Today we’d like to introduce you to Sydney Wallace.
Sydney, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Hello, thank you for the opportunity to share my story for whoever is reading. I pray that I can inspire you in some shape or form by the time this interview is done. Peace, love and blessings to all.
My story starts right here in Atlanta, Georgia. I was born on December 6, 1993, at Northside Hospital to Mark and Gillian Wallace. I always felt kind of special because my mother was born on Christmas Day and my father was born on Halloween. Haha, I guess opposites do attract, right? I am of Jamaican/British descent and was raised very Caribbean. Growing up, I spent time in Philadelphia, where my mother first migrated from Jamaica as a young teenager, and also where she and my father got married. My grandmother lived in Philly as well until we decided to move her to Atlanta to live with us. We moved to the city of Duluth, which is in Gwinnett County (The Nawf), and from there, the rest is history. By late elementary/early middle school, we had moved again to Fulton County, which happened to be about only a mile away from where we lived. Unfortunately, it was in a whole other jurisdiction and I had to change schools.
I feel I first became interested in playing basketball due to my family. My mother is the only girl and also is the youngest of seven kids, while my father is one of ten kids. Out of those ten kids on my paternal side, I have three uncles who are triplets. Therefore, you can just imagine how large my family is on BOTH sides. It’s so big there were a number of relatives that I just met recently for the first time. However, I was blessed to grow up around a lot of cousins that were around the same age as me for the most part. We all are pretty close, so it felt like I had 100 siblings. I remember always being sent off to my grandmother’s house for the summertime and this is where I became naturally drawn to the game of basketball. My older male cousins were always active in playing sports and I vividly remember wanting to play with them instead of with my female cousins.
I was about four years old when my father noticed how well I handled the ball being that young of age. It was too natural. He started me off in youth leagues and I dominated. I tried out for a ten-year-old AAU team when I was eight, but I was very small compared to the other girls and this was my first lesson in rejection. I was clearly good enough, but I just was too little compared to them. I remember them seeming like giants! That enticed me to become so good that it wouldn’t matter how small I was. I kept at it and my talent was evident. I could handle the ball very well and had a very quick first step, which allowed me to get wherever I wanted to on the court. My shooting ability, in turn, gave me an advantage of being hard to guard.
I started receiving letters from D-1 colleges in the 8th grade and received my first offer from the University of Florida my freshman year of high school. My passion and love for the game continued to grow, but it wasn’t ALWAYS there. I grew up studying the games of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson and I just wanted to PLAY. I never wanted to practice. It was boring to me and I felt I was so talented that I didn’t need it. This was another life lesson that my father instilled in me that “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard,” and that quote stays with me today. He also was a major key in building my confidence, not only in my game but in life.
On the other hand, I was a very good student. My favorite subject was Language Arts because I enjoyed writing and creative thinking. My teachers noticed how well I was able to put words together and I often got in trouble because I would finish my work before everyone else and then distract the other students (lol). At ten years old, I typed up a chapter book that was about 200 pages long, and always wrote lyrics or poems. In high school, a poem that I wrote ten minutes before the due date won an award. I have always kept this side of my life kind of private because at the time, I was the “Jesus Shuttlesworth” of the school and didn’t want to be looked at as soft, not realizing that I could still play basketball and be a poet (childish thinking lol). At this point, I pretty much knew that I was going to be a D1 athlete and a future pro, so that became my main focus on making that dream a reality, which I did. 🙂
In correlation to my writing skills, I developed a love for music that was unexplainable. Like I said, being around a lot of my older boy cousins, they introduced me to a lot of music at a young age. Over time, my love for music grew, and I became that kid that ALWAYS had headphones on, or the one people would come to about new songs. Of course, everybody loves music, but certain types of music and rhythms of songs did something to my spirit. It was more of a spiritual experience for me than anything. If I could relate to the words, I became the words. I remember being a young child around seven years old watching 106 & park ( when I shouldn’t have been, of course) and imitating the videos or pretending that I was in them. I would also have concerts and pretend that I was performing as an artist with my stuffed animals as the audience.
All throughout middle and into high school, I toyed with the idea of being an artist and taking music seriously. I still have journals and notebooks full of lyrics, poems and just thoughts dating back as far as 2005. I even came up with a female rap group with two of my childhood friends named “Thug Misses” (LOL). We had a Myspace page and everything. Wanting to learn how to play an instrument, I joined the orchestra and began learning how to play the viola. My mother scheduled private lessons for me and all. Moreover, by the time I got to high school, I pretty much knew I was going to be a student-athlete and basketball started to become year-round for me. It consumed majority, if not all of my time, and even though I was pretty good at the viola, I eventually quit.
Upon graduating from Northview High School as the all-time scoring and assist leader, I attended Georgia Tech on a full-ride scholarship and became a 4-year letter winner. I also managed to set and break some records in the process. One of the most significant moments in my career (at least in my opinion) was in my senior season when I scored my 1000th point. This will always be vivid in my memory because I tore my ACL at the exact same time, not knowing that was a spark to something great. It’s crazy to think that if I would’ve missed the shot, I would have never reached that milestone. I say that to say all of the series of events that happened during the course of my first 25 years of life played out in the most perfect way. I feel as if I am at a point now where these events foretold the person who I am supposed to be. For a long time, I only felt as if I could be a basketball player and nothing else, not realizing that basketball isn’t who I AM, but what I DO. It took me 25 years and various trials and tribulations to understand that. But now, I fully understand my purpose and calling in-depth and can’t wait to share my story with others in hopes it will inspire them to persevere regardless of the situation.
Has it been a smooth road?
The road has been far from smooth. If anything, my road has been very rocky with a lot of potholes along the way. And, I’m talking about the potholes that knock your radio out! I think one of the biggest challenges in life is keeping a positive mental attitude (PMA) even in the midst of negative situations. And trust me, it’s not easy. We’re all human and experience different types of emotions. It’s hard, but with persistence, over time, we can train our minds to see the good in everything. We might think that a circumstance is “negative,” but you can turn it into a positive with the right attitude. In all honesty, these trials and tribulations that we experience are just steps that we HAVE to take along the way to become the person who we were created to be. I’ve grown to understand that there is no such thing as a “negative.”
For example, I was devastated my senior year when my season was cut short. I was even more devastated when we tried to appeal to the NCAA for my medical red-shirt and they denied it. I was confused and hurt. I looked to blame God not understanding why he would allow this to happen to me my senior season, and also in one of my best statistical seasons ever. I was determined to make another impression in the NCAA tournament and then get drafted into the WNBA. Clearly, that didn’t happen and God laughed hysterically at MY plans, After I got over myself emotionally, I began putting in the work to get myself back to the level of play I was at before I got injured. I not only got back to myself, but I was even BETTER than before. I attended a combine in Indianapolis and stood out. I received a training camp invitation in 2016 to join the Minnesota Lynx after almost a year of not playing organized basketball.
I had finally started to make my dream a reality despite the obstacles I had to hurdle over and was on a mission to make the final roster. Even though I had an impressive outing throughout training camp and the preseason games, I got cut. I was one of the last cuts, so I felt a little accomplished but; I was still disappointed. The coach informed me I had all of the potential in the world, but I needed some professional experience. So, I set out to get a deal overseas. Even with that I experienced some trials and tribulations with finding the right representation. I played in Switzerland my first overseas season on a replacement contract, and the following year, I finished the second half of the season in France. Again, another rocky season of not having the right representation, my professional career started off on the wrong note.
However, in the summer of 2017, that would drastically change as I finally found the right agent that wanted to represent me (shout out to LLuis). He inked me a short term deal in Romania where two of my former college teammates were playing, but afterwards, I was out of luck again. The overseas market was stagnant and I was without a job for the second half of the 2017/2018 season. Of course, I felt a ways not understanding why it was so hard to find a job when I knew I was one of the best shooting guards in the world. I had impressive stats and felt I could go anywhere and make a difference. I had nothing but hope in my agent and he ended up inking me a deal for the full 2018/2019 season FINALLY. After being professional already for two years, this was my FIRST time being signed for a full season. I would head to Finland in September of 2018 and was determined like never before. I counted it as the “senior season I never had.” The results were evident. I was averaging about 30ppg and shooting 50% overall from the field as a guard. I was the leading scorer in the league and on December 8, 2018, two days after my 25th birthday, I broke the Finnish scoring record (men and women’s) and set a new one with a career-high of 54 points. I was on a roll and knew that I would be playing in the WNBA that upcoming summer.
Then, out of the blue, the most unexpected and devastating thing happened. A week later, after breaking the record, I tore my other ACL during the last play of practice and my season at the peak of my career was cut short YET AGAIN. I mean, am I going to be known as the one who breaks records and then gets hurt? At first, I didn’t believe it was torn that I had maybe tweaked it awkwardly, o we went to Helsinki for an MRI later on that week and the doctor broke the unfortunate news. I was so distraught I didn’t even know how to call home and tell anybody. I cried for about 24 hours straight. They surely wouldn’t believe me. I mean, again?? And now? Why!? I was crushed as all of my family was, but something inside me told me not to blame God this time but to trust him. It made no sense, but I know I had to trust him and there had to be something better ahead. I flew back home and began the rehab process yet again. About a week after that, I got a phone call that basically changed my life.
My childhood friend Justin had been killed in a car accident after just recently speaking with him. Dealing with emotional, mental, and physical pain all at one time is not for the weak-hearted. I felt like God was mad at me, and there was this unbearable weight on my shoulders. I was hallucinating off of the pain pills for my knee and just couldn’t believe that he was gone. I just wanted the pain to cease, but nope! It wasn’t done yet. One of my favorite artists, Nipsey Hussle, was murdered in March, and then in September of that year, my cousin John was shot and killed literally two days after I spoke to him. Again, it was raining and there were clearly holes in my umbrella. I couldn’t escape it. 2019 singlehandedly was a year of pain, heartache and suffering. However, all of those struggles set me up for something better, A complete awakening of my spirit and a total renewing of my mind. Being so used to and close to death brought me life and allowed me to look at in a way which I never experienced it before. I began reading self-motivating books, such as “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill and applied the principles to my life.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
For a long time, I thought I could only be known as a basketball player. That’s all I wanted to do. I could not, NOT play. I knew I was going to be one of those athletes that played until they were 50 years old. I like to refer to myself as a “Shotta” not only because I am Jamaican, but because I specialize in shooting long-distance (lol). I’m known for my ability to score the basketball from anywhere on the court. The game isn’t just a game to me. It had become a part of my lifestyle. My competiveness keeps me motivated and focused. If you’re guarding me, I want you to understand it doesn’t matter what you do. I’m still going to score. I don’t really believe in someone playing “good defense” on me, I feel as if I just missed the shot. I take fun in taking away the confidence of my opponent.
However, during some of my most darkest moments, I found a new light. My best friend Justin who passed away did music and I wanted to continue to live out his dream. I felt obligated. I knew I had the talent and ability to be an artist from my past, but I always shied away from attention. Even though I unintentionally drew attention to myself, I never cared for it. I also felt awkward talking about myself to others. I was and still am very humble, but I feel as if I was TOO humble. And, due to the fact that I had kept my writing talents hidden for basically my whole life, I didn’t want to be looked at as THAT basketball player turned artist. I vehemently got to the point in realizing God put us on this earth to love and serve each other and quit with all of the extracurricular thinking. He’s blessed every single one of us with different gifts and talents to use to serve him and most of the time, the thing that you are scared to do the most, is probably what you’re SUPPOSED to be doing. With that being said, I knew that I was being selfish withholding my musical talents to the world.
After the seasons of pain and suffering I endured, I never gave up and I felt I went through all of that to get me to realize this is what God is calling me to do, which is to inspire others with my testimony in a way that pertains to my purpose. I went through all of that so that I could have something to talk about in the music. When I think about music and the artists who I admire, I find myself relating to a lot of the lyrics. Being able to relate to music is a beautiful thing because it can put you in any type of mood. Also, the cool thing about music is that it can put you anywhere at anytime. Kendrick Lamar’s album was released while I was in France, so every time I listen to it, I automatically reminisce about me riding around on the train exploring France. I felt as if, if these artists can make me feel this way, then I can do the same thing in a way that’s inspiring and motivating for others. I like to think of myself as an anti-social extrovert. I’m very laid back and chill, but also goofy and playful. At the same time, I am very observant and low key. Breaking out of my shell was one of the biggest challenges and taking that leap of faith with releasing my first song and video “Intro,” which set everything off in late 2019.
Fast forward to today, I have been doing music seriously now for about nine months and things are happening pretty fast. I’ve been asked to perform at a few events, and I have come in contact with some very influential people in the music industry and it’s only a matter of time. I am most proud of being able to inspire people all over the world. My music has been played all over the world, and I’ve had people tell me that my songs helped them get through the day, or inspired them in some way, or it came at the time they needed to hear it, so I know that I am moving in the right direction. I am literally just getting started!
What I believe sets me apart from others is my tenacity and my perseverance. I also have unwavering faith. There is something inside of me that doesn’t allow me to give up. The spirit has revealed itself to me on multiple occasions in ways that were so blatant that it’s impossible not to believe that there’s a higher intelligence. I put my faith in Christ and he carries me through.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
What I like the most about Atlanta is the ample amount of opportunity. When I think about my life, where I live, who my friends are, what I am currently doing, it is all a collection of my thoughts and I believe I unknowingly manifested becoming an artist at a very young age. At this point, everybody in the world knows that Atlanta is the music capital and entertainment capital. This city thrives off of the two, which is right up my ally as far as being an artist living in Atlanta. You just may never know who you will run into. Atlanta is very cultured and fast-paced as well, and I enjoy living in the city. It is constantly growing with black-owned businesses and young leaders. The nightlife, the food, and the diversity of the city is also a plus. There is always something to do in Atlanta!
What I like least about Atlanta is the traffic, of course. Lol, I feel as if so many people are moving to Atlanta and the population continues to grow extensively, which is starting to clog up the streets, which is slowing me up! (Jokes). But seriously, people don’t know how to drive. Only in Atlanta will somebody speed up to pass you speeding on the highway to get in front of you like you’re the one going slow. I have a love/hate relationship with the city because once you’ve been here for a while, and have done all there all is to do. It gets old pretty quickly.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://songwhip.com/yd-wallace
- Email: sydneytamara.wallace23@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sydwallstreet/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sydwall23
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sydwallstreet
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zut771IefzE
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