Dayton based rapper and singer Illwin stopped by the WYSO studios to chat with Kaleidoscope host Juliet Fromholt and discuss his origins in hip-hop.
“When I wanted to start to make music, I was probably around the third grade. But I remember loving music before then, like I always loved singing in the choir and church. But at eight years old is when I started rapping and I had a friend of mine, we started a rap group together and we started going to the studio and making music.” Illwin recalled.
Illwin performed at The Brightside as part of the 2025 Battle of the Bands and made it all the way to the finale. His show was a full on production of dancers, a DJ, and even graffiti installations.
“It starts with my inner child, that eight-year-old. It starts with his dreams, his visions. Everything that voice wants to try, I try it. I studied music at McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul, Minnesota, and I was in the hip hop studies program. So for that performance specifically, I focused on the DJ, the dancers, because they represent that first initial party that hip-hop started from with the B-boys and the DJ. The DJ is like the core of hip-hop. So I wanted to make sure I had a DJ. And I also wanted to do like a graffiti element on the stage to represent the visual components of hip-hop. I just really wanted to be good representation of the hip-hop culture.” said Illwin.
The creative process can be stressful or difficult. However, Illwin has discovered this inner child’s voice to be an endless source of inspiration and guidance.
“It’s not something I’ve always had. Recently I started listening to that inner voice because that voice matters. Since I’ve done that, things in my life just started changing. So I think everybody should listen to your inner child more, but also be disciplined, you know, but listen to that inner child.”
Catch Illwin live at The Brightside on Saturday, June 7, for Heartsiq’s Pride Afterparty and on June 14 as part of For Dayton By Dayton at Levitt Pavilion.
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