Kasino Will

Rollin' Thru Video - www.whosnext2blow.com

Kasino Will (born Earl Williams) is a Northeast-based hip-hop artist and engineer whose music and passion for life captured our attention during our Sonicbids.com competition. With unflinching self-reflection and truth, Kasino Will’s soulful, poetic songs of urban life weave a story of heartbreak, life, death, love, tragedy, and ultimately, hope.

This straight-up storytelling, wrapped in lyrical rhymes that shift and shuffle against solid hip-hop beats, and layered in melodic R&B hooks and constructs, is what landed Kasino Will in our Top 10.

The release of his second mixtape Currency Chase 2 is due any day, so here’s the invite to hit the virtual streets with Kasino Will by visiting his website and giving his music a spin. For those sensitive souls, we share a language warning. - House Band Wines

[11.1.11] Some people go their entire lives wondering and
questioning what they are destined to do. They jump
from job to job hoping something strikes their fancy.
Some people are luckier. They know from a young
age why they were placed on this Earth. New York
rapper Kasino Will is one of those people.
Kasino Will has been rapping
since he was 12 years old. His beloved
cousin, who happened to be a rapper, introduced
him to the genre. He would go into the recording
studio and be enchanted by what he heard. It was
there, at that age, Kasino Will knew what he was
destined to do. “Ever since then, I knew I wanted
to rap,” he says.
And a rapper he became. The New York
native has just released his solo debut Time II
Cash In, an album filled with deeply personal
rhymes dealing with his rough childhood and up-bringing. During his youth, hip-hop became
a solace for him. Childhood wasn’t the easiest
of times for Will. “I had a rough time as a kid,”
he remembers. “There was no dad in my house.
There was no one to talk to. Music was there
though and gave me the opportunity to express
whatever it was I was feeling.”
When Will was 10, his older brother and
role model was sent to prison. Life didn’t get any
easier for the young rapper when he reached adolescence.
His good friend, Jarrell, died when he
was just 13 years old. “I use writing to say things
I otherwise would keep buried inside,” Kasino
Will says.
Music was a constant in his household. He
fondly remembers the music his mother would
having playing during his childhood. She was
a big fan of Al Green and Gladys Knight, while
Will was heavily influenced and inspired by
Tupac. “Keep Ya Head Up,” was one record that
had an especially important influence on the
young rapper’s life. “It was saying you can still
get through it,” he says. “It changed everything
for me.”
Soon, Kasino Will started writing his own
raps. He would use his life experiences as the
catalyst for his lyrics. “I think about the kids in
the neighborhood outside having fun. When I am
writing, I think about that and try to bring that
to life. I write about the emotions you go throughin life without any outside influence. There is
nobody in the room with me [when I write],” he
says. He would also learn how to engineer and
produce his own records at the age of 15. Kasino
was determined to become successful even at a
young age.
The meaning behind Kasino Will’s lyrics
are a huge deal for the rapper. In a genre that’s
notorious for being materialistic and onedimensional,
Will writes socially conscious and
emotionally provocative raps. “I write music for
the neighborhood,” he says. “I write what means
something to me.”
Being so emotionally candid worked, as
Kasino Will has garnered a rapidly growing fan
base. Because of this, things are beginning to
happen to him he never thought would. “I feel like
my whole life I have been looking through a peephole,”
he says. “The peephole has gotten bigger.”
He also says that going off to college helped
him evolve as a lyricist. “My sound evolved
because of the experiences I went through. It
was only two hours away from home but I witnessed
so many different things. My perspective
expanded. Who knew that by driving two hours
away I would have gone through that?”
His experiences in college would later help
him write his first album. It took the rapper
three years to write the debut, as he explains, “I
didn’t even know I was writing it.” While it took
years to finish, the final product is something
Kasino Will is very proud of. “It is the greatest
feeling in the world,” he says. “To create something
is amazing. I didn’t realize how much work
it would be. I can listen to it 100 times.”
Along with building an impressive rap
career, Kasino wants to start his own record
label. “I want to work with different artists and
give them more promotion,” he says. “Put them
on a bigger stage, if you will.” In between creating
his album, he has been speaking at high
schools and colleges. He is encouraging kids to
stay in school and continue with their education.
“It is all about teaching them what it means to
pursue their dreams and how school goes with
that,” he says.
Currently, the MC is on an independent
record label, and he plans on staying indie for
a while. He believes it gives him more artistic
freedom. “I want the freedom to be able to say
what I want to say,” he comments.
Along with staying indie, Kasino also wants
to see his music in films someday. “I really love
movies,” he says. “So seeing [my music] in a
movie would be great.” An inspiring list of goals
aside, Kasino Will just wants to continue rapping.
“I want to keep making music people can
relate to and enjoy,” he says.
He also has an important message to his
fans. He believes that everyone should go after
their dreams no matter how impossible they may
seem. “Everyone should do what they want to do
in the truest form,” he concludes. - Performer Magazine

[9.29.11] Kasino Will ~ Hip-Hop rapper from Hartford, CT took a slot with clever hooks and use of piano on the track “She’s Gone” feat. Klass Jones. Language warning. - House Band Wines

HUDD’S REVIEW: This is definitely my kind of track, up tempo wit a catchy hook. The beat is really good but, the recording quality doesnt sit well wit me. However, where they lack in that area Kasino Will make's up for it with a nice lyrical flow this track gets a strong 3.5/5 oranges. - Syracuse Hip hop

Random email submission time. Pouring through the countless emails we get, we stopped at Kasino Will’s Sonicbids EPK submission. Normally, we’re on the fence about Sonicbids EPKs, while they are thorough and generally a sign that an artist is serious about their craft, it’s also a bit sterile, as there is no personal message, and we like to feel loved.

So, we flagged it, and passed it over to clean up more of our insane inbox. Then we saw a separate email from Kasino Will. Not much of a pitch, a few of sentences, who he is, where he was from, and three songs attached, from his self-release debut album Time II Cash In. We figured after seeing his emails twice in one sitting, we should check out what Kasino Will got going on up in the ‘Cuse, especially since we don’t get as much opportunity to cover upstaters as we would like.

We’ll keep it brief. First song we checked, “Rise and Shine” wasn’t bad, and gave us hope. An upbeat tempo, the song could be club-friendly, sounds well-produced. Kasino Will flows well, lyrics are a little cliche, you know, we grind, we make money, we be in the club doing it, that kind of talk, but stylistically, it’s done well, so it’s definitely listenable. Singing on the hook compliments well. Thumbs up.

“Hard Work” was a buzzkill. A shaky attempt at a Southern/synthy bounce track with a rambunctious chorus, with a little harder lyrical edge. The track did nothing for us. Of course, we’re not partial to a “Southern” sound, but don’t get us wrong, if a “Southern” sounding track is dope, it’s dope. “Hard Work,” to us, just fell way short.

So, 1-1 for Kasino Will in our eyes/ears. “Pray For Me” would have to be the tiebreaker. Instantly our ears perked up, but we’re a sucker for melancholy piano tracks. This one started nice and smooth, and as it went a long, we noticed the lyrics were a little more introspective, a little more personal. Kasino Will was telling, it seems, a bit of his back story, with a female solemnly singing on the hook, and was more our speed. We would have liked to hear a little more varying in Kasino Will’s vocal tone, but the song was enough to help tip the trilogy in Kasino Will’s favor.

Overall, Kasino Will seems to be purposefully touching several styles, musically and lyrically, and except for “Hard Work,” does pretty well on both counts. With a voice a bit reminiscent of a lisp-less Kool G. Rap, and a flow that fits in the music spacing well, you might want to consider cashing in on Kasino Will’s debut.

For more information, or to purchase Time II Cash In, visit kasinowill.blogspot.com. - Birthplace Magazine

If you haven't heard Time ll Cash In by Kasino Will, i suggest you go purchase the Itunes & Amazon Album & be on the lookout for this artist from Syracuse New York, he's bringing Fresh Air to HipHop! All the way Fire! - Hip hop stardom 101 magazine

Q & A - British hip hop