Issue One 2011

“I always say that music, laughter and love are the universal languages that penetrate and conquer all barriers,” reads the blog of artist Billy Drease Williams.  From his inspirational blog to the elbow patches on his tweed jacket, Drease doesn’t fit the standard-issue rap-artist persona.  Across a well-worn coffee table in a quiet corner of a local café he casually crumbles Saltines into his vegetarian chili as he shares the philosophies that shape his music.  Drease clarifies right off the bat that he isn’t a rapper, he’s a Hip Hop artist.  “Rap is an industry.  Hip Hop is a culture,” he explains, “it’s a way of life, a subgenre in and of itself.  Hip Hop has its own art to it–styling, narrative, storytelling.”  Drease draws a line–putting rap on the side of business and the work of an emcee on the side of art deserving of respectful consideration.  He compares an emcee’s signature style to a painter’s technique: “if we were to take a bunch of well-trained artists and put their work up randomly on a wall, a well-trained eye would be able to sort them back out by the artists’ styles–reoccurring color palettes, cubist elements, level of photographic detail–they all have a style.”  Of his own style, Drease says it utilizes the traditional rhyming and syncopation elements of Hip Hop but from a different approach–an inspirational approach with a universal message.
    While Drease argues that Hip Hop is a rapidly evolving culture that’s hard to pin down with a static definition, his style brings rap back to its origins.  Hip Hop got its start in the Bronx when the 1970’s city service pull out left the borough struggling through poverty, gang wars, and a series of widespread arsons that halved the population of its residents and its real-estate in less than a decade.  In the presence of rapidly spreading urban decay, an idea developed that groups could duel via music instead of violence.  Drease’s music is inspired, not by feuding alliances, but by the inner battles we all face in the fight for freedom.  “We all have got chains that hang around our necks and weigh us down–things we’re attached to, things we’re addicted to–we all have chains down to our waistline and we all have to find a way to get free so we can move forward.”  He hopes his work “positively encourages people to get free of whatever is holding them back,” while still showing people that Hip Hop is a thriving and rapidly evolving culture that has more than just one look and more than just one sound. 
    In Drease’s video Underground Railroad, we catch a quick glimpse of a mantra etched in sharpie on the desk lamp in his studio.  “Believe, Persevere, Succeed.” Drease calls this part of his “billionaire mindset.”  His billionaire mindset has less to do with money and more to do with the number of personal achievements he’s able to wrack up in his lifetime.  He says he keeps himself free and motivated by keeping his house full of inspirational quips.  “Every day in every way I’ll get better and better.” “Do the things you fear and success will be yours.”  Drease says he deals with fear in one form or another every day, and he likes to keep the mantras around to inject energy and affirmations into his everyday activities, whether he’s switching on the light or reaching into the fridge.  At the top of Drease’s billionaire mindset list is to bring a Grammy back to Buffalo, New York, his home town.  Drease says he might not have a Grammy “yet,” but it’s on the list. 
    Of his professional achievements, Drease says he’s most proud of his latest solo album, Good Morning AMY.  Drease calls the album “a testament to perseverance.  It’s my voice, my vision–its all me.”  AMY is an acronym for After Many Years, and is meant to personify the struggles and the triumph of his journey as an artist.  While his album expresses the successes, his EP addresses the failures.  “Failure is something we’re taught not to embrace,” he explains, “I’m a success in many ways, but I’ve failed more times in more ways than I’ve succeeded.  We have to fail to succeed.”  Drease muses, going back to the album title, that the beautiful thing about mornings is that they offer fresh starts.  At the end of the day you can put failures to rest, knowing that morning brings a new day and a fresh start.  The album and the EP compliment each other, exploring the different sides of the same events, the successes and all the failures leading up to them.  The bowtie he sports on the album’s cover is symbolic of this fail-till-you-succeed process.  One of his goals for the year was to teach himself to tie a bowtie, “That’s why it’s a little lopsided,” he says.  “I’m still learning.”

    Good Morning AMY is available for download via his myspace.  You can keep up with Drease through his blog at www.edreys.com.