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As a kid from Charlotte — growing up in a Liberian household — music, and battle rap were some of his first loves. At the age of 13, he made the cognizant choice to pursue his rap dreams early on. He put out his first mixtape, which through persistence and faith, eventually found its way into the hands of North Carolina legend 9th Wonder, who is known for his record producing and his time in the rap group “Little Brother.”
He talks about his start during the music.
“My mom is from Liberia. And my father’s from Liberia… So, even when I used to go to my pop’s crib on the weekend, he was cleaning up, he plays African music… Then you know, I step outside, and I’m embracing all the hip-hop culture from my homies, my older cousins… I’ve always been passionate about music. So, if you know me from elementary school to middle school to high school, you’re not even surprised that I’m doing what I’m doing now. Because even though I was quiet, people knew me because when the mic came on, that’s when the big voice came out.”
Hailing from the east side of Charlotte, Vincent is a 22-year-old artist signed to Roc Nation. Yes, the same Roc Nation that is owned by Jay-Z — one of the most well-known hip-hop artists on the planet.
He talks about his upbringing in Charlotte.
“We have our own culture and I think people need [to know that] and people are starting to finally get a taste of that. Do you know what I’m saying? To
new upcoming artists — and you know, basketball has been going crazy lately — to sports. Charlotte has grown because a lot of people come here to raise their families. One thing I can say about Charlotte, [is] it has its culture, and it’s finally starting to get its flowers.”
He talks about how he took music seriously
“When I was 13 years old, I put out a mixtape called “IDOL.ESCENT.” And I put it out, and the quality was terrible, but I was still trying to get it… And I was emailing all my favorite producers. And the last person I was going to email was 9th Wonder. So, I was like, ‘Nah, he will never see it.’
“Ironically, like a week later, somebody from Oakland, California, named ‘Mr. Drake’ on Twitter and Instagram — I still talk to him today — he tweeted 9th and was like, ‘Yo, I don’t know this kid from anywhere. I don’t have a dog in this fight. You need to check him out.’ And he just so happened to be on Twitter. He clicked and he liked what he heard… So, he was like, ‘I want you to come down to my studio in Raleigh.’ And then I went down to the studio, and I did like nine songs in three days.
This article was written by: Peter Bishop, SI News Blog Contributor
“And as I got older, he was just giving me a place to record at first. But he saw a hunger and a drive that I had, and he ended up signing me when I was like 16 or 17 years old. So, he took me under his wing. And you know, I started working, working, working, working, working.”
During the interview talk about how Roc Nation signed him
“I took a leap of faith and we put out a “State-of-Mind” [music] video. And Roc saw it because, you know, I took a meeting with them earlier in the year and played them a couple of songs, but they wanted to see the work. They want to see your persistence and they saw it and they [were] like ‘Man, this kid ready.’ So, they called 9th [Wonder] up and was like, ‘We want to sign him.'”
You have met a lot of your different heroes. What have those experiences been like for you?
“I mean, for me, I feel like the reason why none of that really fazes me is that, I kind of knew what I was getting into.
9th [Wonder] already kind of prepared me that people are just human beings… And I met Kendrick Lamar when I was 18. Before I even signed to the Roc, when I was just traveling around with 9th. And then I met J. Col
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You have met a lot of your different heroes. What have those experiences been like for you?
“I mean, for me, I feel like the reason why none of that really fazes me is that, I kind of knew what I was getting into.
9th [Wonder] already kind of prepared me that people are just human beings… And I met Kendrick Lamar when I was 18. Before I even signed to the Roc, when I was just traveling around with 9th. And then I met J. Cole, then I met Hov [Jay Z], then I met, you know, a few other people. But even when I met them, I was just like, you — they were just regular people, at the end of the day… I’m not taking that away from them. But at the end of the day, we’re human…
“It’s like, you know, we put people so much on a pedestal, but not even just stuff on a pedestal, we put accolades and awards on a pedestal. But, really, man, none of that really matters. At the end of the day, it’s about who you are as a person. It’s about feeding your family, protecting your family. That’s how I look at it, man.”
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I see some of the influence of these artists… Talk to me about how you make the music your own. Where do you pull from, as far as writing?
“I pull from life experiences, honestly. Like, especially what I’ve been doing during the music I’ve been doing now… And one thing I used to do in the past that I stopped doing now is I used to be very cryptic with stuff because I was like, ‘Oh, this is a life experience that happened to me and I want to keep it personal to me.
So, I’m not really going to go into detail on the song but I’m going to just say a little bit, enough that I at least know what I’m talking about.’ And you know, I’ve been learning to just get more vulnerable and get more personal.”
He posted on his tweeter page “5 years ago I skipped my high school prom to go to Kendrick’s show. Met him and Cole that night. Didn’t promote myself just told them thank you for what they do and got a pic. First forward I’m doing Dreamville Fest. Keep my head down & work now it is full circle!! God is great
