When millions called him Chopped Chin, he wasn’t offended. He saw an opportunity — and took it.
Angel Wiley, a freshman at Boston University, aspires to be nominated for a Grammy Award. Wiley said he could have gained a fanbase by embracing the name given to him, but he wanted to build it organically.
So he decided against it.
“Chopped Chin’s going to die because that’s just how the internet works,” he said. “I didn’t want Chopped Chin’s lifespan to be my lifespan, so I used it to get eyes.”
Wiley was featured in the first installment of BU President Melissa Gilliam’s “Leaders Among Us” video series Nov. 10. In the episode, the two discussed how he transformed the negativity he received from the internet meme into a positive platform for his brand.
Last Christmas, Wiley was spending time with his family and writing songs for the project that would kickstart his musical career when his phone began blowing up with messages. Annoyed, he enabled “Do Not Disturb” and put it aside — until he couldn’t ignore it anymore.
When he finally opened social media, he realized his face was everywhere.
A video of him dancing courtside at an Atlanta Dream game alongside his mother, Renee Montgomery — a former WNBA player who’s now the team’s co-owner and vice president — suddenly catapulted into virality.
From that day forward, he took a Lyft to school because he could no longer take the bus.
When he would arrive at the front doors, swarms of people were already waiting for him, stuffing their phones in his face and surrounding him as he hurried to the elevator.
“They were trying to find where I lived, find who my parents were, find where I went to school,” Wiley said. “Imagine 80 people at all times looking for you.”
Before any of this, Wiley decided he would release his first project, titled “ALG0RHYTHYM.” But before he could make his debut as the hip-hop and R&B artist WiL3Y, the world knew him as Chopped Chin.
Although the overwhelming attention took a toll on his mental health, he said it was ultimately a “blessing” because this fame is exactly what he wanted.
“I wanted it to be like this at a certain point,” he said. “I just didn’t think that it would be this soon in my life. I thought it was going to be later on in my life, once I’ve put the work in, put my 10,000 hours in, I’ve made albums [and] I’ve earned my stripes.”
Wiley said the most difficult part of going viral was not being called “Chopped Chin” — it was people beginning to treat him differently.
Those he considered close friends began to “switch up.” Everyone suddenly wanted to befriend him, and some even disliked him for seemingly no reason, he said.
While it was difficult to decipher who was genuine during his transition into BU, he found a group of people he could trust.
He and nine other high school seniors from Atlanta were awarded the Posse Scholarship, which guaranteed them full tuition to BU and a support system throughout their college career.
Freshman Caleb Vazquez is one of Wiley’s Posse peers and is now his roommate. Vazquez said family is extremely important to Wiley.
“I see him on call with his mom a lot,” he said. “He definitely loves her a lot. I can tell his relationship with her is very grounded.”
When Wiley was 1, his father died, leaving his biological mother, Sirena Grace, a musician, writer and producer, as his only parental figure.
Wiley said he recalls her taking him to see a movie when he was sick, and being in the theater all alone. Seeing how far she went to put his happiness first, even when it wasn’t in her best interest at the time, was a defining moment in his life, he said.
“I never knew anything was wrong,” he said. “My mom, she did everything in her power to make sure that I was safe, sheltered, fed [and] happy … I have to repay that back.”
At an early age, Wiley said he watched his mother get involved in the film industry, which sparked his interest in film and television.
Later, when Montgomery was introduced to the family, his moms founded Think Tank Productions, where the three of them collaborate and brainstorm within their house and pitch ideas to various studios.
So far, Wiley said they have produced two short films, one of which won an award, and a documentary about Montgomery, which was featured at multiple film festivals.
Wiley is also very involved in activities outside of his major.
Wiley is a member of Bassline, BU’s acapella group for students of color, and BU on Broadway, which is staging a production of the musical “Hair” from Nov. 20 to 22.
By experimenting with different styles and genres of music, he said, he aims to “upgrade [his] toolkit.”
“It’s kind of like in basketball, when you train under different coaches, you’re gonna pick up something from every coach,” he said.
On his birthday, Aug. 15, he released his most recent album, “B3HIND THE WH33L,” which recaps the prior eight months, tackling topics relating to his journey navigating fame.
Aniyah Smith, a freshman at Chamberlain University and Wiley’s girlfriend of around three years, said he takes music very seriously.
“He says if he’s not writing, he doesn’t feel like he has a purpose in life,” she said. “He likes to write and challenge his mind everyday. He takes his phone out [and] writes in his notes any words that come to his mind.”
Wiley said amid the negativity he’s faced, he could’ve easily let it affect him, but he never did.
“Can’t anybody stop you but you,” he said. “The minute you start letting people dictate your actions, or letting them think that they have any sort of control over you, is when you’re going to fail. Your biggest challenge in life is yourself.”
