Art & Life with Royce Woolridge

Today we’d like to introduce you to Royce Woolridge.

Royce, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and moved to LA until I was 11. My father played in the NBA (Orlando Woolridge), and my great uncle is Willis Reed. I grew up making music; it was always my first love. I would make cassette tapes when I was young and perform in front of my family. When I was 11, I moved back to Phoenix with my mom and grandma. I began getting good at basketball. I won player of the year in Arizona my junior year and committed to the University of Kansas as a freshman in high school. During high school, I still continued to make music with my group called the culdesac, but we never released our music because of my basketball career. I went to Kansas for a year then transferred to Washington state university. I got my bachelors from there and then played my 5th year at GCU. While I was at GCU, I began making music again because I was back living with my friends in Tempe. We made some bangers, and I started a little buzz on SoundCloud but unfortunately my producer Griff passed away. RIP. After this happened, I took a break and began playing ball professionally overseas. I played in Slovenia, Turkey, Austria, and Poland. While I was in these places, I started having more experiences and more stuff to rap about. I was introduced to my producer Rob the Heart by one of my best friends, and we began making music again. This time I wanted to be more serious, and I started releasing them on Spotify and Itunes. My first release was an Ep named circle followed by a three single release featuring “Do it for my city” and “surfs up.” Now, in addition to making music, I coach basketball and help train kids in the community.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I would describe myself as an artist. I like to create music that people can feel good listening to. I also like to bring the JIG. My music is all about the Jig. The reason I enjoy making music so much is because it allows me to express myself the way I want to be expressed. I do it for the 20 somethings that are worried about their futures. For the twenty-somethings that want to continue chasing their dreams but are scared because they feel like they are running out of time. I think this population is one that is not really represented in music. I also make music to share my lessons and experiences with other people that can relate. That’s why I go by young dad. Everyone calls me dad because I am like a father figure. So in my art, I try to represent that by relating bars and songs to my personal experiences. I also want to start an artistic wave in Phoenix. I grew up in central Phoenix, and since I was young phoenix has become more and more artistic. Now that downtown is beginning to pop its time to start a music wave here in Phoenix.

Contact Info:

• Phone: 6232618737
• Email: youngdadmusic@gmail.com
• Instagram: @Roycewoolridge @young_dad_music
• Twitter: @Young_Dad_

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