2012 Hip Hop Champion: Ya Boy LilG

Take a measure of charm; add ton of talent, a load of resilience, and a whole lot of swag and you’ll have Angelo “Ya Boy LilG” Williams. This 19 year-old, multi-faceted rapper/producer/singer/engineer has a lot of wisdom to share with his generation, and he uses his music to do just that. Ya Boy LilG won the title of 2012 Hip Hop Champion at the Beyond Idol (BI) Finals held at New Parish in Oakland in October 2012. With his producer holding down hooks, Ya Boy LilG performed his way to an inspiring victory over two other hip-hop contestants.

The overall prize package ($250, free recording sessions, photo shoot, & video) is what compelled Ya Boy LilG to enter into the competition.

“I saw the opportunity and took a lane. Some of my friends were talking about auditioning, and I heard the prize was going to be a lot so I said ‘why not?’” He added, “I’m always in it for the prize.”

Ya Boy LilG is already a seasoned artist with over nine years of performance and writing under his belt. He cut his teeth as a rapper in 2005, performing with his schoolmate at a Bar & Grill in Atlanta, the city he lived in for a time with his music producer (biological) mother.

“We performed at the bar, but we couldn’t stay because they were serving alcohol and things. So we had to leave, but we had the whole club rocking with us,” he recalls.

Ya Boy LilG says both of his moms are his main inspiration and credits his biological mom for introducing him to some of the big-time rappers and producers in Atlanta who motivated him to try his hand at making music.

Though his mother and his maternal great aunt (who he lives with now and also calls mom) were the ones to encourage him to take his pursuit of music seriously, they also told him to have a back-up plan.

“My mom said I had to go to school or get a job. I didn’t want to be another statistic and I like to study music, so that’s why I am taking up sound design in school now.”

Ya Boy LilG admits that at times he has some issues with procrastination and the challenges of life, but he uses his fear of failure to motivate him past those constraints. He intends to thrive.

“I have to achieve my goals. I can’t just survive.” The Dream Catcher

Ya Boy LilG has big dreams and is on the path to realizing them. Already he has learned the practice many successful people employ in the pursuit of their goals: visualization. So long as Ya Boy LilG continues to see himself as successful, he will be. Using visualization techniques in 2012, put Ya Boy LilG on the winners stand for both of the competitions he entered; BI and Hip Hop for AIDS, an awareness event at Laney College. He shares his process:

“I get myself prepared mentally by visualizing what I am going to do before I do it. So by the time I’m actually doing it, I’ve already done it, so to speak. First I listen to the song. I get my breath control together, determine at what points I’m going to get the crowd hyped, and focus on choreography. I learned that from watching MTV, seeing other artists talk about how they prepare for a show, and it made me realize that I had to add those elements in my process too. At the (BI) finals I was focused on standing out and shining. Everybody there was good but I was like, ‘I’ve got to get everybody to participate.’ You’ve got to get people moving, you just can’t go out there and rap and expect them to be with you. What are you doing to make people believe in you?”

His strategy definitely worked, because according to Ya Boy LilG, Bl was the first show where they audience cheered him on and sang the lyrics of his song along with him.

Ya Boy LilG is a community-oriented artist. His name comes from that mindset, and he hopes to impart to people that he is familiar when they say his name. “I want people to feel like I’m their boy, their patna. That’s why I’m ‘Your’ Boy LilG.”

When he makes it big, he hopes to open up large studios in major urban centers like Chicago, Oakland, and Atlanta where young people can develop music and art in order to stay away from violence and to share their own stories. He feels that a collaborative attitude will help other people be successful and he uses collaboration to improve his skill.

Looking ahead in the coming years, Ya Boy LilG will be seen doing more shows and making public appearances. By 2014 he will graduate with his AA with a plan to transfer to San Francisco State to earn a degree in their music and multimedia program. By age 23, he plans to take his independent label to the next level by turning it into a major. Ya Boy LilG has vision. He’s got a plan and he knows he has the tools to accomplish his goals.

To youth looking to achieve their dreams, Ya Boy LilG says: “You’ve got to have consistency, persistence, a smile on your face, and a loving and caring attitude for the people who support you. If you can do that, you can be whatever you want to be.”

Angelo “Ya Boy LilG” is a dream catcher!

If you want to learn more, watch videos or download his music:
Ya Boy LilG’s Reverbnation page »