Today we’d like to introduce you to Gerard Williams.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My grandmother Margaret Williams taught me how to play videogames when I was four years old. Atari 2600 was my first ever game system and the first game I ever played was PAC-MAN. Then once I got a Nintendo entertainment system and I played Super Mario Bros for the first time it was over, I officially became a gamer.
Fast forward to 2008 a gentleman by the name of Torrence Davis discovered my talent and allowed me to put my weekly HipHopGamerShow videos on his website which at the time was called TheBitBag.com.
My work earned me a trip to E3 2008 which is the SuperBowl of the gaming industry. Once I’ve made it there and did interviews with major game developers and business professionals everything changed and my career as a gaming journalist was realized.
So maintaining a consistent stream of content, I managed to get a red carpet opportunity with a new Facebook game called gig it. Although the game wasn’t good the event that was thrown was amazing and I met Ebro & Peter Rosenberg at this event and I managed to do an interview with Peter which led me to an actual meeting with HOT97.
Once I spoke with HOT97 about expanding into the gaming industry, thanks to a friend of mine named Davey Dee that I knew from supervising the mailroom at the record labels the partnership was born and I was bringing gaming content to HOT97.
Currently, now I’m a full brand partner with HOT97, LogitechG, NBA 2K League, Def Jam Recordings, and there is more coming so stay tuned.
Great, 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?
Nope wasn’t a smooth road but with anything you dream of having it will come with loss and sacrifices along the way.
In-terms of loss my grandmother passed away in 2010 and this really really broke me down. You see my grandma raised me, I never met my mother she left when I was too young to remember her and my father was more of a gangsta than a father when I was younger so my everything to me in my world was my grandma.
I stopped doing any gaming videos for like two weeks and honestly, I felt defeated, and then things changed and this was more proof that GOD is GOD and he will never leave you or forsake you and it’s true I’m living proof of it.
So I continued my journey and battled with a lot of racism, and people trying to set me up for failure out of jealousy, fake friends, and things for a while just felt overwhelming to the point where I felt like I was losing my self in the process.
Then one day, I just decided to focus on what I and I only can control, eliminated my fears and worries, allowed GOD to be GOD in and over my life and just do me and I did and I’ve won.
HipHopGamer – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
About my business/company, it’s honestly about doing what you love to do while inspiring others to do the same for their lives as well.
In terms of what I do, well for one I’m a gaming journalist which means I break stories in the gaming industry, review video games before they are released, interview developers, travel to different events, and I have my own show on hot97 and logitechG cause I’m also a content creator.
This is also what I’m known for just being HipHopGamer the go to for bringing the best of both worlds together through my voice, passion, and creativity.
What I’m most proud of is my Gaming & Guidance creation why? Because it’s literally a project that’s bigger than me. I’m literally impacting the youth as well as everyone that my content reaches. Gaming as a platform to bring people together have conversations and building relationships like this is another dream come true.
I’m even bringing COPS and KIDS together to try and fix the problems that’s happening so yes, I’m extremely humbled by this program and I’m looking to expand on it in great GREAT ways.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My proudest moment is knowing that my grandma got to see me do it before she passed away.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/hiphopgamer
- Facebook: facebook.com/hiphopgamer
- Twitter: twitter.com/hiphopgamer
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