*Disclaimer: Kid Flvsh is a friend of the writer.
Graphic by Adrienne J. Romero / Photos via @jussobrooklyn and @sirshanephoto.
🧸🎹❄️
These were the emojis that Kid Flvsh had to work off during a two-hour time limit. The request turned out to be one of his most random, but biggest cover art requests.
Since last speaking with Kid Flvsh–whose name is Sean Williams–in 2021, the New Jersey native has progressed even more in his career, landing “random” opportunities to create cover art for some of hip hop’s biggest names like Fivio Foreign, Kanye West and Alicia Keys for their song “City of God” as well as Cardi B, who featured on the hit song “Shake It” by Kay Flock along with Dougie B and Bory300.
Despite the accomplishments, Williams said he tries not to brag too much and acknowledged that his upbringing and current reality are a “blessing.”
“Being a Black man [who’s] just young, fly and just doing stuff, I cannot thank God enough… Without him, none of this is possible,” Williams told Slice of Culture. “I never thought this life would’ve found me, but it did and I have nothing but respect and honor to be in this position and I try to do my best and do more for us as a people and just push the culture forward.”
“My way of giving a slice of culture back to the world.”
Ideas Brought To Life
In 2021, Williams was working on kicking off his first animated series, “#DaFlies,” which follows two “wacky” flies, Mack and Darius, and their shenanigans around Garden Grove as they interact with humans and other bugs. Drawing inspiration from movies like “Bee Movie,” “Antz” and “A Bug’s Life,” each character has their own arc like Mack, who has “baby mama drama” and is trying to become a better father to his kids.
The idea for the series came in 2019, after Williams and his cousin were talking on the porch and a fly bumped into Williams’ face; his cousin had joked, “he did a backflip off your chin.” The first episode got 16,000 views and now season two is on its way.
Williams does the animation, storyboarding and music production.
“When you’re thinking about bugs, you’re not thinking about what they do on a day-to-day… I figured how to incorporate our lives into their lives because they have kids, they don’t have the stress of bills and paperwork and stuff like that– lucky–but they do have things that they have to do to survive and to take care of their young,” he explained.
“#DaFlies” has been pitched to a number of streaming services, and Williams said that news will come along with the release of season two.
Aside from YouTube and Instagram, “#DaFlies” also made an appearance on PIX11 News, when Williams was featured on the daily news show back in January. Williams was recognized for several album cover art going platinum and gold along with his animation series.
The now 25-year-old has gotten plaques for his artwork with several artists including Lil Tjay, Cardi B, Sleepy Hallow, Flipp Dinero, Fivio Foreign, Kanye West and Alicia Keys, to name a few.
Right Place, Right Time
The artist told Slice of Culture that a lot of his biggest opportunities have one thing in common: they’re random.
There was one early morning in February 2022 where Williams’ friend, Lu, called him and said he has a song that needs cover art, but he couldn’t tell him what it’s about and who it’s for–all Lu could say was that Williams had two hours to make it.
“I said, ‘Oh two hours is crazy, but you know I got you.’”
Williams did some drafts and eventually got more insight when Lu sent a teddy bear emoji, piano keys emoji and a snowflake emoji. He was also sent a picture of Fivio Foreign’s late friend, T Dott, which he used as a catalyst for the main image.
Lu was under a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) so he couldn’t say much about the direction, but after he dropped the emoji hints, Williams realized who he was creating cover art for.
“I was like, ‘Oh I have 30 minutes left and you’re talking about Kanye and Alicia have to approve it. Holy sh–t,’” he told Slice of Culture.
“Kanye’s a very, very hard person to impress. He’s so concise on what he wants and if it wasn’t for Fivio… he told me Kanye actually wanted to go a whole other direction and because [Fivio] wanted that cover he ended up saying, ‘No this is what I want and Ye was like, ‘aight bet’ … shout out Fivy.”
That song, which was a tribute to T Dott, has since gone certified gold.
Roughly two months after that, Williams was hit with another “random” request.
JD Banks, who was Kay Flock’s manager at the time, called Kid Flvsh and said that he got a song that needed cover art within a day. Being his name is “Flvsh”–a nod to DC superhero Flash–he said he had to be extra quick with it and that’s exactly what he did.
Flvsh implemented the rappers who were featured on the song: Kay Flock, Cardi B, Dougie B and Bory300 and drew in a fiery background that matches the snappy drill beats.
On April 18, 2022, just two days before his birthday, Williams saw his cover art all over Times Square.
“That was probably the best gift from anyone,” he said. “I walked through the whole town, saw posters everywhere, saw the billboard everywhere, saw stickers… just two blocks straight and I was like, ‘Wow, this just came from my iPad.’”
What’s Next For The Jersey-Made Creative
Though Williams has seen success in different forms, he told Slice of Culture that it took him a while to get past self-doubt. He questioned, “Is this what I really wanna do? Can I really make it?” but he learned to take everything with “a grain of salt and be patient” because consistency is key, he said.
Standing behind him was always his family, his manager, Monk, and public relations person, Sharia.
But Williams noted that Jersey also played a role in the person he is today. Originally from East Orange, the now New York-resident added that people need to respect the Garden State more.
“Jersey has definitely taught me to be a little bit more stern with what I want. It taught me how to move the majority of the time. I spent my time out here learning how to connect with people being around so many different people through school… transitioning to when I went to New York, that’s really where I learned how to network and really how to increase my value in terms of my demand and my leverage,” he said.
“Shout out Jersey! They sleeping on us.”
In addition to working on season two of “#DaFlies,” art shows and beats for notable artists and himself, Williams–with a few other artists–has started teaching art to students at the East New York Middle School of Excellence.
“It’s my favorite thing that I’ve done in my career connecting with the youth is just… it’s so indescribable. It’s joy mixed with passion, mixed with proudness in one melting pot…,” he said. “I’m looking forward to shaping the new young minds and pushing the culture forward.”
As for music, Flvsh dropped a hint for who he’s making beats for: 💵👱♂️, Flipp and ❓.
