By Dylan Deprey
Ar Wesley’s “The Self Portrait Pt. 2” released Oct. 13.
Arnold Wesley never considered himself a planner, or a strategist. He was living in the moment, and on the fly.
The only time he ever had to strategize was to avoid staying out of trouble.
At around 16 years old, Wesley knew he wanted to be a rapper although Nas and Andre 3000’s lyrical mastery heavily influenced him, but he still felt uneducated about his passion.
“I never wanted to be in an interview where they asked me to rap a Big Pun verse or a Jay Z verse and I didn’t know it,” Wesley said.
In 2014, after years of studying everything from the spitters on the East Coast, gangsta rap on West Coast and everything in between, he began to hone his craft.
Over the course of 2015 he locked himself in the recording studio to work on music and collaborate with local artists and producers like Mike Regal and Mammyth. After releasing three projects in 2016, rapper Ar Wesley is a very precise individual when it comes to timing the release of his projects.
Wesley recently dropped the 6 songs EP, “The Self- Portrait Pt. 2” on Oct. 13. The album features local artists B-Free, Lex Allen, Cree Myles and Kyndal J.
“The Self-Portrait Pt. 2” is the second of a three part series that Wesley recorded over the past year.
“I was very particular about how I wanted each album to sound,” Wesley said. “So I asked myself, ‘How can I put this in a way so people can understand it?’”
He eventually came up with a three-part “The Self Portrait” series and a 3 song teaser EP “Time is Millmatic.”
“The Self Portrait Pt. 2” has a more up beat sound then its predecessor, and it showcases Wesley’s ability to flow along with R&B vocals. Songs like the B-Free produced “Beautiful,” lose the favored trap inspired 808’s for hand snaps, live vocal samples, and a acoustic guitar.
Wesley said that he pulls inspiration from everywhere, whether it is a couple having an argument across the street or waking up to a dream at 4 a.m. He considers himself a night owl doing most of his writing in the waning hours of the night and into the morning.
He said that more poppy feel on the Mike Regal produced, “Jamrock,” was more difficult to find inspiration for.
“It was real bouncy and I just didn’t know how to be me on it,” Wesley said.
He was at a crossroads until he unearthed a TLC vocal sample of the Mystikal song “Here I Go.”
“Once I had that sample it was like I knew exactly what to talk about and it fit perfectly with all the other songs,” Wesley said.
Wesley said that finding vocal samples is fairly easy because of his natural ability to memorize song lyrics after listening to a song two or three times.
His lyrical memory make performing a little less work, especially with the ever growing rap scene and shows popping up across the city.
While it might be easier to figure out how many licks it takes to the center of a Tootsie Pop, Wesley has yet to figure out when he will drop “The Self Portrait Pt. 3,” but he ensures fans that it will be different.
“I want to always be known as the artist that made the music he wanted to make and not get trapped into any sort of criteria,” Wesley said. “Some times I try to be the most lyrical I can other times I just flow.”
“The Self Portrait Pt. 2” and Ar Wesley’s other projects can be found at https://soundcloud.com/arnold_wesley.