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= Alijah Isaiah Williams = Alijah Isaiah Williams (born June 1, 2001) recognized by his stage names A-Train and Alijah Tha Great, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur from Chicago, Illinois. He founded the entertainment company Young Rich Prodigy Entertainment (YRP ENT.) and created the clothing fashion line "I’m Different."

EARLY LIFE

Alijah Isaiah Williams was born in Evergreen Park, Illinois, at Little Company of Mary Hospital on June 1, 2001. He was raised in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood on the south side of Chicago by his mother. He attended Foster Park Elementary School from Pre-K to 1st grade and Carroll-Rosenwald Specialty School from 2nd to 8th grade. Williams admitted that as a child, he didn’t start developing legitimate friendships until around 6th grade, stating, “I had a few people from the block that you’d always see me with, but they became more of a family rather than friends. Since I was going to school in a different neighborhood, it was hard actually to spend time with friends outside of school. I still had classmates that I called friends, but we never did much outside of school until around that time.” He graduated from a top 10 student from his class. As a teenager, he attended Bogan High School, in the Ashburn neighborhood on the southwest side of Chicago, where he graduated from the IB program yet again as a top 10 student, holding multiple honors.

CAREER


 * Beginning of music career

As a child, Williams was always surrounded by music. He began trying to play several instruments at a young age. In February 2015,

He started learning how to produce music in his grandmother's garage, where he had a homemade studio. He then began writing his own lyrics to beats he’d find on YouTube, stating, “I’d write whenever I could. At recess, at lunch, during class. Wherever.” He performed on a field trip to the House of Blues in May 2015 and recorded and released his debut single “We Da Best” in June under the stage name A-Train.

ARTISTRY


 * Influences

Alijah has stated that Tupac Shakur, Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Eminem, Lil Wayne, and J. Cole are his top hip hop artists that have influenced him for music and personal reasons. Also, Alijah lists Derrick Rose, Chance the Rapper, Willow Smith, Jaden Smith, XXXTENTACION, and Russell Simmons as just some of the individuals that he’s learned from and have played significant roles in his day-to-day life. He says, “There’s a lot of people inside and outside of the entertainment industry that has influenced me into the person you see today. I usually try to group them into the categories of my life that they’ve helped me with.”

In September 2017, Alijah met Russell Simmons at his high school and then later had the chance to have a conversation with him over Instagram live. He said that he hadn’t realized that Simmons would have such a significant impact on his life and that he’s helped him figure out what he needs to do to help him navigate the roadblocks in life and business.

In 2020, he would meet another one of his idols in Derrick Rose at a book signing in Chicago. “I remember being speechless for a nice few seconds. I walked up to him and said what’s up, shook up with him, and was like thank you for everything. I don’t remember everything we said to each other cause it was one of those WOW moments. Derrick is perhaps the most significant influence on my personal life. Once I started reading his autobiography, I began to shed tears because I realized we have so much in common, and the words he said sounded like they were coming from me.”

In high school, Alijah met some of his closest peers/creative advisors that he considers significant inspirations to him due to the impact they’ve had on his life. Meeting the likes of Marcus Schaeffer, Ryel Williams, Toure’ (Tau) Richards, and a few others helped him develop a broader sense of creativity and grasp a better understanding of certain concepts.


 * Musical Style

Williams has been described as having a robust and versatile sound. He credits his upbringing and his hiatus from recording music for that. His earliest recollection of discovering himself through music is when he first heard Lose Yourself by Eminem. His mother would always have either hip hop or 90’s R&B playing in the house or the car. His grandmother would have her old CDs and records playing, and he developed a love of the music of Michael Jackson through his grandfather. He’s stated, “A lot of what I’ve heard in my household was incorporated into my writings and how I envisioned their outcomes. I want to write shit that made you forget what you’re feeling and be in the moment, the way MJ did. I want to write shit from the heart and soul like a lot of the R&B artists I heard growing up did. I want to write shit that tells a story that you can sit in the car and either bump it or vibe with it.”

When discussing what genre he would want his music to be associated with, he replied, “all of them.” He wants to make albums for different genres and tell stories that relate to certain people more than others. This was the new mindset he entered after his hiatus from recording music. AS of now, he currently attends Columbia College Chicago where he studies entrepreneurship and business management.