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Meet Isaiah Tílson in Maricopa County

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Isaiah Tílson.

Isaiah Tílson, 21 years young, is a Jazz Crooner and R&B Singer. Born in Fairbanks, Alaska; Isaiah Tílson moved down to Arizona with his mother and sister. As a youth, he began playing the piano and drawing. Needing an outlet to escape pains while growing up, Isaiah began writing lyrics and musical pieces at the age of 17. Former rapper by the name of Izonist transitioned to singing Jazz and R&B for personal self-expression and growth. He has performed around the state of Arizona and keeps expanding his music’s reach. He released his self-released/self-produced first album “Classed Up” June 30th, 2019. A creative of many mediums, he enjoys producing, engineering, painting, drawing, cooking, acting, and much more. His overall goal is to influence all generations to grow and accomplish what they set out to do, no matter the obstacles.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Along the path of my career, the journey has not been easy. I have dealt with many obstacles that I have overcome. To begin my father left my mother, my sister, and me when I was 2 years old. Again having been in Alaska at the time, my mother didn’t have family anywhere but in Phoenix, Arizona. Making our way down south, we have resided in Phoenix ever since.

I met my father a couple of times throughout the years of my life, the first time distressed me so much emotionally I was held back in Kindergarten. He stopped seeing me when I was 10 years old, signing me away so that he didn’t have to pay child support. The last time I saw him I was 18. Growing up, in school, I was bullied a lot for being intelligent. Being pushed into lockers and having rocks thrown at me were just a few things I experienced. Homelife was not any easier. Around the time I was 8 years old, my mother met my to be a stepfather. At first, he seemed nice but once they married he showed true colors. I was verbally and physically abused almost every day. One time, I was thrown down the stairs when I was about 12. I became very angry with myself and the world around me and was put in anger management meetings.

Always having been interested in physical activities, I used sports to relieve stress. Playing soccer, football, and working out were ways I accomplished this. In high school, I played football in my first semester of freshman year (15 years old) whilst continuing to have good grades. But during my second semester, I started down a destructive chemical path.

I began smoking marijuana occasionally at first, eventually, it became every day. My grades started slipping and I was getting in trouble with law enforcement. Going into my sophomore year of high school (16 years old), I was taking pills by the dozen; escalating ways that I could get high. I sold prescription drugs and weed for extra cash. Hanging out at a “trap” house about every day, it was there I was introduced to Molly (MDMA), Acid (LSD), Wax, Psychedelic Mushrooms. Messing with my psychosis, I became suicidal and in search of something more. I started hanging out with gangs to be around more drugs. I was jumped that December of 2015, my jaw being dislocated on my right side and stabbed in the left shoulder plate. Sadly, my mother and stepfather didn’t believe what happened and assumed I had sold my possessions, which had been taken, for drug money. This amped me to act out more and to mess with my psychosis further. I became suicidal and in search of something to satisfy my desires.
I quit doing drugs after returning from vacation in California my junior year (17 years old), where my stepfather accused me of doing meth at a restaurant and we got in a physical altercation. On road back to Phoenix, I needed to express myself in some way. Having been artistic growing up, I turned to music. I thought that if major artists could create, why couldn’t I. The first song I wrote was called “Peace”, as that was what I wanted to feel. Realizing how great it made me feel, I wrote more songs/poems throughout the next few months.

At this point in my life, I was at failing high school, so I took night classes and worked hard for my day classes to increase my credits to graduate. I got a job to earn income, all my time devoted to getting as far away from my past unhealthy activities. During this period of my life, I started recording over free YouTube instrumentals to at least release music on Soundcloud as a rapper under the stage name Izonist.

I found my way to performing at open mics and got myself on showcase shows. This was in my senior year of high school (18 years old), and I started producing my own instrumentals. I was on track to graduate as well. Everything was going according to plan and was working out in my favor. However, around early October, my uncle, who was a great father figure for me growing up, was hit by a drunk driver one evening. He later passed away early November in the hospital succumbing to injuries.

His death deeply left me distraught and I was very tempted to drown my emotions with substances. Through much self-discipline, I resisted and continued on my path of growth. I graduated high school in 2017 (19 years old), not furthering on to college knowing that making music professionally as an artist was what I wanted to do. I needed to focus on building myself in that way without distractions of school work.

In September of 2017, I was notified that my stepfather had beaten my younger sister. I was ready to harm him but was advised by people close to me and mentors not to. I would go to jail and my musical careered would be destroyed. I warned him that if he ever laid a hand on my sister again, my mother, or my half brother; I would beat the shit out of him.

I have made sure to keep tabs on my siblings and mother into this present day. My sister moved out, but I am still watchful for my mother and my little brother. I have sacrificed a lot on this journey of artistic expression. I will do what it takes to overcome my obstacles and achieve my goals, hoping that others to do the same. Inspired to make a change and after taking lessons to sing, I officially switched from Rapper to a Modern Jazz Crooner at the beginning of 2019.

Please tell us more about what you do, what you are currently focused on and most proud of. What sets you apart from others?
As a musician, I have designed my brand to be unique by combining past styles (between 1940-1990) with modern styles of music. A creative indefinitely, I specialize in producing, writing (lyrically and musically), singing, rapping, sound engineering, and brand overview. It is important that I treat my brand as a business and make sure that all factors work perfectly together in unison. As far as I know, I am the only modernized jazz crooner on the rise with a wide variety of artistic abilities. For a while, I had been building and managing everything myself, yet recently within the past year, I have added others to my team for whom I am very grateful to have in my life.

Any predictions for the industry over the next few years?
In the next few years, definitely within the next 10 years, I see the brand expanding/stretching worldwide. Touring, a mass amount of music releases, merchandising, movie roles, brand trends and slight design evolvement are only a few plans that will transpire. There is much to come.

Pricing:

  • $10 for a signed Isaiah Tílson “Classed Up” Album CD
  • $1 for an Isaiah Tílson Rose Logo Sticker

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Holly Beaupre, Tammy Nguyen, Jai Yunae, Katrina Ramirez

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