Bryan Marcel Williams, known to fans as hip-hop artist Marcel P. Black, says that he always had music on his mind growing up in the small town of Ardmore, Okla. His father, Malcolm Williams, was a gospel musician, which meant that he had a variety of instruments to experiment with. However, it was visiting extended family that led him to the genre that became his passion.
“When I was maybe 5 or 6 years old, I had an older cousin, who was a die-hard hip-hop fan, way out in the country in Oklahoma,” Williams says. “He used to dress up like LL Cool J., so the first (verse) I learned when I was like 5 was from ‘I’m Bad’ by LL Cool J.”
With each visit, Williams’ cousin, Meche Roberts, taught him more, challenging him to learn rap songs about characters such as Mickey Mouse and He-Man, and acknowledging his affinity for it.
“The culture bit me, you know—a kid growing up watching ‘Yo! MTV Raps,’ watching ‘Rap City,’” Williams says.
“There wasn’t a big hip-hop scene where I’m from, so pretty much anything I saw on television or that my older cousin introduced me to, I got really into it.”
He continued developing his craft through the years, writing original material by age 11 and recording age 16. Fifteen years ago, he moved to Baton Rouge, La., to attend Southern University, where he got a bachelor’s degree in history in 2009.
