By the time Antwaun Stanley entered the University of Michigan in the late aughts, he was already 15 years into what could be considered to be a successful singing career. He was signed as a contemporary gospel artist, had made the rounds on TV shows and singing contests, had been through a series of managers, producers and handlers who all recognized the immense electricity in his singing and his stage persona.

Meanwhile, he was also just a regular kid from Flint, Michigan, raised by a single mother and trying to walk the straight and narrow path. That dual identity was part of his journey almost from the very beginning - like a superhero. On Sunday mornings he was a star, but by the next day he was back to being a regular student. And when he got to college, he tried his best to blend in, joining an a cappella group and singing with student bands, while at the same time trying to manage his career as a budding gospel star.

Even today, he lives with that same duality. While his work with Vulfpeck, and collaborations with Scary Pockets and Cory Wong have elevated his notoriety, he still chooses to stay close to home, splitting his time between Flint and Ann Arbor.

Talking to Antwaun, one gets the sense that he has spent his whole life, from the time he was 3 years old and spontaneously started singing spirituals in his mother’s kitchen, figuring out what to do about his talent, negotiating between who he needs to be and who the world wants him to be - finding the middle space where he can explore his gifts, but also deliver for the people in his life.

I have had a chance to talk to so many members of the inner circle of the funk phenomenon that is Vulfpeck - it wasn’t my intention originally but it just sort of unfolded that way. And all of them have described Antwaun Stanley as hands down the most inspiring singer they’ve met.

One of the key players in the Vulf experience who I have not yet had a chance to talk to is Tyler Duncan, the great producer and multiinstrumentalist who also chose to stay in Ann Arbor and make his career happen from the upper midwest, like a BOSS. Tyler and Antwaun recently released a project called Ascension, a high class dance pop project that gave each a chance to stretch out and do what they do best.

Antwaun and I talked recently about walking the line between spiritual and secular music, managing the responsibility to his fans and his own desire to explore, how he sees his career as “one giant experiment” and “a constant process of discovery”, and of course, his experience in Vulfpeck.

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201: Antwaun Stanley