Written by D-Starr – Trenton, NJ
If devotion to one’s grind were measured in miles traveled in pursuit of one’s goals, DJ WesWill would already be one of the hardest hustlers in the game; between his hometown of NYC to his childhood home in Willingboro NJ, lie a lot of ground to cover and miles of hip-hop history. Already a veteran of the DJ-ing scene with several mix-tape releases (and several local awards) under his belt, WesWill dropped his latest mix-tape (Ayo Wes Will) on Thanksgiving 2011. This month alone, the critically-acclaimed DJ has DJ’d for infamous VH-1’s Love and Hip-Hop’s Chrissy Lampkin; as well as worked on music with Big Ohh, AP the Mayor, Rudy Moose among others. I recently caught up the DJ WesWill and this is what he had to say in an exclusive interview, Wesley Williams sat down to discuss his goals, his crew Swatteam DJ’s, and what acts he would love to work with.”
You just released your album, AYO WesWill. What is “Ayo WesWill ” mean to you?
The Ayo portion of “Ayoweswill” basically means, holla at me! People call me or try to get my attention in the streets by saying “Ayo weswill”. So it stuck! That is my brand and I’m running with it.
You will be seeing a lot coming from the “Ayoweswill” brand.
The mixtape itself really meant a lot to me because it signified my rebirth. There were a lot of disappointment and pitfalls last year that really had my career on the shelf. So I had to make some adjustments and get back to the basics. Allow me to reintroduce myself “Ayoweswill”
What does Swatteam Dj’s represent to you, and what let everyone know what all you guys do?
Swatteam djs are my family, and support. Swat and its members were there really at the start of my career, and to this day we still rely on each other, we still do business and still collab on projects. Swat means the world to me. Even though we have different projects, live in different area’s and specialize in different things it’s still family at the end of the day, any SWAT member will tell you that.
Tell us what artist that you grew up listening that you would love to work with and why ?
I grew up on Jay Z, Nas, the Ruff Ryders, Biggie, the Lox, Wu Tang, Big Pun, Fat Joe, Busta Rhymes, Junior Mafia, man there’s too many I grew up on. Who I would love to work with is Jay Z, Jadakiss , and Styles P. Reason I’m fan first, second any project that we would work on would be something else. There creativity as artist I would love to be around, and I know the push behind it would be nothing less than the best.
What is the biggest difference between hip hop fans in South/Central New Jersey versus fans in New York?
There is no difference at all. Being from both areas I can say that with confidence. The only real difference is that South/Central Jersey listens to club music and NY doesn’t. The only difference I can see is that Southern Jersey may not gravitate to unsigned artists that may be on the come up, or have a heavy buzz from NYC and vise versa, and that’s just because Southern NJ is closer to Philly, so they will support a Gillie the Kid or a Meek Mill before he got signed more than a Fred the God son.
The other day you on Facebook you posted “Take the pain and turn it into positive.” Have you always had this outlook ? What is your biggest a challenge?
This is my outlook on life for 2012. As I said a lot has happened last year that has changed my perception on a lot of things, but I can’t let anything knock the hustle…pain to positives! My biggest challenge is consistency, which is a major part to this game. I promised myself not to get side tracked by anything this year, I’ve sacrificed a lot so its only right I do what I do in my career to make my sacrifices worthwhile.
What are you working on in the months to come, which you’d like The 7thBoro readers to know more about?
I just want the 7thboro readers to keep an eye out for the Ayoweswill brand, the website, mixtapes, parties/events, clothing, all that! Keep an eye out for music coming from Tierra Marie, Tone Trump, and Verse Simmonds. Also stayed tuned to my internet radio show with Northsidesmitty on Jahyummy.com Fridays from 8 to 10pm.
This article was written by guest blogger “D-Starr” for the 7th Boro.com