media and the system which prioritizes and protects a class of people it also put on an image to cover the monsters beneath.

I thought before that I was also with a small population of people that felt like an imposter in my home, that I would rebel and stay at a distance, and that things may never change. But things started to change near the mid-2000s. Things like the stupid excuse’s attorneys were spreading of the dangers of video games and music turning children into killers. It was satisfying to see the tables turn and the world shift. The dawn of YouTube and smartphones with video cameras not only brought a new world of creatives and personalities more common to me but exposed corruption that was always controlled and gatekept away from the public. Finally, the people speaking up to elect a president of a very different and positive image than what’s ever been done before or since.

Now, LGBTQ+ communities are more visible and have little to fear being themselves in the States, and hopefully the world one day. Racism within the police, justice, and political; systems is being exposed and people. Predators in wealthy industries are being called out and sent to prison for crimes that should never have reached the point that they have. And most of all, everyone has a chance to succeed without living in school debts or low-paying and grueling jobs and slave-like industries to even the playing field.

There is still much to do to have freedom from colonials’ oppressive beliefs, and I stand by it.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, a very difficult part of being an artist is starting from a blank space without any idea whether what you’ll do next will be wasteful, lame, or mediocre, and if I have the knowledge yet to know how to rebound, it’s easy to just give up or constantly stick to what works. This may not be a bad thing but I feel, that when you start to feel at this point you’ve outlived your artistic growth. Work is never that easy.

However, if you make a breakthrough with something that gets, something that catches on, something that shows how you mean business but people also love what you do, that is a feat. Building worlds, narratives, harmonies, lyrics, characters, and whatever else from the mind is exhilarating. Then working at it through multiple angles, reinventions, improvements, and consistencies is the goal many of us aim for. Being celebrated, being inspired, and being in love with everything you do is what I consider the most rewarding aspects of being an artist and creative!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.curbbeats.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curb.beats/
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/curbbeats/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@curbbeats

Image Credits
Curb Beats