Righteous in his Ways, Wrighteous in his Music

Tyler Wright. Or as some know: the rapper named “Wrighteous”. 

            Immediately, I could tell this was an artist that has been around music for a long time. Getting his music genes from both parents, Wrighteous originally started his growth as a singer in choirs during High School.

            Tyler first started making his own music as a joke. The thoughts of the graduation song droning through his head sounded like a nightmare, and thus made his own mix of  “Good Morning” by Kanye West. Since then, the rest is history.

            Wright made it big not only with his personal music, but also with choir singing, advancing to All-State Choir.

“It’s so different. It’s something you’re not used to. They’re singing stuff from like 200-300 years ago. Hear we are in 2012 and the music is completely different. Music changes so much.”

            So where exactly does his hip-hop interest come from?

            “Rock was what got me into rap. Mike Shinoda is awesome. His lyrics –while he isn’t the most lyrical dude, he’s definitely one of the more emotional emcees I’ve ever heard.”

His mother; a jazz singer for 20 years, supported his interest in hip-hop…with some conditions.

            “ I don’t degrade women in my music. That was the one thing my mom told me. She said, ‘if you’re gonna do this, I don’t wanna hear the word ‘bitch’ I don’t wanna hear the word ‘hoe’ or any of that’.”

            Wright works hard making his music. He mixes vocal harmonies with rapping. Many people who are involved in music seem to “hate it or love it” when it comes to rappers singing or singers playing with rhythms in their music. Wrighteous mixes both. But his rapping isn’t just the typical two-to-three pitch range. Wright uses his vocal skills and gives expression to his lyrics.

            Although he was born and raised in the world of music, there was a point where he started to feel out of touch with it. He attended a community college for one year and didn’t participate in music outside of him occasionally making his own. But once he came to ODU, he told me, he couldn’t keep his distance anymore.

            “ I love it. I love it so much. I can’t see myself doing music in some way, shape or form.”

            And I think we can all thank him for sticking with it and keep our ears happy.

Check out Wrighteous under the “Artists” tab of the blog and listen to his tracks. New tracks will be available with the release of his new project "Live & Learn", due out May 12th!  If you love harmonies just as much as I do, you won’t be disappointed.