Mike Willz

No matter what is being distributed, a product is only as good as its supplier. With San Diego on the verge of penetrating the hip hop industry, native son Mike Willz stands as one of the most valuable presences to emerge. Thanks to underground testimonials like "Classic" and "24's the name", Willz's unique experiences and authentic style has quickly made believers out of the growing scene in Southern California. In his native Southeast, and throughout the city of San Diego, Big Slim has created nothing short of a movement. Now the whole coast will get to find out what the streets have been buzzing about when, �The Mike Wills Hour� releases this spring.

Unlike many Producers, Willz has been a student of the game, a man watching and learning all hustles, good and bad. Born and Raised in the infamous Ocean View Boulevard of Southeast San Diego, it was always difficult to plan anything legit. "It seemed at times being out there was the only way, so I can't blame anyone for how they get it, I know how hard it is" states the unhelplessly honest Mike Willz.

"Before music I was a young n*** seeing all the older niggas get it in my hood. It came from our hood first, then slowly everyone else was trying to drop EP's here and there, I was noticing how niggas wasn't f***ing wit each other, it was still a lot of feuds happening in the early-mid 90's. I was young then, and even though I wasn't there yet, a lot of the older heads would tell me to stick to it, like they were seeing some sh*** I wasn't".

Going through various changes, and seeing quite a few family and childhood friends in the cemeteries and penitentiaries, Willz has a very serious demeanor about his music, so strong in fact, even in Junior High School, he was nothing short of a hustler, selling over 2,000 tapes of then a young and unpolished group "Under Age".

"Basically, I can relate to anyone that's had a f***ed up life, but life isn't always f***ed up" saysMike Willz about the repetitive rap industry. �I don't just do club records or female-geared songs, I do music for the world. I do music for any young n*** like I was with no sense of direction. I'm trying to let it be known for the people that don't know about how hard it is to maintain, as far as the street."

Surprisingly, Mike Willz aka Big Slim refuses to speak on any affiliation in the gang-filled streets of his native Southeast San Diego. "Prop-21" he says with an intensely serious look on his face. Nor does he preach at his listeners while lecturing them to live righteously. Instead, his lyrics and Beats are laced with a strong message of advice, and a �Snitch City� sentiment that implies there is really no one left to trust in the now "police-saturated" streets. Call it "waking up the streets", if you will.
�I got a song on my album called �Work wit me� talking� about all the things niggas do to get the Po�s watching them and, of course, there are reasons why they make so many mistakes grindin�, explains 25 year old Slim. �That�s an example of the stuff on my album�, he continues. �It�s soulful and full of real life experiences, you can feel everything. I�m not just rhyming over beats like, I�ll kill you and we can dance all night. It�s not like that; there is a meaning behind each and every song.�

Packed with high octane beats (a majority of the album self-produced by Mike Willz himself) from newcomers like DJ Classic, and SI, Mike Willz crafted �The Mike Wills Hour� as if he were trying to give his soul to anyone who could relate to his rough life experiences. One of the album�s many highlights is �B Me�, which Mike Willz explains how unstable and unforgiving the streets have been since the initiation of prop 21 in early 2002. �They giving these young 14 year olds life sentences in prison, and don't expect them lil niggas to bang-out every chance they get", he explains. �It's at the point now a lot of them feel backed in a corner, so they are going to do whatever they feel is needed to give them that space or sense of respect in they hood.�

Another ingredient that enhances Mike Willz�s persona is his unique vocal delivery. �I have heard him rhyme over just about every beat�, raves Si the Pontif, both a partner and childhood friend of Willz. �Everybody else would do the same old simple flow, but Slim flips it and he�s really saying something�, he continues. �It�s wordplay at its best.�

Considering how Mike Willz came of age, it�s no wonder why he feels a sense of responsibility to make sure his lyrics contain a sense of right and wrong and a degree of morality. Unlike most MCs who falsely brag about living the life they rap about, Mike Willz truly did live the script that he writes in his rhymes-and he suffered the consequences for his actions. �South East San Diego is the heart of that life a lot of imposters claim to have lived,� he says, describing the setting of his adolescence. �It