I had the pleasure of interviewing Malvern’s own Freshman rap sensation, Bernard Williams. He is new here, but he is definitely making a name for himself. I wanted to take a look at what rap music means to him and what kind of progress he is making with his skills.

First of all, rap is something that many people overlook in terms of difficulty. For example, many may see it simply talking in rhythm. However, rap has a unique form of difficulty that makes it comparable to other more highly regarded kinds of music, like pop.  “Rap is hard because you have to express yourself from the heart and you can’t just make up any random words, unless you’re just freestyling just for fun,” said Bernard.  “In rap, you have to account for so many things when writing a song. Do these words go together rhythmically? Am I truly expressing myself from the heart? Does the rap go well with the beat?” And much more.

Every rapper needs a motivation. Basically, I just found it is as a way to express myself through music rather than just talking it out when I’m talking to somebody. Part of that motivation, however, involves human inspiration. I asked Bernard who his biggest inspiration was. That’s actually a hard one, because while I’m a Lil Wayne fan, I’m leaning towards Meek Mill now. I just find that Meek sort of like talks to me more so than Lil Wayne. Mostly because I’m from Philly and Meek is too. I see what he means in his raps and that’s where there’s a sort of connection.

Bernard is making good progress with his rap. He told me about his upcoming mixtape. “Mixtape name is ‘My City’. Look for it sometime in February.”

If you want to know more about Bernard, you can follow him on Instagram (@thefreshestprince___) and Soundcloud (Nardy Nard 1).