Sadly for motivational speakers and teachers everywhere, people are no longer shooting for the moon to land among the stars.

This is because many people have realized that the closest star to the moon is the sun: an entity that burns everything that comes near it, especially dreams. So now many people are now reaching for the cloud — the SoundCloud — to achieve their wildest dreams.

One individual who achieved success through SoundCloud is George “Joji” Miller, an Australian-Japanese “lo-fi,” or low-fidelity, rapper, comedian and experimental filmmaker. Joji, who also goes by Filthy Frank, has amassed a cult-like following on social media, with more than 5 million YouTube subscribers and 753,000 Twitter followers.

The root of his success is drawing viewers in through his provocative art. Joji is a SoundCloud rapper who manages to transcend the SoundCloud stigma that content published on that platform is inherently low-quality.

A Renaissance poet in a digital age with jazz influences to support a low-fidelity aesthetic, Joji’s most mainstream song, “I don’t wanna waste my time,” is an analysis of the thoughts and emotions of its song’s subject. Joji said in an interview with Genius that “basically this whole song is about cheating and trying to cover it up … [the song] is not about him but, it was inspired by my friend cheating on a girl.”

The song has an underlying feminist tone by creating a female god and questioning infidelity. In that same interview with Genius, Joji said, “They’re both so afraid of her finding out that she might as well be God.” The song is an instant classic that will hopefully go mainstream soon enough.

SoundCloud isn’t just for the internet-famous, though. It’s also for everyday college students like undecided freshman Favio Gonzalez.

Gonzalez is an 18-year-old from Yakima, with an eclectic taste in music, who will soon begin on KZUU 90.7 radio station from 8 – 10 p.m. Wednesday nights. He has made music for about three years and started uploading to SoundCloud under the name “profreshmanxo” with his friends. Gonzalez said he considers himself a versatile musician.

“I play whatever my mood decides,” he said, “and the people around me influence the music I make.”

He said that his music changes in style depending on if he is on his own or with friends, because of the different ambiance and atmosphere between the settings.
Gonzalez said he believes SoundCloud is a good foundation for people to begin building their music career.

“Music is like evolution,” he said. “It comes from its roots and is always evolving. There’s always going to be something newer.”

He said he likes SoundCloud because anyone can upload to the website.

Gonzalez’s goals are to further his academics, amass a “cult-like following” and explore new sounds as they’re invented, with the ultimate goal of creating a personal brand.

He said he wants to create something permanent, like a painting, rather than being just another SoundCloud fad, quickly replaced by the next one.

Joji’s music can be found on SoundCloud and YouTube under “Joji, and his comedic short films can be found on YouTube under the channel “FilthyFrankTV.”

The music and beats of WSU’s Favio Gonzalez can be found on SoundCloud under “profreshmanxo,” with his easiest-to-find songs being “sadforlife-night time” and “1700.”

Blaine Ross is a freshman music education major from Montesano. He can be contacted at [email protected].