Life & Work with Wylie Campbell of Prescott

Today we’d like to introduce you to Wylie Campbell.

Hi Wylie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Wylie (Büg Byte) best describes his music as “a journey from start to end, much like life, it is up to you to find meaning in it.” Hailing from Prescott, Arizona, Wylie grew up surrounded by music his whole life; his dad was a rockstar in LA before having him, and his father serves as a huge musical influence. Wylie is now 18 and has been making music for over 5 years. Wylie started performing his music live in October of 2021 (when he was just 16) and has been doing it regularly since.

In my adolescence, I had these dreams of being famous but did not have a concrete idea of what I wanted to be recognized for. When I was 11, I wanted to be an actor, so my grandma took me down to Phoenix, and I had an audition for acting and modeling classes. In this audition, there were 40 other people, all varying in range, and we all did a handful of exercises, including walking down a catwalk and recreating a milk ad. At the end of these model/ acting exercises, the judges picked two people to be selected for acting/modeling school: a middle-aged girl and a little 11-year-old me. Sadly I could not afford this acting school, so I never got to reap the rewards of being selected, but this was the moment I knew for sure I wanted to be famous. When I was 13 years old, I expanded my musical taste. I started to get interested in rap. When I was younger, I grew up with my uncles (Jesse Wiesner, Silas Wiesner, and Judah Wiesner) always freestyling, and eventually, when I was 13, I decided to try it with them. I had fun doing it. My first time freestyling, I realized there was something special about making words sound good, and even though I wasn’t the best at it, it was fun just making random flows with my uncles. Later that same year, my uncle Judah started producing music, a concept I was practically unfamiliar with. My uncle showed me some music he had been working on and then explained that he wanted to make a career producing music within a couple of years. This was very inspiring for me. My uncle was super passionate about making music at the time, and it was awesome seeing someone being able to paint an entire visual masterpiece with just sounds and words. One day, after my uncle started producing, he and my other uncles asked me to freestyle on a beat. This was my first time making an actual song, and I had so much fun making it; the experience stuck with me.

Little did I know that this music-making experience with my uncles would change my life forever. I started freestyling in the back of my mind all the time, and I started progressing my flow and rhyme schemes. I felt unique in making music, especially when I was younger because nobody else was making music besides my uncles. Slowly I started producing my own music and experimenting with making my own music. I slowly started to learn how to formulate music and record accompanying lyrics. By the time I was 15 years old, rap had become my whole world, my hopes, and my dreams. I became obsessed with a vision of me finding success through the expression of my mind.

I consider the age of 15 as a changing point in my life; before this point, I had a different perspective on my dreams, a more negative perspective, and during this point in my life, I had a lot of doubt and self-angst about myself. Still, I knew where I wanted to be in the future, and with a rough idea of where I wanted to be, I started to take action in my life. Around age 15, I began to create music independently, with nobody helping. It was just me and a computer. I started to make an EP consisting of 5-6 songs I had kept in the vault, waiting for the right time to unveil my plan. I had these songs I made, complete with accompanying lyrics, but I was scared to upload them; the timing didn’t seem right.

I was 15 years old when my perspective changed about my music. I didn’t want to be judged for what I was creating, and because of that, I was reluctant to put myself out there, but I wanted to. In the summer of 2021, right after I turned 16, I went to Mexico with my family and had a life-changing experience. In Mexico, I spent a week with my Mom’s side of the family (minus my Mom). This week the only people I interacted with were people I love and care about deeply. Still, before this trip, I had been in a pretty dark spot, I was depressed and unmotivated, but something about being surrounded by the people I care about made me come out of my shell a little. I had deep conversations with my family, which made me realize that people can be amazing, and I particularly had some very eye-opening conversations about music with my uncles. I expressed reluctance to release my music, but they supported me and made me believe in myself.

Shortly after this Mexico trip, I uploaded a single called Whipläsh, and this song alone completely changed my life. Suddenly, I truly started to become Büg Byte, people liked my music, so I became more passionate about my craft. Ever since the Mexico trip in 2021, I have stayed motivated and kept pursuing my dreams, and I have found a good amount of success because of this. As of right now, I am doing all that I want to be doing with music, I am doing shows monthly, and I am slowly changing this world with the words I speak, and that is all that I want.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Growing up, I did not have what most people would consider a “normal childhood” because I was never given that option. The only stability in my childhood was the first 5 years when my siblings were born. I am the oldest of 5 siblings, and when I was seven, my parents divorced. When my parents got divorced, they both struggled for stability. My dad lived with his parents, and my mom lived with anyone she could, leading to myself and my siblings being homeless. At first, my mom and dad shared custody over my siblings and me, but this didn’t prove easy because my mom did not have a stable place to raise us, leading to us living with random guys and Couchsurfing. I appreciate how hard my mom tried to give us a good childhood, but ultimately I had to grow up quickly because I became a parent to my siblings. My peers would consider me an old soul, but I just had to do what I had to do to get by; this made me quite mature for my age and made me strong. Eventually, in 2018 my dad bought a house and got full custody over my siblings and me; this was my first taste of stability. I have lived a comfortable life in the past 5 years, and this motivated me to come out of my shell and show the world the beauty my mind possesses.

Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Wylie (Büg Byte) best describes his music as “a journey from start to end, much like life, it is up to you to find meaning in it.” Büg Byte’s music is poetic and melodic rap with a hint of RnB, music that moves a crowd! Wylie is now 18 and has been making music for over 5 years. Wylie started performing his music live in October of 2021 (when he was just 16) and has been doing it regularly since.

I am proud that I’m chasing my dreams and not letting them sit dormant in the back of my mind, and I am happy that people support me for that. One day, I will change this world and make it a better place, which has always been my goal. What sets me apart from others in my “genre” is that I bring positivity to the game. I don’t lie in my raps or highlight foul subject matter; rather, I reflect on self-growth and past experiences. My music isn’t for everyone, but I hope that I can help people and that people can relate to my words.

What changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I want to change this world; to do that, I need to be known. I need the Büg Byte’s to go ear to ear to spread my positivity message. I hope that within the next 5 years, I will have a fan base to help spread the Büg Bytes and my message of positivity. I hope to change the game and everyone’s perspective of what rap can be. I want people to know that it’s all right to feel the way they do, and because of this, I am sure that I will not have an easy time finding a solid fan base because people tend to focus on negativity with rap. People think rap is just living lavishly, doing drugs, and getting with girls, but to me, it is expression; rap is my therapist. Once the industry knows Büg Byte, the industry will change, and so will the world.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/bug__byte?igshid=MzNlNGNkZWQ4Mg==
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@bugbytee
• SoundCloud: Check out Büg Byte on #SoundCloud https://on.soundcloud.com/4F3HF

Image Credits
LUCKYMOONRECORDS®