Coming straight out the Chicago underground is the phenomenon known as Will Daniels, better known as Will is Chillin'.
Born and raised in Logan Square, the young man raps and produces his own stuff. A self-described hip-hop head, he began producing Sophomore year of high school because, according to him, he had had "no life". He created a short-lived rap group named DDN with a friend. That same friend was the one who convinced him to rap in the first place. As soon as a started rapping, he became obsessed with it and now all he does is create music. He is currently the leader of a crew called VOTV (Voices of the Voiceless). Will is Chillin' is one of those rare rappers who's life is defined by music.
His catalog is immensely large and when you listen you can instantly pinpoint his influences. The work ethic of Charles Hamilton (minus the batshit crazyness) with the lo-fi lyrical genius of Benefit (minus the whole falling off the facw of the Earth thing) lives in this guy's soul. His latest release, Voice of the Voiceless: Forever Chillin', perfectly encases all the techniques and styles that ol' Will has worked on with his previous projects and ties them together into an amazing album for someone without any sort of deal in place. Chicago is budding with local talent right now and Will is Chillin' is right there at the forefront.
You can listen to Will is Chillin's album Voice of the Voiceless: Forever Chillin' here:
Will is Chillin's YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/WillIsChillin
4/03/2012
Joe Valdez
