Creative writing student writes, performs original mixtapes
He may not solve crimes or save children from burning buildings, but Justin Daniels considers himself a hero in his own right.
Daniels, a third-year creative writing student, has been writing and performing under the name H3RO since 2008. The rapper has unofficially released 11 mixtapes during that time and is at work on his first full-length album, tentatively titled “Superhero.”
Daniels chose his stage name with the purpose of revamping the music scene.
“My goal, as a hero, was to save hip-hop,” Daniels said. “I originally got it [from] Nas’ song ‘Hero,’ back then. He was the one who said hip-hop was dead in the first place. Nas inspired me to do rap how I’m doing [it] now.”
Daniels, a Columbia native, got his start in high school.
“I started rapping back in 10th grade,” Daniels said. “Music had always been really big growing up. It always meant a lot to me, so I felt like I had to give something back to it.”
Daniels began his music career by making beats and trying to rap over them and performing for fellow students at school. While his beats were cutting-edge, classmates criticized his lyrics, which encouraged Daniels to keep writing.
“People would be like, ‘Yo, the beat is hot, but you suck at rapping. You should probably stop,’” Daniels said. “For some reason, that just drove me to try to work harder on it. Eventually, I just stopped making beats and solely started rapping, and it developed into what it is now.”
Daniels credits Lupe Fiasco, Nas, Jay-Z and Eminem as some of his biggest influences, but he said his music is a mix of several genres and styles.
“[I] focus more on lyrics, and everything else comes next,” Daniels said. “A lot of people will say I’m a conscious rapper.”
In addition to his solo work, Daniels is a member of YouN JustUs, a local hip-hop collective. He is also working on a mixtape titled “Heroes Live in the Gray Area,” a collaboration with fellow YouN JustUs member Lite Gray, which should be out in the next month.
Although he’s busy making new music and performing, Daniels is still a full-time student. Balancing school work and his creative projects is sometimes a challenge for the young rapper.
“Usually your best writing stuff comes when you’re supposed to be doing something else, like studying for a test or something,” Daniels said.
As far as advice for other students trying to break out into the music industry, Daniels has just one message.
“Be yourself,” he said. “The thing is, everybody in the industry is trying to be somebody else, and we need more people who are trying to bring individuality into it. That’s what I’m trying to do, and that’s what I’d tell anybody else.”
H3RO has an upcoming gig planned in Charleston on May 25 and also plans to do a show at Bey’s in late April. To learn more about Daniels’ music, check out his website, yourh3ro.com.