Rap artist Watsky combines social commentary with blazingly fast delivery

George Watsky keeps expanding the outlets for his voice to be heard.
And people keep listening.

In the past half year, 30-year-old Watsky has released his most ambitious album to date as well as a collection of essays titled "How To Ruin Everything."

"I've always seen myself as a multi-platform writer," Watsky said.

Watsky gained notoriety as a dynamic poetry slam star. He was part of the winning team at the National Youth Poetry Slam in 2006 and later appeared on Russell Simmons' Def Poetry.

His early music offerings showed the same kind of diversity and experimentation that has defined his writing.

Watsky's mastery of social media has helped him succeed outside of the structure of the studio system. He blossomed as a YouTube sensation with the video "Watsky raps fast," which has received millions of views.

"It gives a lot of freedom and leverage," he said. "I got fortunate to start putting out music along the same time the rules were being rewritten for what an independent artist could accomplish."

In 2007, he released a hip-hop jazz album with Invisible Inc., a collective of friends from his hometown of San Francisco. In 2009, he dropped "Watsky," the first of his four full-length albums.

Watsky says "X Infinity," released in August, is the continued evolution of quick-draw style that mixes social commentary and clever wordplay.

"I think it's my most ambitious album in scope," he said. "I wanted every song to feel different than material I'd put out before."

Watsky believes the album is as challenging as any material he's put out, and is producing a series of videos to match.

"I'm trying to finish a music video for every song on my album," he said. "I love making music videos and I want them to eventually interlock, with visual transitions."

The album was produced by hip-hop impresario Simmons, and while Watsky has been able to work with some of the biggest names in the industry, he is still fiercely independent.

"I'm still an independent artist," Watsky said. "I still wear a lot of hats. I'm not on a major label. When I got out on tour, we operate like a big indie operation. I do a lot of the travel bookings myself. I don't change the core of what I do."

Watsky's interest in rapping actually predated slam poetry. He dabbled in rapping briefly in seventh or eighth grade before diving into poetry, which opened up "a world of possibilities" to him.

"There was a brief period where I was interested in rap before I even knew what spoken word was," he said. "Rap and spoken word have always been intertwined in my mind. I've always been doing them simultaneously."

Watsky, the author, is a new sensation, but another one some time in the making. Watsky said the collection of essays allowed him to introduce his writing to audiences on a different platform, and be a stepping stone for future opportunities.

"I wanted to challenge myself," he said. "I have hopes to write fiction and continue to do prose. I knew at some point I'd have to take the leap and put it out publicly."

He said the work was by far the most difficult of his career, in part because of lack of immediate feedback.

"Definitely, it was probably the biggest creative leap I've taken since I started doing art," he said. "When I started doing music and poetry the stakes were really low, and I was just hoping someone would hear it."

An early champion of the work was "Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who called the book "funny, subversive, and able to excavate such brutally honest sentences that you find yourself nodding your head in wonder and recognition."

When "Hamilton" was recently at the center of a controversy regarding a cast statement read to Vice President-elect Mike Pence, Watsky was quick to defend Miranda and the cast. He responded to a tweet from President-elect Donald Trump, who demanded an apology and said the theater must be a "safe and special place."

Watsky tweeted: "Art does not exist to make you feel safe. Apologize for nothing @HamiltonMusical."

"It worries me that a leader's ego could play into what a person should or shouldn't be doing in the art world," he told ADN. "I hope it's an isolated incident."

Watsky: X Infinity Tour

Where: Bear Tooth Theatrepub

When: Thursday, Dec. 1, 9 p.m. (Doors 8 p.m.)

Tickets: $35-$50