Willie Wilson, also known by his artist name 454 is by all means a unique artist. It’s difficult to stand out in today’s music scene. So many artists are trying to branch out and find “the new thing”. And sometimes it sticks, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes artists end up sounding like a poor man’s version of another artist. Definitely not the case with Florida-born, New York-based artist 454.

Wilson takes elements of trap, alternative, old school hip-hop, and more into his music. In a sea of pitched voices, auto-tune drenched vocals, and all types of vocal manipulations, he uses all different parts of his music to set himself apart. Most notably with his signature pitched-up vocals, he cited Madlib’s alter-ego Quasimoto as inspiration. Now take it another step, he contrasts the DJ-Screw-influenced hip-hop that’s a big part of the mainstream today by speeding up his records (in the first half- but I’ll get to that in a minute) rather than slowing them down. It’s a really interesting blend of fast-paced yet hazy alt-trap.

Further into that, he’ll take these fast paced tracks for the first half, and then make slight alternations and slow it down for the second half of the song. For me personally, it took me off guard at first. Most of the time artist will use a slowed-down transition as an outro, but Wilson uses it to give the song a whole new life.

You can find this plastered all over his ‘4 YOU’ album which dropped back in March. Another cool thing to note, the album is mostly self-produced (producing is how he found a passion for music). And he accounts for eight out of the album’s twelve totals instrumentals.

As for songs that stood out to me in particular, “FACETIME” was an easy favorite to me. The beat is dreary but still prominent, and his squeaky vocals fit right in. Again, the beat switch around that halfway point of the song catches you off-guard at first but almost feels like a whole different song. Just familiar enough to know it’s the same track, but a whole different vibe.

The opener “LATE NIGHT”, which features a sample from Brent Faiyaz’ “Been Away” is another standout, and features a perfect example of the uptempo instrumentals he was going for mentioned earlier. Sets the tone for the album.

“ANDRETTI” is another favorite of mine too. The whole album is worth a listen to be honest.

He’s also slated to support Aminé on the “BEST TOUR EVER” along with Cochise starting in the Winter into early Spring. You can find tickets here. I’m actually going to the Los Angeles show in February, very excited!

Have a good one!