Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Wynder.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Being a kid born in North Philly but raised in Bridgeton , New Jersey I was blessed to be exposed to alot of music. In my mom’s house she listened to everything from Smooth Jazz, Rock n Roll , Soul Music , Country etc. She said thats how you learn the world and understand the World around you . Esp on the weekends she would wake us up to clean the house and be playing anything from James Brown to Aretha Franklin , Earth, Wind , and fire to even her fav Smokey Robinson.
My first exp with HipHop came more from my Oldest brother Phatcat back then he had the boombox and dope stereo system wit all the hot mixtapes. We grew up poor in the hood till this day Bridgeton is still considered and had an article written that its the poorest part of New Jersey. From Street Violence to drugs we lived around it all one thing it taught you was survival.
My Mom , brothers and sisters all listened to Power 99 a station out of Philly who was playing all the hot music back then …by 1988 and 89 I was around the age 5 or 6 listening to my Oldest brother mixtapes and it blew my mind. I’m talking about hearing Run DMC ,Slick Rick, Rakim , Big Daddy Kane , Salt n Pepper , Fat Boys , Biz Markie , the Juice Crew all the Legends. I can say I was really blessed to grow up in the era as a kid but what made me really fall in love and wanna be an Mc was seeing Rakims music video Microphone Fiend. I wanted to be that kid in the video lol I even memorized the song and from there I was hooked .
At 12 years old I wrote my first rhyme listening to a Snoop Dogg track and ill never forget being hype about wanting to let my Oldest brother here it . When he heard it he told me “you don’t need to having all that cussing in ya rap, you can use ya brain to write something more intelligent go back and write it again” so in 1997 about a year later listening to Wu Tang’s song “it’s yours” I heard Raekwon’s verse and it inspired me to write another rhyme..I went out to let my friends hear it and the rest was History . The very next day I had to battle and from their I went on to doing alot of rap Cyphers in my hood wit Mcs Like Divine , D-ology , G-Fellah , Focus , Don Perion, D-Getta , Rain , J Kroog , Ice , Rain , Heat , Kayshawn, Nyce Microphone Hero, etc .. from battles to freestyling in our lunch room tables and after school as well. I even had the biggest battle of my life at my school against another well known Mc named MD… After I won that battle by 1999 I was being offered a record deal in Philly with the rap group I was in called the verbal assassins. The group consisted of Me , J Nasty , and Aquarius and later Capital G but we turned it down because one of the members was left out of the deal.
Years later I continued making music working wit Scoop Lo doing Shows in Philly as well as underground Spots in Lower Manhattan. We even had our song played on the radio …After that i joined and helped form the rap group “Outta Touch” where we also did mixtapes and had our music played on the radio …
From there i went solo and kept doing more music from mixtapes to singles to albums. Working wit Djs and rappers like Dj Flair. Dj Jerzey Boy , The Coalition Djs of Tenn, Dj Knikki , Phatman from the West Coast, Black Tear from Detroit, The International Fleet Dj KoolHand , Dj Big Will from the 816 , Wu Tang Coalition Dj Livewirez , Heat , G-fellah , D-getta, Boss Bellz , The Hood Diskmakers, G-Hulk, Lo, Punch, Pooda Peso, Trouble, Fleetwood , Time , Scoop Lo, Levi Feeney , Rain, Fatman, H.Dot, Haak Blast, Kristy Lashawn , Worldwide Media Source Group , Air it Out Radio , Melting Minds , Danielle Bolden, World Wide International Records , Livewires Radio, Taylor Bee , DNA from the URL Battle Rap League , and many more so if I forgot to mention you please forgive me.
Fm Stations I’ve been on
#WHTL #Tha #Land 95.2 #Fm in #Cleveland , #Hot 109.9 #Fm in #Miami , #Power 106 #Fm in #Florida , #Alliance #Fm in #Arizona , 96.7 #Fm in #St #Pete , #Skyhawk / #On #The #Rise #Radio in #LA, 106 #Fm in #Carolina , 95.3 #Jams #Fm for #Jersey / #Philly , #HoodX in #Chicago , and #The #Hated #Crew ….
Online Radio
Air it out Radio , LiveWirez Radio, Unsigned Hype, Bert Wynder Radio, Spotify, Iheart, Black out Radio , Amazon , Coalition Djs of Tenn Radio ,
Major artists I have worked wit Rakim, Kool G Rap, Mobb Deep, Ghostface Killah , Redman, Rah Digga , Big Twins, Raheem DeVaughn, Termanology , Snoop Dogg , Method Man , Shyheim , and DNA
Achievements.. entered into the Billions Club with other Independent artists by Papoose and TuneCore, Broke Hot 100 and top 50 on Billboard , was #19 on Billboard, #1 on Amazon and #3 on Apple Music , and 28 in the country , for having one of my songs on an Collaboration Album By Wu Tang Coalition Dj LiveWirez , Also had my music played in reviewed by the Coalition Djs of Tenn .
I also had a song go viral and promoted by Boom Bap Nation and Independent Dope as well as New Jersey1 HipHop as well as featured in magazines like Smoke Magazine , Stardom 101 , Black Llyfe, and Maelan Magazine.
I’ve also got into working with a company called “Alive Shoes” from one of the most famous Shoe Valleys in Italy , Le Marche , Italy . I’ve been the first Black Sneaker designer from my area for now going on 10 years. I’ve put out almost 30 diff designs even including Sneaks for my Hood and area as well as my family. I’ve also did the same with clothing working wit a company called “Red Bubble”
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It was very hard getting where I am today. Like I was saying we grew up in poverty so my mom working two jobs and grandmom working both trying to make ends meet so having money to start a rap career was just a dream. All of the big producers and radio stations arent in South Jersey …Not having studios or money to start any , not knowing anyone in the industry, we all were just teens and kids seeing our hood heroes and just dreaming. We were the starving artists running off hunger , pain, determination , and pure talent. It gave me a love for the details and skills more than the fame even tho being known in your area for doing something you loved felt good. Also alot of personal real life struggles . I grew up without a Father and my brothers were in the streets even my mom was in jail and my dad was dead before I turned 2 years old by the age of 13 I was a young kid hanging in the streets. The good thing was when my mom came home she put us in Church and that helped us alot. It’s times we were evicted even homeless. Family members dying really effected me as well. What made me never give up was my older brother “Ratboy” he was killed by the cops but before he died he made me promise to stay out the streets and stay doing my music. Since then I’ve kept that promise
But mainly for me it was having the money to fund my dream. Studio Time. Radio Play , Buying Beats all that stuff was expensive . My firsr time ever being in the studio was in Philly When me and my team the Verbal Assassins were offered a record deal I was 15 years old ill never forget it
Later on after working and saving money for studio time and buying beats became easier to deal with which also helped wit working wit alot of people from Djs to Promoters, fm and online Radio to even major artists .
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I think overall I specialize in not just being an Mc but having a great business mind . What sets me apart is I’m not afraid of being diff or going against the grain , working with others and supporting others. . I’m most proud of being able so say I’ve been blessed to work with 2 legendary HipHop Grandmasters from the early 80’s HipHop Golden Era . An album feat and produced by Rakim and a song wit Kool G Rap , as well as legendary Mcs from the 90’s Golden Era like Ghostface , Redman, Snoop Dogg , Mobb Deep , Rah Digga, Method Man and even Shyheim . I mean I really grew up loving their music and now I really have music wit them esp cause some of them are in my top 5 fav of all time … I’m also proud I was able to rep my hood and area as well as keep my promise to my brother ….
I’m also proud to be a Sneaker Designer and being able to design stuff for my family and hood it’s a dream come true
What does success mean to you?
Not just chasing you dreams and accomplishing them but also using it to help inspire and uplift others … leaving something the next generations can be inspired and learn from
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bertwynder.wixsite.com/trendsetter
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wynderboy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BVRtrY2Xm/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@bertwynder?si=nIdO-4Qj6yZwH7yI
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5N5KFeX6322OajPm5YZr1S?si=slq79A1zSkeF2XSmloJ-pQ
