Sheck Wes

The premiere 19-year-old star bound rapper, Sheck Wes, grew up in New York, but has Senegalese roots. He was a model before a rapper and could have been equally as successful at playing basketball. Sheck Wes is the perfect trifecta of cultural knowledge.

The 19 year old is signed to, Travis Scott and Kanye West and shows no signs of discomfort in the likes of superstars.

Wes explains in a “No Jumper” interview that his journey all started when he was nine years old, the age he started to make decisions and hangout out at a local sneaker shop, not his moms African hair braid shop.

At the sneaker shop

Wes basked in knowledge of sneakers and their history. He learned how to be smooth amongst the older kids and most importantly he learned music and he learned beats.

Working at the sneaker shop, and gaining that knowledge led Wes to be an aid to Nike at age 16.

Before that, around 13 years old, Wes got into playing basketball. New York areas John F. Kennedy High Schools basketball coach noticed Wes’s skills on the court and decided to help him aboard their program. Wes was happy to be a part.

During this stage in his life, 13 – 17 years old, basketball and modeling were constantly crossing over…pun intended.

As a high school athlete you are expected to be fully dedicated to the team, no questions asked. Yet most high school athletes don’t have an agent, and aren’t receiving phone calls from Kanye to do photo-shoots.

An important decision came for Wes to decide between basketball and modeling.  The decision was to either play the state championship game at Madison Square Garden or to do the, Yeezy Season Three Exhibition at the Garden.

Wes took to modeling, subsequently leading to the end of his basketball playing days.

Wes starting cutting class, being out of the house and not modeling. His mother noticed and sent him home to Dakar, Senegal.

While in Dakar

In Dakar Wes stayed with his older brother. His brother was to be the caretaker on Wes’s journey back to God. Wes did find his way to back God and realized that life wasn’t to be wasted, especially when you have been gifted the way he has.

Wes made his way back to the U.S. after not being allowed in London as a 17-year-old. On the flight back from London he lost all of his material belongings and again was a newfound man, expressing his gratitude to God.

Wes realized on his exploration that modeling wouldn’t last forever, he foresaw the nasty ethos surrounding the industry and didn’t want to go back.  He tried to enroll into his old high school (hard to believe somebody could do all of this in high school) and was denied.

This is when Wes decided to hit the studio hard and start make the songs that we are hearing today. After already working with Kanye previously, the connections were made and Wes is signed to today’s rap mogul.

Wes is bound to be a superstar

You can see it in the confidence he has. He interacts with the likes of Kanye West and Travis Scott without a pause or hesitation. He leads the pack for young artist and he stays mission oriented. He wants to make music that will last, music that will have an impact and music for the culture.

As far as his style of “hype” rap,  compared to, Lil Pump. Wes draws a parallel to rock, in the way that rock is notorious for being full of attitude, that it’s not the instrument you are playing, but the attitude that you play the instrument with.

So when you hear Wes screaming, “live sheck wes, die sheck wes” it’s an anthem, an expression of emotions and young people are relating to it.

Wes wants to be known as a humanitarian when it is all said and done. He wants to build hospitals and cities in Senegal. He keeps his heritage close and is proud of who he is.

Check out Sheck Wes and make sure to follow on Instagram and Twitter @sheckwes