Marcus Williams | Jacksonville, Florida
I am black and SPONTANEOUS.
Tell us who you are and what you do!
I am Marcus Williams, better known as TheWavyBastard. My life consist of eating pizza, being a photographer, listening to and making music. I spend most of my days watching anime, playing video games, fooling around with my friends, but mostly taking super cool pictures wherever I am.
I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida with my moms and brother. Growing up in Jacksonville, I went to Pine Forest Elementary School. It was the first art school I ever knew about and that’s where I grew my love for the arts, mainly music. Jacksonville honestly in my opinion, does not support the arts as strongly as I wish it did.
My moms inspires my work ethic, growing up with her working late nights showed me how to work hard. Kid Cudi made me want to start making music like his because his music is so adventurous and cool. But after a while I started developing my own style and starting making music based on how I felt. Isaiah Rashad played a big part in that as well.
I moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 2014 and met a group of friends in high school. We have a group called Indigo98. We all create music and design clothing. Meeting them was the push I needed to actually start making music and taking more photos.
Doing music and photography I learned that if you treat your dreams as a hobby then that’s just what they are going to be. But if you treat it as a job you’ll get a better result. My goal for the future is to touch many hearts and souls with my music and photos. I want to be able to make people get up and dance look at my photos in awe. But overall, I just want to make people happy.
What is the inspiration for your work?
When I found the one thing I was good at besides eating pizza and playing video games, I never stopped taking pictures. My mum told me I had a great eye and whenever I showed her my pictures she was super excited to see how good I was at photography, so she’s my inspiration for pursuing my goal to be a successful black photographer.
My photography is urban and nature based. I like to take photos in nature because it helps me appreciate the Earth. I like urban photography because it shows a real version of the world. My music is unorthodox. However I’m feeling I’ll make a song about it. The music I have out now is about having fun, past girlfriends, and good vibes. Teenager stuff. My Inspirations for making music are Isaiah Rashad, Kid Cudi, Childish Gambino, and lastly B.o.B.
I love that everything I do is real that’s why I keep doing it. My photography was mostly self taught (plus a week at The Art Institute) and my content of my songs are never fabricated. The fact that I’m this good at taking pictures and being basically self taught how to develop them makes me want to keep going and get even better. With my music, as I experience things in life I’ll want to make more songs about those experiences.
What would you say to prevent an upcoming artist from making the same mistakes you have made?
“Learn how to love yourself before it’s too late, have confidence in what you do and stand up for what you believe in.”
If you get negative responses from anyone, don’t listen to them like I did in the past. Ever since I started brushing off people’s negativity I’ve become a better person. Learn how to love yourself before it’s too late, have confidence in what you do and stand up for what you believe in. I’ve missed plenty of opportunities because of being silent and not being confident.
What obstacles have you faced as a Black Artist/Business Owner? How did you overcome them?
“I want to show other black men that it’s ok to just be happy and be yourself.”
As a Black carefree male in general I’ve come across obstacles with people being uncomfortable seeing a black man being happy. People are so used to seeing the upset black man stereotype so it’s like they don’t want to see us happy. But, I just had to muscle up some strength and wisdom. I kept doing me and led by example, I want to show other black men that it’s ok to just be happy and be yourself.
Stay connected with Marcus:
Instagram: thewavybastard
Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/wavybahstad
Website: thewavybastard.myportfolio.com
Twitter: luvepedrx