Standing By Your Vision

A person of many talents at 25, Lil C has never allowed a medium to limit her creative vision. Predominantly self-taught, her skill set spans broadcasting, DJing and working as an A&R to support other young creative visionaries to produce a progressive new sound that she is genuinely excited to play out to the world.

She retains an undisputed stubbornness when it comes to only playing music she likes. Something few DJs can hold themselves to. However, this stubbornness is not unfounded. Her relentless quest to enable and provide a platform for artists she believes in is provoking shifts in the music industry that are nothing less than encouraging.

A Liverpool F.C. fan since birth, Lil C knows full well the realities of having your loyalties tested time and time again. This is, after all, a club that loves a comeback just to prove the doubters wrong. When people don't expect a lot from you, and you deliver more than anticipated, this is considered to be the ultimate definition of resilience.

Lil C is somebody you want in your corner, she has a fighting spirit that won't be stamped out by somebody telling her "No." It's simply not in her or her club's vocabulary.

Lil C has learned that nothing is ever handed to you, if something is worthwhile you're probably going to have to fight for it. In the competitive industry she works in, it pays to diversify your skill set to stay ahead of the rest. It also pays to give others a helping hand when you are able to as she explains here.

"I do three things. I'm a broadcaster first and foremost, who learned how to DJ in order to make the radio shows that I did sound better. I was always around people who were throwing parties and promoting parties as a teenager, but I'd always been there for the fun of it. I hadn't been involved in a serious way. And then when I was studying, I worked on the student radio, and that unlocked access to a place where I was surrounded by agents in culture, in student culture, nightlife culture—there was always something going on. So that was my first step into broadcasting."

"Music has always been a passion and a hobby but hadn't ever been something I'd thought of as a career. I'd never been like, 'I need to be this. I want to do that ...' It didn't happen that way, and that's why everything that ended up happening in terms of being an A&R happened quite naturally."

Because Lil C is a genuine music lover, through connections she ended up interning with record label, Young Turks. "I think I got that internship because my colleagues could see I had a deep and wide appreciation for music. It was genuine."

"What I do now is help find artists and talented individuals who might not have the studio setup or know how they want to roll it out, but have an artistic vision."

As someone who is innately creative, there's a level of mutual respect and empathy for the art and for the work from Lil C. She is able to extend her knowledge and understanding to others in a way that is mutually beneficial. In a way—she's cracked it.

"And then that kind of rolls into DJing. I only play out music that I love. I will never play a tune that I don't like. I would just never do that. So, it feels quite nice to build relationships with people whose music I play. I try to facilitate their needs with advice on releases or studio time because in an industry that feels so deeply ingrained in selling cultural products." Lil C points out that it's about supporting smaller aspects of the community and helping authentic people to do their thing. "That's kind of my M.O. in all this."

When it comes to Liverpool F.C., Lil C's passion is unwavering. Her steadfast approach to work and music is echoed by her club's tenacious spirit. "As Liverpool fans, there is a massive sense of resilience and a spirit of 'you can overcome adversity when things don't go your way.' We're only just starting to see the true potential and achieving the goals that we've expected and hoped for all this time. I think it's about this idea of expectation. When people don't expect a lot from you, and you rise to challenge and deliver more than they expected, that's the true meaning of resilience. Artists experience this all the time. People might tell you, 'No, this isn't good enough. No, this doesn't sound like the way I want it to. No, you're not making music that is commercially viable.' But it's about how you face that doubt and prove them wrong."

Lil C suggests there are parallels to be drawn when looking at music and sport. "In sport the athletes are talented. In music, artists are talented. Talent isn't subjective. It's either there or it's not, whether somebody validates this or not is irrelevant."

As a Liverpool fan, Lil C has had to embrace things not going her way. Through years of having expectations missed you'd expect it to have worn her down, but Lil C remains positive even when her club is trying to achieve the impossible.

"You just reevaluate the situation, ignore the expectations, just remove them and see what happens when good people come together."

"It's about the energy you bring to it. As a DJ, if you come with an energy that's like, 'Yes, I am happy to be here' that is so contagious. When you see a player on the field, and they don't want to wear that jersey anymore. Their chin has fallen. They don't want to be on the field. They don't want to play. And you're like, 'Get them off the field,' because they don't want it. The fans feel it. Their teammates are feeling it. The coach is feeling it."

Energy rubs off on the other people around you. It's transferable. "If somebody is not feeling their best, that's okay." Lil C has always believed that you can't always be you on your best day and that ultimately, doubt can play a massive part in how you view others and your team. In essence, doubt breeds doubt.

"Don't let your expectations impact how you view somebody, if it's not their day, just take them off the field and they'll likely come back fighting. This is Liverpool F.C. after all."

Lil C doesn't allow the expectations of others to get in the way of her ambitions or how she views others. For her, the key is to remain true to her values and take those that share her vision along for the journey.

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