Mark Laurence Richard Jr. is a rapper from Connecticut, better known as Witt Lowry. The 28-year-old, born February 28th, 1991, has amassed fans worldwide, after first uploading songs to SoundCloud. He currently has 544K subscribers on YouTube, and almost 330K followers on Twitter and Instagram combined. To date he has released 3 studio albums – Dreaming With Our Eyes Open in 2015, I Could Not Plan This in 2017, and Nevers Road in 2019. His most recent song, The Rise, was released on the 28th of January 2020, and has already received 181K views on YouTube, as of the time this article was published. Mark has seen an incredible growth in his popularity over the past few years, which could be attributed to his amazing songs, or even his interaction with fans. Here, I will break down the reasons why I believe Witt Lowry is one of the greatest yet underappreciated rappers of our time.
5. His producer Dan
His producer, Dan Haynes, is by far one of the best producers out there. From producing killer beats, to playing the piano perfectly on Nevers Road (Album released 30/10/2019), his is a talent that few possess. The amazing beats, coupled with Witts stellar raps, makes for a flawless song every time. Dan is the humblest man you could meet, along with Mark. When I met them in February of 2019, though I wanted to talk to both, Dan stepped back and pointed to Witt, insinuating that he was the person I should talk to. Dan acts as Marks executive producer, with almost every song, if not all, of Witts songs being produced by Dan.
Familiarity aside, if your producer was as talented as Dan is, I don’t think you’d change producer either.
4. The atmosphere at his shows
If you have never been to a Witt Lowry concert, I urge you to attend one. He performs his best songs live, with an atmosphere that is palpable. Whether it’s the emotional seated performance of Last Letter, or the energetic rendition of Blood In The Water, the I Could Not Plan This tour, as well as the Nevers Road tour were examples of how a concert should be done – energetic at the right times, yet also leaving room for a poignant rendition of the songs that hit deep within the heart. Mark always puts on a good show – he even completed a performance acapella at Lollapalooza after a system fault with the microphones. The #TeamWitt community come out in all arms to see their idol, with the community being one of the most accepting and friendliest communities out there – you’re sure to make a few friends. He is 100% as good live as he is through produced tracks, and even sounds the exact same – because of no autotune?
3. His lyrics
Witt writes about real, relatable topics. He addresses things that not many other artists would be comfortable addressing. For example, in Last Letter, his best-known song for poignant lyrics – he addresses his fathers gruelling battle with cancer, a subject that is later addressed again in Reaper, a track featured on Nevers Road. He writes about topics that are important to him – Love, Loss, being an independent artist and how being signed effects performers, and events that have happened to him. Mark was in a car accident in 2018, a topic that made it into songs such as Crash and Alone. For me, Mark is one of those rappers that is not afraid to talk about topics – no matter what they may be.
2. He’s independent
In many songs Mark has addressed the fact that he feels rappers lose creativity and originality when they are signed to a label – “They told me God gave me a gift, Now how many writers you got? I been makin’ a list” – a line featured on his newest song, The Rise. Mark has always maintained that he is an independent artist and has not been signed to a label at any time in the past. For an artist who is solely independent, “Just me, myself and my team”, amassing his success worldwide is an achievement not many could do. I believe it shows Marks determination and raw talent, being independent yet achieving what he has by himself. He has played festivals, gone on worldwide tours, and has released multiple albums, all while being independent. I believe that is a brilliant accomplishment, one that Mark should take great pride in knowing – he achieved what signed artists achieve with the help of a label and a big amount of cash behind them – he achieved all that by himself.
1.His relationship with his fans.
Marks relationship with his fans is probably my favourite thing about him. After his shows, despite already holding a meet and greet earlier, he comes out to adoring fans who have waited outside the venue to meet him. I was one, I couldn’t buy tickets to his meet and greet but wanted to try my luck at even getting a glimpse of him. Having not met Mark before, I was fully expecting him to be too busy and to just say hello and go home, as there were maybe 10 people outside. To my surprise, he talked to each one of us, giving whoever he was talking to his full attention. He talked to me for maybe 10 minutes, and gave me multiple hugs as I told him the impact he had on me. I’m used to being the one instigating a hug when I meet a celebrity, but for Mark to ask to hug me multiple times just solidifies my case. Whether its talking to fans at his shows and giving them his full attention, or interacting with fans on Twitter and Instagram (he has liked almost every tweet I tag him in – what other artist can say they do that?) to always talking about how amazing his fanbase is and attributing his success to his fans – Mark has a relationship with #TeamWitt that is rare to find with artists of that calibre.
He said it himself in The Rise – “I’m thankful for every fan that I got”
Witt Lowry, I believe is one of the greatest rappers of our time, one who deserves to be of the same success as the other great rappers of our time. His relationship with his fans, his real and relatable lyrics, and his work ethic while being an independent artist are all reasons why you should check Mark out.
You can find Mark on Twitter/Instagram @wittlowry and his YouTube and Spotify links are:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTqvhfqR9mDf1z6sDkLgSuw
Ems Music Blog 