March 29, 2024

Hip-Hop Generation

July 11, 2007
Rudy Williams is a member of the first generation raised entirely on hip-hop. Growing up, the pop music and rock that many teens listened to in the past barely made a dent. “I was born in 1985, so ever since I was born, hip-hop has been the biggest musical genre,” he says. “It was music I could always relate to.”
Rudy Williams, 21, is the stage name of Kyle Christunas, who graduated from Traverse City Central High in 2004. This weekend, he and his partner Max Garcia will be performing as Trackmeat at Beats by the Bay. The event will feature over 20 acts on Friday and Saturday July 13-14 at Streeters Ground Zero in Traverse City.

BACK BEAT
Williams brings a high level of technical expertise to his stage act. He spent two years studying recording, engineering and behaviorial science at Full Sail, a media production college in Orlando. “I learned the science of frequencies and the way the human ear works,” he says. “I also learned how to mix music scientifically on an SSL 9000 console, which has 128 faders on a million dollar mixing board.”
At the Full Sail studios in Miami and Orlando, he became friends with Max Garcia, a performer who’d made inroads into the mix-tape scenes in New York City and Providence, Rhode Island. As Trackmeat, the duo has released their first CD, “Been Down Since.”
The album is a mix of hip-hop and harder-edged rap. “Max has more of the street-style lyrics and I have more things dealing with conscience and metaphors with an artistic angle,” Williams says.
Growing up, Williams was affected by the street-level message of hip-hop. “My brother was a cop who was killed at the age of 22, and hip-hop was the only kind of music that addressed those kinds of situations.”
Favorite influences have included Nas, Pharoahe Monch, Rakim and Notorious B.I.G. “I also like Dr. Dre, of course, because he does what I do -- he’s an MC, but he also produces his own music.”

NEW DIRECTIONS
Speaking of which, Williams feels that hip-hop has gone a bit astray since the early days of pioneers such as Dr. Dre. “It’s hard for people to get back to what the craft was before hip-hop got so commercial and influenced by things like MTV. The music went from being about life’s struggles and making it with no money in the music industry to being about chains and nightclubs and sweet stuff.”
As a producer, he sees hope for more positive directions in hip-hop than the current “bling-bling” shtick. “I mean, who has a big $10,000 necklace and drinks Courvoisier and goes to clubs every night? There are other artists out there who want to launch different genres of hip-hop as good mainstream music that 90 percent of people can relate to.”
Putting on a show isn’t easy, considering the intricate lyrics and rhymes to memorize, not to mention the physical aspect. “I get out of breath when I put on a show because I put my heart and soul into it,” Williams says. “The deliverance is just as important as your rhymes and lyrics. You have to get your breathing right and it’s very physical.”

BUCKING THE TREND
Williams’ day job is in audio-visual sales, but he’s had a taste of the big time. During the Christmas season last year, he traveled to New York City to work on a music-related project. He spent 10 days at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel “being treated like a celebrity,” and it was tough coming back to Northern Michigan after having a taste of his dream.
Like other local hip-hop acts and MCs, he also struggles a bit with the identity issues that go with the music.
“I like to rhyme about culture,” he notes. “I’m a middle class kid, so I’m not a gangster like some of the artists make themselves out to be. But I’ve been through a lot, and so has my family. My grandfather was killed and my brother too -- we’re a 100 percent Maltese family that has had just as many struggles as anyone else.”
Needless to say, some of that pain and struggle provides inspiration for Rudy Williams’ music. Hear for yourself at Beats by the Bay.
Beats by the Bay will feature more than 20 acts at Streeters Ground Zero Friday and Saturday, July 13-14. Tickets are $10 in advance, or $15 in advance for both days. Doors open at 4 p.m. for those ages 18 and up.

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