454, Willie Wilson is a rapper and producer from Orlando, Florida. His debut project 4 Real dropped in March, 2021 and quickly gained popularity. The album was featured alongside the release of Frank Ocean’s jewelry brand, Homer. Willie’s fast paced vocals and intentional lyrics create dense, mind bending tracks that get your head banging immediately. His sound is unmistakably his own. For this segment, I linked up with Willie at his apartment/studio in Brooklyn. He showed me around his studiom, played a few tracks for me, and dove into his story.
Willie explained that he can only make music when he is emotionally moved. That intensity and depth translates clearly into his music. When Willie reflected on his childhood, he told me about his father who was incarcerated for the first 6 years of his life. Many of his early memories center around his mother & visits to his father. When his father was released, they built a relationship and his father became his first major male role model. In 2008, his father was shot, and passed away in 2009. During that same year, Willie started making music with his little sister on a laptop, mostly making beats. Willie used music and skateboarding to cope with his loss and occupy his time. Willie built upon his musical ability throughout the years, honing his craft. Willie shares that he used to hate the sound of his voice. When he finally discovered a sound he liked, it completely reshaped his music. Over the years he has put out single after single all better than the next. His musical ability is apparent in his growth over the years.
When I asked Willie why he moved to New York, he explained that he always wanted to live here, or at least out of Longwood and that he had always admired his peers that left Orlando. When Willie first landed in NYC with his girlfriend, he had a few jobs, and even worked long hours at Whole Foods. Eventually, he landed a job at Alife and finally felt like he was a part of something special. Anyone in the industry can attest to the power of a good retail shop staff. Willie and I met in 2018 at the Alife store. I was there to photograph some of their gear. The shop had a great crew at the time - shout out Marc, Falcon, Lucas, Marcel, etc. - Everytime we saw each other we caught up. I walked into the shop and heard Willie playing music he recently dropped on Soundcloud. It was clear that everyone was excited by Willie’s music potential. Willie said that seeing his music get a positive reaction motivated him to continue making music. We are all witnessing the start of a long career for 454. He says his next step is gaining classical musical training.