If you’re into describing people by the colour of their skin (which I’m not), or just plain lazy (which I am), you could describe Wesley Willis as ‘the black Daniel Johnston’. Although there are undoubtedly similarities between the two artists, (Wesley Willis was also an overweight schizophrenic writing alarmingly honest and rudimentary music throughout the 1990’s), Wesley's catalogue has as much in common with Biz Markie and Ol’ Dirty Bastard than it does with Daniel Johnston. His songs are more concerned with topics such as smoking crack (though he never did), beating up superheroes, his favourite bands and eating at McDonalds than wide-eyed, love ballads. Although it’s not intended as a compliment, you can hear the schizophrenia more vividly in Wesley’s music than you can in Daniel Johnstons’.
Towards the middle of his twenties, Wesley was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, his personal demons were named "Heartbreaker," "Nervewrecker," and "Meansucker” and he saw rock & roll music as a means to keep these demons at bay. From busking on the streets of Chicago, he developed a cult following amongst the city’s underground community and soon came to the attention of Rick Rubin’s American Recordings label with whom he released two albums (which sold next to no copies). He continued making music for the rest of his life which unfortunately ended in August 2003 when he died from complications relating to leukemia from which he was suffering.
I urge you to seek out his music which although at times maddeningly simple and repetitive (many of his tracks are insane diatribes set over the demo presets from his keyboard), also shines bright with invention and passion. Below is a five minute look into Wesley’s life which will probably say more about this artist than I can.
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