Featured Artist Friday: Lil Tito

In this week’s Friday spotlight we take a look at Willowbrook rapper Tyler Powell. Powell performs under the name Lil Tito and grew up in the Stratford Green neighborhood of Willowbrook.

"One of the artists I draw a lot of inspiration from is Lil Wayne," said Lil Tito. "My sound varies from song to song. Sometimes I try to sound like Drake, sometimes my style is similar to Lil Durk, other times it's like Lil Herb, and sometimes I even sound like Lil Uzi. I get inspired by a lot of artists and go off of them sometimes. I always try to keep up with the newest trends in Hip-Hop."

When Lil Tito writes his music, he often finds inspiration from what he's gone through over the course of his lifetime. Lil Tito strives to tell stories that communicate life lessons that he's learned so that others can find learn from them or simply find something they can relate to.

His goal when it comes to writing lyrics is to express the emotions he's felt as he's faced various tough situations throughout the course of his lifetime. More importantly, Lil Tito just wants to be himself on every track he puts out.

"The writing process is easy for me," said Lil Tito. "I try to come up with a catchy hook in my head and then immediately find a beat so that I can write that song. It's definitely an "in the moment" kind of thing. Other times I like to find a dope beat and just start writing whatever comes to mind. I usually come up with hook first the go off that."

Last year, the Willowbrook native had the opportunity to open for Spenzo, a well known Chicago artist. Lil Tito has also had the pleasure of opening for Rich Boy, who is best know for his 2006 single "Throw Some D's."

Over the course of 2017 Lil Tito released five new songs to his SoundCloud channel, which can be found by following the embedded playlist at the top of the article. In addition to his releases on SoundCloud, Lil Tito also released six new music videos on his YouTube channel.

"I was inspired by the music I grew up listening to," said Lil Tito. "Some of the rappers I listened to back then are Tupac, Mc Eight, 50 cent, G-unit, Triple 6 Mafia, Eminem, And Lil Wayne. I was also inspired by graffiti, since I used to draw a lot as a kid. Overall, music has always been a big part of my life. My mom played the Beatles and Grateful Dead as a kid and she always tells that I would sit under the table and listen to the music with her."

Currently, Lil Tito is working on booking shows to have a full slate of performances to kick off the new year. Announcements regarding upcoming shows can found on his Instagram, lud_tito.

Lil Tito dropped his single "First Thang" before the end of 2017 and plans on releasing a music video for the track in the near future. He is also currently in studio working on content for his debut mixtape that he plans to release sometime this year.

"I love the feedback and all the love and support that comes with making music," said Lil Tito. "My one big goal is to always work on something everyday. Every day you go without working, the harder it is to come back to it. If you consistently work, it gets easier to keep working and stay motivated."

Next week, we'll be spotlighting Chicago rapper Kenyadda. Next week will also be my final article that I wrote for ODMG as I make my transition into a new company. Thank you to everybody who has followed and read my articles up to this point and I hope you've enjoyed the variety of talented artist that I have written about. Stay tuned.