Sketch Williams

Nothing sketchy about Sketch

Sketch Williams' positive brand of hip hop has a good rap

Kids hate piano lessons and Sketch Williams was no exception. Despite being a budding hip hop/pop artist and a student at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Williams (aka Christian Mann) once loathed tickling the ivories.

"If you're going to get your kids to do piano, just prepare for about three years of absolute grief from them. It will happen, it always does," Williams, 20, says. "The thing is, I absolutely despised piano from the age of 12 to about 15, couldn't stand it, but my parents kept pushing and pushing and I can honestly say that I couldn't be more thankful for that because, without it, I wouldn't be doing this."

His parents' perseverance paid off. In September, Williams will release his second full-length album, City in the Clouds - a concept album exploring love and relationships. It's bubbly, bouncy and buoyant, and anybody who's heard his single Girl with a Pretty Name on Hot 103 knows Williams has a good rap.

"I always try and keep a positive kind of message in my music, because the problem with hip hop is it's getting away from the classic nature of what hip hop was," Williams says. "It used to be about power to the people, getting people amped up but nowadays it's about shooting, killing, sex, drugs and alcohol. I think that's why it gets such a bad rap."

And who better to guide one down the path of musical positivity than Fresh I.E.? Williams considers the Christian hip hop artist a mentor as well as a musical partner.

"Fresh I.E. is probably the Timbaland of Canada," he says. "The stuff we produce on our own sounds totally different, but when we get together there is this transfusion thing that goes on. He writes the perfect drum beats to my music. We've been doing it for five years now, and I think the relationship is strong."

Whether it's the tone of his tunes or the fact that he's performed at the Teddy Bears' Picnic five years running, Williams comes across as upbeat and helpful. If you catch him in any other disposition, he's probably pretending. An actor too, Williams plays Lawrence in City TV's Less Than Kind.

"I get this part where I get to punch somebody, I get to make out with a super-hot chick, and I'm driving a BMW Roadster," Williams says. "This is the greatest part I've ever had. It's totally out of character. I'd be up in my room reading the script just trying to figure out if this was real life, how could I be this much of a dick? I had a lot of fun with that part."

Go to SketchWilliams.com for a free download of Williams' new track, Summer Story.

Are you One to Watch? If you're an aspiring performer, actor, juggler, artist, poet, etc., tell us more about yourself. Send us an e-mail to source@uptownmag.com.

by: Jared Story - Uptown Magazine - 09/07/09

Tuesday, February 7, 2006
Trisha North
scene.teen contributor

Winnipeg has a new star in Christian Mann who has a role on Falcon Beach, Canada's answer to The O.C.

Christian plays Tyler Ellis, brother of the main character Danny and friend of Georgie, the mayor's son.

Surfer boy Image

He credits his looks as the main reason he got the role. Auditions and interviews were done but his surferboy image is what got Christian the part.

When he received the call that confirmed his spot on the series, a year and a half ago, he was ecstatic. "I was jumping up and down calling all my friends and family."

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Christian has been acting for about four years and, from the looks of it, he seems like another member of Canada's hidden talent pool.

You might wonder if being part of something like this would get to your head somewhat, but when I asked Christian if he felt any differently he brushed it off saying he feels normal.

According to him, his friends and family haven't treated him any differently, but if someone new comes into the picture they are definitely excited and ask the same questions we all would.

Aside from the show, he's been busy in the studio recording his first album, produced and featuring Grammy nominated hip hop artist Fresh I.E. So in that sense he has another alias, Sketch Williams.

He also plays amazingly on the piano. I know because I heard a little of what that sounds like from a private session.

He has been a part of the International Model Search, flaunting what his mama gave him but was too young to take the title.

Another thing this young playboy, Christian or Sketch, whatever you choose to call him, does on his free time is doing back flips on Lake Winnipeg during the summer holidays. He loves to go wakeboarding when he's taking breaks from his busy schedule.

As for Falcon Beach, watch it Wednesdays on Global.

The series is done filming for now but Chris is still catching rave waves from his ever-so-growing fan base.

If you can't get enough, visit his website: www.sketchwilliams.com

Trisha North is a student at Grant Park High School - Winnipeg Sun - scene.teen

Turn your back for just a second and you'll have a giant stack of local CDs on your desk.

All of a sudden we had some sort of Gremlins thing going on and we were faced with a quickly multiplying pile of plastic from artists as diverse as The Duhks, Sketch Williams and the Harlots.

After using more batteries than a porn star on vacation we got through all 36 discs and discovered the usual variety of duds and studs. Here's our take on what the local music community had to offer in the last five months.


(Grade:) B
SKETCH WILLIAMS
The Moonlit Tunnel
(Indie)

Website: www. sketchwilliams.com
Young hip hop artists could do a lot worse than hooking up with two-time Grammy nominee Fresh I.E. Sketch Williams, aka Christian Mann, did exactly that, releasing the EP Portrait of a Poet in May 2005. This follow-up dropped in summer and features the blossoming actor (Falcon Beach), model and rapper kicking his lyrics over minimal beats and effects that take cues from R&B and soul. Williams is only in his late teens, so he's still getting the delivery down, but his flow is easy and smooth. The MO is bare and stripped, but tracks such as Life Goes On incroporate some backing vocals to good effect, and The Old Wood uses some strings and shows why Williams is a two-time winner of the Canada Music Week composition competition. Williams still has room to grow, but expect that growth - MW

- Uptown - November 2, 2006

The Moonlit Tunnel
Independent

You may know Sketch Williams as Tyler Ellis from TV's "Falcon Beach," or as actor Christian Mann, who at 17 has a head of golden locks that should help keep him in pictures for decades. (Why are we so obsessed with this kid's hair? We honestly don't know.) But were you also aware he's been moonlighting as a rapper, or that his first album "The Moonlit Tunnel" was produced by Grammy Nominated Winnipeger Rob (Fresh I.E.) Wilson? Though some of the subject matter is a mite teen-angsty for our liking, Williams achieves impressive emotional heights using understated backing tracks of strings, drums and piano. And the lyrics are far superior to what you'd find scribbled in your typical high school notebook. - this is the same guy who's twice won the Canada Music Weeks composing competition, after all. He's also a fully solid little rhymer, which bodes well for his chances of padding that resume even further.

***1/2 out of ***** - The Winnipeg Sun - November 23, 2006