Will Kobus Interview

Destany Long: I read that you started writing raps at 15 years old. It seems like music has always been a real love for you. What inspired you to start writing at a young age & when did you realize you wanted to do more with it?  

Will Kobus: I've always been a fan of music. I grew up in a somewhat musical household. I used to go to this camp every year as a kid in upstate New York and I made a lot of friends there throughout the years. There was a lot going on during this time with 2DopeBoyz, and the blog era of hip hop. I feel like we were reaching that age where we were starting to find things we liked outside of what was presented to us. So, my friends started rhyming. I remember one day we were having a cypher somewhere downtown. It was an open circle, and somebody pushed me in and was like, “Yo, spit something”. I just remember spitting something and the reception I got was so much more positive than what I was expecting. I was kinda thrown into the fire, but honestly, I think that encouraged me to start rapping. I remember that summer when I came home, I was just writing raps every day. I also used to run track and play basketball. So, I would come home from school after practice, and I would just write raps, and I did that for 3 years. It wasn't until I was 17 that I started the transition to studying the craft and figuring out what I liked about certain artists. I had this idea for a song and the things I wanted to express, and I was able to stick to the topic the whole way through. I remember the catharsis I felt by the end of writing that song. And that's when it was like, okay, this feeling… I need it. 

Destany Long: How would you describe your sound and writing style now? 

Will Kobus: I was talking to my friend about it recently, but I feel like when I first started writing, I wanted to be the best rapper alive – like bars on bars on bars on bars. I can definitely rap at a high level, and I’m proud of that. I worked hard to get there. But now, it’s not just about being the best rapper; I want to be the best artist I can be and create music that people can live with. One day I might make a real boom bap, hip hop song, and maybe the next day I’ll want to make an R&B ballad or a love song. You know, me and my friend are working on a house project right now. I'm in that space now where I feel very free, and I don't feel bound by my own perception or the perceptions of others. I think for a long time, I was very consumed by that. But to answer your question, I don't really know how to describe my sound as a whole. All I know is that with whatever sound I approach, it's always rooted in hip hop. I don't want to be one dimensional, and I always challenge myself to do things I’ve never done. I also love hip hop. It saved and changed my life, so I’ll always ground everything in that. Whether I'm singing or doing something different, it's still gonna have that feel to it, that honesty and vulnerability – that true spirit of hip hop.

Destany Long: Your music has such a familiar vibe that gives listeners a great reference point for other artists! When I listen to your music, I always think of Frank Ocean, especially hearing your singing. Do you get any other artist comparisons?  

Will Kobus: That’s crazy, I’ve gotten Frank before. I mean, he’s one of my favorite artists. I have the Blonde vinyl on my wall, so it means alot honesty. I was very apprehensive to start singing in the beginning. I felt like people had to tell me that I had a voice. That definitely pushed me to the point where I started doing more R&B stuff. I love R&B. Rapping wise, I'd say the two people I get the most are probably Earl and Kendrick, flow wise. I think that those are ones I can't even pretend to not see; just because obviously those three people all had a very big influence on me, even before I was creating music. There's definitely things in each of them that I've taken. I’m a fan and a student, you know. I may sound like these people, but I want to make sure that my art is unique to me. 

Destany Long: Congratulations on the release of “The Marble and the Sculptor”—it’s a great project! In the narrative, who is the sculptor, and what does the marble symbolize? 

Will Kobus: Funny enough, it’s kind of the whole thing. The title is a reference to a quote that I found in a book I was reading called Meditations by this philosopher named Marcus Aurelius. One thesis that’s mentioned is the idea that you're not in control of what happens to you, you’re only in control of how you move forward from things. For the past two years of my life, I felt so hyper focused on what I was supposed to get out of the work I was putting in. I was really attached to the idea of my own expectations that I let a lot of other important things fall to the wayside and my life was crumbling in a way. So the marble and the sculptor comes from a reference to this article I read from a guy who was making comments on the book I was reading. He has a quote where he says [and I'm paraphrasing], but he's like, “A man can't grow without suffering for, he's the marble and the sculptor.” So I'm both of them; it's this idea that you’re the person doing the work, but you're also being worked on at the same time.

Destany Long: What was your process like while making this album, and what did it teach you along the way?

Will Kobus: This is my fifth full-length project that I’ve released in the last two to three years. Two of them were collaborative projects with my friends, but that’s to say, I’ve been working really, really hard. I haven’t said this publicly, but this was one of those albums where I honestly didn’t even know if it was going to come together until it did. I just wanted to make my version of *Meditations*. I learned the most about myself throughout the process of making this album. I realized how poignant it was and discovered that this wasn’t a book he wrote for people to read; it was a journal of things he was saying to himself. I think I grew a lot from this album, and I’m feeling much more open. For example, I used to have locs, and I cut them off after the album was released because I realized I had to shed and let go of some things. I think that’s a big testament to my growth.

Destany Long: What’s your favorite song on the album? 

Will Kobus: It changes. I have different songs for different reasons, but I'll give you two. One song that I’m really proud of is the third song, “wheneva u want”. Again, going back to the rap and R&B thing. I’m a real R&B soulquarian, like my favorite album is Voodoo by D’Angelo. Learning how to rap and then getting to a point where I can make a song that’s more melodic –  that’s a space I feel like I’ve worked really hard to get to. My other favorite, and the most personal song to me is definitely the second to last track, it's called “4commons”. This song is a reference to my grandmother who passed away while I was making this project. She was in hospice care and I remember the day they told us that they were going to end things. I didn’t know where to place these feelings at the time, so I made that song. I made the beat, sat there, wrote the verse, and just did it all in one swoop. It was really powerful too, because I write a lot about family and the things I go through but to make something right after I had gotten the news… I just didn’t really know what else to do. And I think that’s the culmination of what music can be and how healing it can be, at least for me.  

Destany Long: What’s next for you? What should listeners be on the lookout for? 

Will Kobus: More visuals! I got a couple visuals in the works for the project as well. There's still a lot of songs that I want to put out but it’s hard to figure out how to effectively push everything because sometimes I just wanna drop. Currently, I'm trying to figure out the deluxe and that'll probably be early next year. Other than that, just more singles and visuals. I want to shoot videos for old projects that people might not have heard of. I'm also working on 2 projects, but I don't know if they're gonna come out next year. But yeah, lots of things on the way.