Justin Williams (born March 3, 1990) is an American
rapper
Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...
and
actor
An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
. Williams began his career using the stage name Lil iROCC Williams, but eventually dropped the "Lil". His name is often stylized multiple ways, including Irocc,
iROCC,
irocc,
and iroCc.
Williams is a
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
,
which is heavily reflected in his lyrics. His moniker, which is inspired by
Proverbs 3:5,
stands for I Rely On Christ Completely.
Early life (1990–2001)
Williams was born in
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
,
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
to a father and a mother, Treiva,
but the family moved to
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
when he was still a young child. At the age of three, Williams began modeling and appearing in TV spots.
In 1997, Williams' mother was diagnosed with cancer;
during her treatment, William's mother and father converted to Christianity, which led Williams to follow suit. Williams showed an interest in rapping at the age of ten, while his father was working to develop local artists to showcase to major record labels.
Williams' first live performance came in 2001, after his parents entered him in a local talent contest sponsored by an Atlanta
R&B radio station.
Williams was chosen as one of 15 finalists, and subsequently won the grand prize.
Lil iROCC Williams (2002-2003)
In 2003, Williams was signed to major Christian
record label
"Big Three" music labels
A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...
ForeFront Records. On June 25, 2003,
at the age of 13, Williams released his debut, self-titled album, ''Lil iROCC Williams''. The album was met with great success, charting on a number of
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
charts, and earning Williams nominations at both the 2004
Dove Awards and the 2004
Stellar Awards.
The release featured guest appearances from a number of big name Christian artists, including
tobyMac,
Canton Jones, and rap duo
GRITS
Grits (stylized as GRITS) is an American Christian hip hop group from Nashville, Tennessee. Their name is an acronym, which stands for "Grammatical Revolution In the Spirit". GRITS is made up of Stacey "Coffee" Jones and Teron "Bonafide" Carter ...
. In reviews of the album, Williams was compared to secular musicians, including
Lil Wayne,
Lil' Romeo and
Lil' Bow Wow.
Continued Output, Name Change and Acting (2004-2007)
After the release of his first album, Williams was released from ForeFront Records by label parent
EMI. In 2004, Williams released an
EP, ''iROCC'', and a full-length album, ''The Sequel'', under his own music label, Authentic Music. Distribution for both releases was handled by
Whitaker House Publishing's musical imprint Authority Music.
During this time, Williams also took a break from music, and worked toward finishing his high school education.
''The Sequel'' earned Williams two award nominations at 2006 Stellar Awards. Williams won both awards, for Rap/Hip Hop Gospel CD of the Year and Children's Performance of the Year. That same year, Williams dropped the "Lil" from his name, in an attempt to reflect a maturation in his music. Under his shortened moniker "iROCC Williams", he released a second EP, ''Mo' Heat 4 Da' Streets'', online.
Once again, the EP was distributed by Authority Music.
In 2007, Williams was featured in his first acting role, playing Reggie "Corn" Hackett in ''Christmas...Who Needs It?'', a direct-to-DVD film written, directed and produced by gospel singer
Fred Hammond. The film was released on December 21, 2007.
Born A King and Current Activities (2007-Present)
In September 2007, Williams announced his latest project, a new album titled ''Born A King''.
The album was released on his new record label, JusRoCc Entertainment, on September 16, 2008. The album was distributed nationally by Central South Distribution.
Williams has continued acting, appearing as Chris Hutchinson in ''Life 101: Angel's Secret'', a 2009 direct-to-DVD film, and as Omar in ''Blessed & Cursed'', a 2010 direct-to-DVD film starring gospel singer
Deitrick Haddon.
In 2010, it was announced that Williams would star in the 10-part
B.E.T. webseries ''8 Days a Week'',
based on the book series ''The Come Up'' by Lyah Beth LeFlore. The series premiered August 24, 2011. Williams plays Blue Reynolds, an amateur rapper struggling to make a name for himself in the music industry.
Discography
Albums
EPs
*''iROCC'' (Authentic Music, 2004)
*''Mo' Heat 4 Da' Streets'' (Authentic Music, 2004)
Filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lil Irocc Williams
American performers of Christian hip-hop
Musicians from Georgia (U.S. state)
Living people
1990 births
21st-century American rappers