How Christian Rap Artist Josiah Williams Got Hired by WWE from Making Wrestler Theme Music Remixes (Interview)

Christian rapper Josiah Williams has found himself in front of a lot of people lately. The creator of Wrestle & Flow, a wrestling and hip-hop mash-up, found himself discovered by the WWE. Now, he’s an employee of the mega-conglomerate of a company.

Wrestle & Flow

“Originally it was just a fun idea, something to do in between albums,” said Williams. “I’m not the person to just pump albums and singles back to back to back. This was something to keep my mind creative without having to worry about tracks, artwork, albums.”

He never expected that his remixed version of superstar entrances would turn into a career for him.

“It turned into a community. There wasn’t a goal, just wanted to do something fun and showcase my abilities differently.”

Williams uploaded his first Wrestle & Flow video in August 2018. It was a remix of the Undisputed Era group and all the members wound up sharing it. Then WWE’s social media team saw it and reached out the next day saying, “We’re thinking about having you wear gear in your videos.”

He explained that it never happened, but instead, they introduced him to their social media team. Williams was able to see what they were doing and they found out what he’d be interested in doing.

“I went to RAW in Chicago and I did a screen test interviewing folks to see what it was like on camera. I think it didn’t go well,” he admitted. “Did another visit at the performance center in February and they said, ‘Hey, I think they have something for you’. After prayer and consideration, I felt it was the right move for the family.”

Job at WWE

Josiah Williams was offered a staff position that will entail him being at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL every day. There will be a few NXT Live events with him going to the takeovers that happen in Orlando. Essentially, any event that involves the Performance Center, he’ll be there.

Outside of work, he leads Bible study, works at church, has a job with the local college basketball team as their emcee and other stuff.

“Moving to Orlando from Peoria, Illinois is like a clean slate. I have work and nothing else. Now I can focus on the music a lot.”

“People see what Cathy Kelley has done with the position,” said the rapper. “When people hear WWE Now, those short second 30 videos that are online, that’s her baby. I want to be able to have something like that, my show, my product, that I contribute to the platform. In the back of my head, I have the ambition and desire to perform at an event. It’s not a possibility yet.”

He can pitch certain ideas as a content creator and would love to do entrance music for an artist. “I’m getting closer to it, I can only hope and dream and work hard.”

“As I met people, the staff members were introducing me to talent and they are like, ‘Oh yeah, we know who that guy is’. They would start rapping the songs and I’m like, ‘Ohhh man’. The talent is putting me over,” Williams said amazed. “Sami Zayn told me what the song ‘Beautiful Black’ meant to him as somebody who watched the video, stuff like that is really cool. Everyone is super nice and supportive.”

Unfortunately, now that he’s under the WWE umbrella, Wrestle & Flow can’t really continue under this current situation. It’s a conflict of interest, but there are some really cool ideas to do something similar that he can’t say yet.

“Hopefully it’ll be up and running this summer.”

Music

For Williams, Wrestle & Flow served a good purpose for him because it challenged him creatively and lyrically. “I’m hoping that it could translate to my next project and I can be better and stronger because of this challenge that I’ve been working on for the past almost year.”

He continued, “WWE told me they didn’t want me to stop what I’m doing. ‘Your music is important to you’. I have the complete freedom to continue what I’m doing and I can make my own music as Josiah Williams.”

Williams hits a different gear of thinking when doing his own music as opposed to Wrestle & Flow. He communicates personal stories around his life, whereas when doing W&F he’s communicating who this person is, what they do, and what this event is.

“It feels like an assignment. I have to make sure I’m hitting the right things, the right words, and catchphrases.”

Wrestling & Relatability

“I grew up as a theater student. I’ve always been acting, I’ve always been learning about character development, story progression, etc. That’s exactly what WWE does,” Williams said. “They are people in roles as superstars. They are a character they are displaying to the world and showing what they’re made of, trying to be relatable on the screen and off it. That’s what we did in theater. Every week it’s a different crowd to be relatable, connect, and get over.”

He also cited the musical side of WWE as inspiration. “The second you hear Randy Orton’s theme song everyone goes crazy. I always wanted to be a part of a song where people connect with it within the first one second.”

Kofi Kingston

Josiah Williams

At this year’s Wrestlemania, New Day member Kofi Kingston had a historic moment for African Americans. He defeated Daniel Bryant for the WWE Championship. This was news because Black wrestlers, rather infamously, have never really been rewarded with that opportunity unless you count the Rock. Kingston has been with the company over a decade in various roles, and it was finally his time.

“I’ve always believed that representation always matters. When I saw it, I was in the watch along backstage with some of the NXT Talent, Brie Bella, and staff. Being able to witness that was a really cool moment that I did not expect,” he revealed. “This would be so cool if this happens. If Kofi gets this, it’s for people who look like me or others around the world that do. [Then he did] It was amazing. Not only seeing it there, but then going home and watching all the other reaction videos, fans, talent, and people enjoying the moment. It resonates with people all over the world.”

Josiah the Fan

His favorite wrestlers are Randy Orton, Eddie Guerrero, and Batista. “They were the complete package and made you want to follow them.”

Josiah Williams

He started watching during 2003’s Ruthless Aggression era, but really loved the era of the Viper, when Randy Orton started Legacy.

Williams’ favorite wrestlers right now are up and comers: Adam Cole, Bianca BelAir, and Pete Dunne.

Pete Dunne vs Tyler Bate at the NXT Chicago Takeover is his favorite match. “Something about that match, when I saw it, I was on my feet the whole time.”

Last but not least, and most importantly. If Josiah Williams was ever called in the ring to get squashed by a wrestler, who would it be?

“Lio Rush in a squash match. He’s so talented and personable, we’ve been talking for a while. He’s hungry and motivated like me. I think he has a long career, I feel like I could do the job for him. Or, maybe Bobby Lashley.”

Keep it locked to the WWE to keep up with what Josiah Williams is doing. Check out some more of his work on the Performance Center’s Instagram.

Justin Sarachik
Justin Sarachik
Justin is the Editor-in-Chief of Rapzilla.com. He has been a journalist for over a decade and has written or edited for Relevant, Christian Post, BREATHEcast, CCM, Broken Records Magazine, & more. He's written over 10,000 articles, done over 1,000 interviews, and is in post-production for documentaries on Danny "D-Boy" Rodriguez & Mario "Machete" Perez. He's the project manager of the upcoming video game Run the Court and of the media brand Crimefaces. Justin likes to work with indie artists to develop their brands & marketing strategies. Catch him interviewing artists on Survival of the Artist Podcast & creating videos on his social media channels.
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