Charlotte, NC
Christopher Williams, YUNG Citizen, a true gem to the music industry and more importantly his community. I was excited to talk to him more about his early days growing up in Charlotte and how music became such a big piece to who he is. Chris sheds light on how important it is for him to make impacts to peoples lives through his music and overall incredible character.
How did the name YUNG come about? — “I don’t know, man; I’ve been working on music since I was a teenager, and my friends were always like you need a name, bro. You have Young Jeezy, Young Jock, Young Dro, but they always spelled it Young, so I said let’s do YUNG, and that just stuck with everybody.”
Are you from Charlotte? - "Born and raised in Charlotte. There are a lot of us but everyone don't be outside *laughs or they just go to their normal places they go to. I found many Charlotte natives don't flock to the latest and greatest and they'll just go later. There are a lot of people who still live in the city, who were born and raised here." Take me back to the early days. Where did the music passion kick in? “When I was a little kid, my Dad was always shoving Earth, Wind and Fire down my throat. Every time we went on trips, Earth, Wind and Fire were blasting. Shoot, I was introduced to Shade at a young age, so I was introduced to many R&B and Soul before my parents allowed me to listen to hip hop. Actually, the first hip-hop album I listened to is on that shelf, College Dropout. So a lot of soul, r&b, old school, it was just introduced at the right time at an early age. I started to buy magazines and wanted to learn more about these dope cats who were making music and how can I do that. I wanted to be different and started to make beats at 16. When I got to college, I saw they had a music program, and I got my undergrad in music business, and then I really took it seriously. I started to be an artist because I couldn't find anyone to get on my beats, so I figured let me start songwriting and get on my own music, so I took songwriting classes and just studied the game and the craft and kept writing to get better and better at it. That's how I got here today, and I just rap over my own music."
Are you a goal-driven person? “I definitely have goals. I performed at SXSW in 2016; I was on Sway in the Morning. It was a radio show, and he had segments where you can get on live and freestyle. After that, they actually posted my freestyle. I’ve performed at so many great venues in Charlotte. As far as goals, I want to impact the community with my music as much as I can. That’s what it's all about for me, and if I’m not doing that, then this is not for me. So that’s my main goal every time if I’m producing or writing my own music, I want to impact the community in a possitve way. That’s my purpose, and that’s all I’m here for. If I can impact or heal someone with my music, that’s success for me.”
Talk to me about Morning Pages and what things you take away from that for your benefit. “This came to be when I read this book called The Artist Way. The book is almost like a class because it gives you homework after every chapter. One of these assignments was to write three pages in your journal every morning when you wake up and then take yourself out on a date every once in a while. During COVID, I began writing; you see those journals right there? Everyone one of them is full, front to back. I’ve been doing that for about two years now. So every day when you wake up, you write three pages, and the whole point is to get all that clutter out of your mind when you first wake up so you’ll have a clear mind to start filling your canvas. My canvas is right here, in this studio. It helped me not only with my writer's block helped me mentally, and that’s when I started to take my mental health seriously. I had a buddy call me into the studio one day to help write one of his tracks, and in two hours, I finished the song because I had that clear mind. I started therapy and started working on this project called The Morning Pages. It was three songs, and it was almost like a journal entry. I ended up doing a few mental health events to get people to own it and show how it helps. After seeing how it was impacting people, I started to just create this as a brand. I started putting out journal prompts to people who signed up for this so every Monday I put out a journal entry. Then Thursday I do something called Morning talks and just chat about all different things — patience, building a foundation of routine for yourself, how to find a therapist, things like that.”
What is a proud moment in life that has shaped you into who you are today? “I think it is a proud moment for me; well, one of the reasons I got into mental health is because I battled with an addiction. I got over that; I’ve been clean. I haven’t smoked weed or drank for about two years now. I haven’t looked back. I just knew where I was trying to go in my life; I needed a clear mind and focus on everything in front of me. If I can get over all of that, I can get over anything. Musically, taking chances and doing things differently. Taking risks and not being afraid of rejection or failure and just learning from it. Taking chances on the type of music I’m making, just doing different things to learn and grow. I just have to keep going. Some days it’s hard but I know what my purpose is so lets just continue the journey and see what’s ahead.”
What lessons have you learned along the way that you take with you daily? “Patience, man. Things are going to happen when they are supposed to happen. You don’t need to be in a rush, but you do need to be in love with the process of what you are trying to do. Being in the process gives me so much joy because I can see where it’s taking me.”