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Music

"Solid Gold" by WILLS Is Solid Gold

You have to let go of something precious to really gain perspective. Get acquainted with a fierce new talent you might already know…

Here are some fun facts about WILLS which we're going to break down into straightforward bullet points because it's Monday and the going is rough. It's your WILLS cheatsheet!

  • WILLS is a man born Will Johnson. He used to record under the moniker Gordon Voidwell which we were all over back in the day. The day being 2014.
  • The Weeknd was really rather into his old Voidwell cut "First Time"—which then lead to Johnson doing a bit of songwriting for ol' Abel. None of it has seen the light of day, but still… pretty cool.
  • Johnson was raised in the Bronx and cut his teeth Boys Choir of Harlem when he was a kid. This appears to be a fairly formative experience because it exposed him to all sorts of music—jazz, classical, gospel and whatnot.
  • In the last couple of years he gave up NYC and moved to St. Paul in Minnesota which is a great loss to NYC tbqh.
  • During the early days of this retreat (according to Interview mag) he ditched his cell phone and started working in a wifi-less studio. This shows that he is SMART and FOCUSED.
  • He's also a good guy. We know this because he traveled back from MI to NYC to celebrate his mom's recent birthday. That's a good son.
  • Thus far he's dropped one song "Woes vs. Woahs"—the first to be lifted from his forthcoming EP, out via IAMSOUND on September 9th. It's a song that flies fast, like a spooked horse bolts. The horns feel confrontational. The beats sound like twelve sets of hands slapping thighs. And the video? Uh, well there's a six pack so solid it'd send the Ninja Turtles scurrying back to the sewer.
  • "Solid Gold" is only the second song he's released as WILLS. It's premiering above. The verse makes us wanna crawl on the floor like Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray in that scene in Dirty Dancing. It's followed by a chorus that may just inspire you to leap off the ground and throw yourself across the wall. It's quite Prince-ly in the chorus. J'adore.

"Gold is 'a precious metal' implying some inherent great value, but in reality, gold's value is arbitrary and constructed by humans… like all values," explains Johnson. "In the song, gold is just a metaphor for anything in life that seems too 'precious' to let go of. The point of the song is like—if you let go of the things that seem precious, you'll realize they weren't that precious or that valuable. You'll realize that all value is human-made. But also, in letting go, you can free yourself and freeing yourself is the supreme currency. Everything that's precious is also precarious (they share an etymology). All things are in a constant state of transformation, so let go and let things just transform on their own."

And there is your Monday take away. Thanks WILLS.