Northwestern junior and rapper James Brooks, also known by his artist name “3D,” has had a lot happen to him since NBN talked to him last quarter. And he isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
He first needs to make sure he receives his engineering degree when he graduates next spring. On top of that, he will be releasing his single, “We On,” this Tuesday and the first of three mix tapes, “Dimensions,” during the first week of February. He’s working on a commercial for the WNBA, where he will take part in a video with the players themselves as well as have his song “Chosen” featured. Next month, Brooks will be the main performer at NBA’s All Star Weekend at a charity fundraiser sponsored by Fuzion Athlete Management & The Dalembert Foundation.
“I’ve gotta say, All Star Weekend, that’s a lifetime experience and to have that be your intro to the industry is something, you know, it gets no better than that,” Brooks said.
His manager and Northwestern alumnus, Quency Phillips, is most excited for Brooks’ work with the WNBA.
“You’re seeing an artist growing at the same time as a professional sports league is growing,” he said.
He added that Brooks’ commercial with the WNBA will launch the artist on a “global platform” and that despite having to delay signing with a label due to Brooks’ busy schedule, everything the rapper-engineer has done so far, from working on his mix tapes to keeping up with his school work, has “exceeded our expectations.”
Just a month ago, Brooks was featured on a national mix tape by artist Illmind Blaps, which had over 300,000 downloads and “is getting a lot of buzz and pushing New York City as well as Miami and different areas,” Phillips said.
Up next in the studio, Brooks will record a song with artist K. Michelle, who worked with Missy Elliot on the song “Faking It.” However, recording with other artists in addition to K. Michelle is not out of the question due to the idea behind six degrees of separation, Phillips said.
“It’s definitely K. Michelle on that one but we will be around Missy and a whole bunch of other people,” Phillips said.
To keep track of his busy schedule, Brooks now keeps a planner.
“I’m not the best at organization but I’m learning now that I have to write down the things that I have to do daily and make sure that they get accomplished,” Brooks said. “I’m a goal-oriented person so I try to set dates and meet deadlines.”
He faces other challenges in addition to planning his day-to-day schedule. He said keeping up with friends is more difficult and that sometimes his actions are misinterpreted.
“I don’t have the time I usually have to talk to friends to see how this person may be doing, how this person may be doing, and sometimes people may get offended by that,” said Brooks, who wants to be more “conscientious” of his actions to avoid those situations.
It’s these friends and the rest of the Northwestern community who have helped Brooks get to where he is today.
“I’m proud [of] just the fact that he’s doing what he’s doing, and has been living up to every expectation,” Phillips said. He added that Brooks has been able to “find the individuals here that are good for his team here [at Northwestern].”
The people Brooks has met at Northwestern have also shaped his music and taught him that it does not matter what background one comes from as long as one is genuine.
“[Your] principles are still the same if you’re genuine,” said Brooks, who creates stories behind his music with the hopes that the listener will feel the emotion he was feeling at the time and be able to relate.
“A lot of the tracks that you’ll hear from the mixed tapes are actually something that’s a part of me,” Brooks said. “It’s real music.”