Zeddy Will is putting a different spin on the music coming out of one of the most storied hip-hop locations in the game. The 22-year-old Queens native calls home to the famous Queensbridge housing development that legends like Nas made popular through his music. Zeddy has a style and energy that can be seen as a bit of a contrast compared to Nas and Mobb Deep, who came up in the same neighborhood decades before Zeddy. While the music representing Queensbridge in the past has traditionally been gritty and dark in nature, Zeddy’s music and social media content is lighthearted, hilarious and simply fun.
The rising artist began creating comedic TikTok videos during the COVID-19 pandemic to pass the time while the world was at a standstill. With an innate ability to make people laugh, Zeddy traces his first taste of going viral back to a pushup challenge video he posted in May of 2020. Just by hilariously gyrating while doing the challenge, he was able to rake in a million collective views across social media.
After unleashing one-off freestyles here and there while cranking out funny videos as part of his daily routine, Zeddy Will realized that videos of him rapping were starting to become just as popular as his comedy. With that in mind, he recorded his first-ever song “Confidence Is Key” in June of 2022. That track has since received over 2 million streams on Spotify.
Zeddy started to tease his then-forthcoming song “Freak You” the following spring. Before its official release in July of 2023, the DJ Smallz-produced summer anthem had already been the soundtrack to tens of thousands of TikTok creations. Along with over 10 million streams to date on Spotify, “Freak You” has garnered cosigns from the likes of Kim Kardashian, North West and Coi Leray. However, his second single, “Cha Cha,” has taken his music career to the next level. The breakthrough track draws direct inspiration from DJ Casper’s 2000 line dance classic “Cha-Cha Slide.”
At the suggestion of his mother, Zeddy Will used the late DJ Casper-sampled beat for a now-viral freestyle with On The Radar Radio. “Cha Cha” instantly caught fire across the internet and reached a peak position of No. 11 on the Billboard TikTok Top 50 chart. The nostalgic yet youthful banger helped Zeddy lock down a record deal with 10K Projects in January. The song has since been accompanied by a hysterical music video that captures the essence of his creativity.
Here, a very jovial Zeddy Will pulls up to XXL‘s The Break: Live for an interview full of laughs and insight into what makes the content creator-turned-rapper tick. He talks about how he balances being a social media personality with a budding hip-hop career as well as his desire to ultimately be considered this generation’s Will Smith. He also divulges whether or not the five women who appear in his “Cha Cha” visual are each actually pregnant with his children and much more.
Watch the full interview below.
Follow Zeddy Will on Spotify and Instagram.
Standouts:
“Cha Cha”
“Freak You” with DJ Smallz
“Confidence Is Key”
“Bop It” with Dayymein
“Blah Blah”
See the Stories of How Rappers Got Their Artist Names
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