Williams grew up in Dayton, an only child. His father is an elder at Prayer Garden church; his mother works at a health\/medical facility.<\/p>\n
Rap music touched Williams at a young age. He sang his first rap song when he was in second grade \u2014 \u201cWhen I\u2019m Gone\u201d by Eminem, who would become one of his favorite rappers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really deep emotional song,\u201d said Williams. \u201cHe would paint a very vivid picture in my mind with his words.\u201d<\/p>\n
Initially, Williams didn\u2019t think he was that good at rapping, but was encouraged by a friend.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started doing my own rap when I was in fifth grade,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI used to rap to myself at home, just walking around the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/files\/2017\/11\/Jesse-Williams-19503_061-1-508x357.jpg\")
<\/a>Wright State student Jesse Williams works on a computer science degree while pursuing a music career as the rapper J-Williams. (Photo by Erin Pence\/Video by Kris Sproles)<\/p><\/div>\n
At first, Williams would just freestyle the lyrics and not write them down. But that soon changed. And as he got older, his songs began to reflect his life experiences.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Williams\u2019 life took off on a separate trajectory. He attended high school at Ponitz Career Technology Center, which features small learning communities supporting students\u2019 academic and technical achievement within specific career areas. It includes labs that simulate a work environment.<\/p>\n
Williams studied business information technology, but learned that computer science was his real interest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to be more in the creating side,\u201d he said. \u201cIT is more like trouble-shooting connections. Computer science is more software development and creating, and I wanted to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
After graduating in 2014, Williams enrolled at Wright State, in part because he wanted to play football on the school\u2019s club football team. He played for two years, as a wide receiver and then defensive end.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a real college football experience,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the bigger goal was to get my degree.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the first time Williams had ever taken a computer programming class, and he struggled initially.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was all brand new to me,\u201d he said. \u201cBut once you get in there and practice programming, it just gets into your memory. You start to understand and get it real well.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition, Williams excelled in the Discrete Mathematics class, which is useful in computing and emphasizes mathematical induction, recurrence relations, asymptotic behavior of functions and algorithm analysis.<\/p>\n
Williams said Wright State is a special place because the university offers multiple sources of student support.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have a lot of ways for a student to get help if they need to get help,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As Williams worked his way through Wright State, his rapping began to bloom.<\/p>\n
He recorded songs at the home of a friend on sophisticated, high-tech recording equipment and had it edited at a sound studio. He has recorded with rapper King Los, who signed with RCA, and Mark Battles, who signed with Quality Control Music. Williams has more than 25,000 \u201cplays\u201d on his songs online<\/a> and 40,700 followers on Twitter<\/a>. His dream is to make a career out of rap and go on tour.<\/p>\n Of his rap songs, Williams\u2019 personal favorites are \u201cHeartbreak\u201d and \u201cLet it Out,\u201d which he wrote about a year ago to express feelings about being bullied and the familiar adolescent pangs of not being the most popular person.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a time when I didn\u2019t really like being myself,\u201d he said. \u201cI felt like I had to let it out.\u201d<\/p>\n He says he hopes his songs help others get through the challenges of life. He plans to shoot several more videos by the end of the year.<\/p>\n If a career in rap music doesn\u2019t pan out, Williams hopes to use his computer science degree in web design or to develop software for video games and apps, possibly even creating a new music app. He is poised to graduate next fall.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really excited about the future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Video: Wright State computer science major Jesse Williams finds a creative outlet through coding and rapping as J-Williams. Continue reading