Many stories of those from Detroit are rooted in complete struggle; rapper Willie Mac Jr. uses his music to offer a different perspective as he values entrepreneurship, speaks on playership and serves as an advocate for spreading love. Willie offers a complete view of everything from the Midwest staple shown from both his personality and what he expresses in his music. Willie is a product of a family that had both a mother and a father present and deep-rooted in basketball. He is the brother of NBA stars, Jordan and Joe Crawford, and has the skill level to compete with anyone – especially other artists – that you can bring to him. However, unlike his brothers, basketball wasn’t his true calling, music is.
Before switching over to music, Willie Mac Jr. was a star prospect at Bradley University, Valdosta State University, and Fort Valley State University. Unfortunately, at the time, his path to hoop dreams was stalled by losing his scholarship. A blessing in disguise, Willie turned to music after his brothers encouraged him to write to an instrumental, discovering a new skillset and unlocking a passion that will push him a direction other than the hardwood. “Both of my brothers are a big part of the reason I feel I can be anything,” Willie says. “The dedication and determination they put toward their dreams and in fact being able to achieve them opened my eyes to a world of possibilities.”
Willie always had a love for music, knowing the lyrics of legendary hip-hop icons such as Jay Z, Tupac and Kanye West. As he transitioned from the court to the booth, those artists ended up being his inspirations. That first song turned into a slew of tracks in the forthcoming days and his brothers used their contacts and connections to align more producers for him. That quick, a new talent emerged as his dominant one and a new career developing.
What you hear in Willie Mac Jr.’s music is different from what you may expect. There aren’t just flows about life’s luxuries; instead, you get his story, raw emotion, elements of Detroit and family anecdotes. Music also served as a therapy, providing him with a way to honor his late grandfather. Soon the art trumped his love for basketball and became his new number one. Introducing Willie Mac Jr. to the game was his debut mixtape When I Really Became Willie, a release that captures his life’s triumphs and failures, details his coming of age as a rapper and established his trajectory as the next one to emerge from Motown.
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