Every rap artist has to start somewhere. Mac Miller started with humble beginnings in Pittsburgh. Eminem spent the majority of his adolescence in Detroit. Lil’ Wayne started rapping as an 8-year-old in a small neighborhood in New Orleans. The list goes on.
Ryan McLatchy, 2011 graduate, begins a promising career as a rap artist under the name Calvin Coolidge.
Chantilly could be remembered as one of these hometowns through 2011 graduate Ryan McLatchy, better known as rapper Calvin Coolidge.
“It’s raining on a dark night,” opens “Beginning of the End,” the introductory track to McLatchy’s second mix tape. The song continues, “I’ve got my suitcase packed and I’m ready for a long flight.”
The lyrics describe his soon to be journey through hip-hop. His career has just begun and he believes he has a connection with students since he comes from the same area they have.
“I think I give the student body a rapper who is more relatable than what they are used to,” McLatchy said. “I grew up in the same neighborhoods as them, and I’ve done a lot of the things that they have done and that’s what I rap about. I think they can relate to that a lot more than the subject matter that they hear in most other rap songs.”
The numbers do not lie. Calvin Coolidge’s YouTube channel, WhiteGuyFreestyles, has over 55,000 views and his total upload views are 660,000. The Calvin Coolidge fan page on Facebook has over 2,500 likes. His fan base is on a steady increase, and his mix tape downloads prove that his voice is being heard.
DatPiff.com is a site used by many rappers to release their mix tapes. Mac Miller used it to start off as well as other artists like Asher Roth, Chris Webby and Hoodie Allen.
McLatchy’s first mix tape, “State of the Union,” has almost 4,000 downloads and 6,000 streams. His second mix tape, “Now That’s What I Call Swag: Vol. 1” spiked the stats up to 9,000 streams and 4,000 downloads.
Much of McLatchy’s success can be associated with Brendan Sawyer, also a graduate, who produces the beats that McLatchy raps to. Also known as Sawyer Beats, Brendan Sawyer aids Ryan McLatchy and together they make up the team that gets the attention.
“Ryan and I started working together the winter of our senior year,” Sawyer said. “I had been producing beats for fun and Ryan had recorded a few songs with the rap group Kilo. We both wanted to start taking music more seriously, so we started talking about working together, and we pitched in to buy a new mike and equipment, set everything up in my basement, and that’s how it got started.”
McLatchy also realized how successful teaming with Sawyer would be, and their appeal to fans furthered their relationship.
“People loved the songs, so we ended up putting money together to build a studio in Sawyer’s basement,” McLatchy said. “I give Sawyer 100 percent of the credit for the success we’ve gained. I am nothing without a Sawyer beat.”
The team has several plans for the future of Calvin Coolidge.
“I will be shooting music videos for my songs and making new music while I continue to go to college,” McLatchy said. “Within the next year, I will most likely be dropping out of college and [trying] to make rapping my full-time career. I have already signed a contract with a manager, and I’ve gotten many offers from record labels, but I am waiting until I get the perfect contract before I sign.”
The team is also working on the third full mix tape, which should be released around Christmas.
“Over the long run, our goal is to just keep making music and hopefully sign with a label one day,” Sawyer said. “We have been working with an agency called NOVATalent who have been great in getting us promo, interviews, and connections. I will continue producing for Ryan and hopefully our names will keep spreading.”
Part of the hesitation to sign to a label has to do with his desire to maintain artistic control of his music, something that many major labels fail to provide.
McLatchy tries to mix up his rapping to incorporate other genres to draw in other audiences as well as please himself.
“I’m influenced by artists like MGMT who stay independent and retain creative control over their music,” McLatchy said. “I’m honestly not a big fan of rap music because it all sounds the same to me.”
Students definitely know of Calvin Coolidge. His appearance at the Homecoming football game gained applause from the Purple Platoon, making him a known name to the students. His future still remains very bright as this is just beginning his potential success.
“[Calvin Coolidge] definitely has talent,” senior D.J. Wiley said. “I’m pretty sure he is known by just about everyone in the school.”
Wiley also records rap music of his own and released his first mix tape, “Back to Basics,” in September. Some of the beats on the mix tape were also produced by Sawyer.
Wiley takes a different approach than McLatchy. Both have different styles, meanings and motivations behind their songs.
“With each song I make, I try to motivate people to push no matter how bad things are going,” Wiley said. “I don’t like being repetitive, but I always try to keep my music positive, and I’ll continue to motivate people through my music.”
“Back to Basics” has 730 streams and about 150 downloads, and Wiley plans to release a new mix tape in early 2012.
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[...] Posted originally by Matt Porter in The Purple Tide [...]