Artist Spotlight: Webster X

Wisconsin based artist, Webster X (or Sam Ahmed), has taken the hip-hop scene by storm with his creative beats and flow. He recently performed in Austin for SXSW and caught the attention of many people and current fans. I had the opportunity to link up with the talented artist and ask him a few questions about himself and his work.

Coog Radio: Tell me a little bit about yourself and your hometown!

Webster: My journey is a pretty wild and a long one, but honestly I’ve always been seeking adventure my entire life. My musical journey TRULY started in 2013 when I started releasing my first string of material (off of my first project Desperate Youth). I come from a place where super creative music and ideas were at a stand still for a while (Milwaukee, WI). Right around the time I started really pushing my inclusive message and huge visions the scene started to bubble way more. It was a paradigm shift, younger and younger artists in my city started to rise and gain attention in places other than Milwaukee. It was a beautiful time and that time only continued to grow, with that time growing my music and fan base got bigger and bigger man. The most important thing I brought to the table were very energetic live performances enough to make people truly believe in something big happening in Milwaukee that could sustain some longevity.

CR: When did you first start getting into your style of music and why?

W: I come from an Ethiopian cultural background; my father was a well known musician in Ethiopia and my mother was the daughter of a very successful businessman. My sister was truly the one to get me into hip hop introducing me to A Tribe Called Quest’s debut album and other conscious hip-hop from the 90’s. Honestly though, the first genre of music I ever listened to was Psychedelic Rock from the likes of Grateful Dead, Cat Stevens, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, etc. With the balance of both I was able to truly start exploring different genres and opening my mind more and more.

CR: I really love all your work and how far you’ve come in such a short time. Can you tell me a little about your future work and what you’ve been up to lately?

W: I’m at a standpoint in music where I’m leading up to my sophomore album and a bunch more of creative work with myself or my creative group New Age Narcissism. My progression has jumped ten fold for only pursuing my passion for a year and a half now. What I’m starting to realize now is the more attention everything and still keeping my entire upbringing in this very organic. I hardly pay for things because most of it is cultivated with my friends; my friends are just very talented and conscious of what they do. I just had a very successful SXSW playing Jack White’s showcase and shooting a short documentary with Complex TV. My latest single from my sophomore album “doomsday” truly solidified my identity and message in music here to stay, catching looks from Noisey, Entertainment Weekly & Pigeons and Planes.

Check out Webster X’s work on his SoundCloud or show him some love on Twitter. Be sure to listen to some of this talented artist’s work because this man is getting his name out in the hip-hop world and will be playing through your radio waves in the near future.

Give his latest single “doomsday” a listen below.

By Rupal Mehta