Edlin St. Vil has a new-found hobby for creating music, and he believes he has the ability to succeed.

The Stratford junior raps under the stage name “EddieKid.” He currently has four songs on Spotify. He also has music on YouTube, SoundCloud, and Apple Music.

Edlin first started making music a few months ago, when he put his first song on SoundCloud. He said it all started when he was just “playing around” in his studio. But soon after releasing his first song, he got 600 views.

His first song was released on Spotify. “Love” was inspired by sophomore Niya Dillard, who encouraged him to write a song. It features him rapping alongside one of his favorite big-time singers, Florea. He said he received about 3,000 views in two weeks.

Edlin also credits Jadyn Stephens, a 2018 Stratford graduate, who assisted him in creating a beat, and freshman producer Darius Tamale, also known as Tamale Records.

His second song is popular with students at Stratford, and is often played during break. “The Eagles” is inspired by his football teammates, as well as Stratford’s dedicated student section. His lyrics feature players Raelen Jones, Christian Palmer, and Dell Sikes.

Although he is passionate about football, it is his first year playing the sport. He wasn’t able to participate last year because he played travel soccer. Even though it is his first year playing, the junior has already made several highlights this season.

Edlin said he is able to write one song in around 30 minutes, but it “just depends what [he] wants to write about.” Sometimes when writing songs, there can be a lot on his mind and he has to “decide if he wants to write a song” about his thoughts.

He has enjoyed the recent attention, and said he is “definitely going to drop a music video soon.” He wants “all the students at Stratford get in on the video.’’

Edlin said he feels like a lot of people like listening to his music, but said he knows there always will be detractors. However, he doesn’t let them get into his head. Because he is doing it for fun, it doesn’t matter what others think.

Although Edlin is enjoying some success with his music career, he said he is “more about sports,” and music is only “a side hobby.” He still hopes to continue creating music, even if it cannot be his priority.

Edlin came to Stratford in the sixth grade from an orphanage in Les Cayes, Haiti. He lives with Mr. Joseph and Dr. Lauren Fried, former Stratford students, who met him on a medical mission trip to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake that killed more than 100,000 people.

He said his Macon family is extremely supportive of his music career. He says that they first found out about it when he dropped “The Eagles,”  Soon after, they shared it on Facebook.

Although Edlin’s music career is beginning to take off, he said he is “just trying to focus on school.”

“School first, sports second,” he said. “But, after that, it’s music.”