regional championship.
McCoy Williams, a 2021 Marion graduate, loves the small-town life that Marion provides, where “everyone’s a celebrity.”
He likes being a part of the community, and he likes helping others.
That’s what recently drove him to volunteer with the Marion Fire Department.
After dedicating most of his high school years to weightlifting and sports, he enjoys the team atmosphere that comes with being a member of the fire department. He enjoys the camaraderie, the friendships, having fun, and joking around – but then when it’s time for a call, and time to get serious, he loves suiting up and helping people.
While McCoy enjoys lifting weights, playing sports, and working on the fire department, his true passion is music. Along with his friend Thomas Jenema and producer Johnny, he’s published a number of catchy songs. He raps about God, and positive things in culture. He’s trying to take his music in a direction that’s more about doing the right thing.
Because that’s what he’s about. We caught up with McCoy recently and learned a little bit about his life. We learned that McCoy Williams is more than just another face in the crowd.
Marion Press: Where were you born and raised?
McCoy: I was born in Warren, Michigan, and then I was raised in Marion. I only lived in Big Rapids for about a year before I moved here. I moved up here when I was in Kindergarten.
Growing up, when we lived in Big Rapids, I lived with my mom and my dad; it was pretty cool – I got to live with all my brothers and my sister. I have one sister, and then I have six brothers. JP is my only full-brother, and the rest are half-siblings. My mom got sick, and so we moved up here and lived with Jean – she was my mom’s friend. We ended up living with my grandma, down on 50th Avenue, and we lived there until she passed away. Now we live with Shannon Carmody and [childhood friend] James Alberts.
MP: What kept you busy in school?
McCoy: I really liked gym class, and sports. That’s what kept my grades up, so I could play sports. When I was younger, I was pretty chubby. Baseball was fun because you didn’t have to run too much, and I liked that. And I was decent at it. I always knew that I could do better than I was; Sports pushed me, because I knew that I could be better than I was – and I eventually got there.
My 9th grade year, I played football and baseball. My sophomore year, I didn’t play baseball because my 9th grade year I got two black eyes – I got hit in the eyes with the baseball! So I didn’t play my sophomore or junior year, but I played football both those years. And then my senior year is when I really did everything: Football, track, baseball, and basketball.
MP: What was your favorite sport?
McCoy: Definitely football. It was so much fun, and such a family atmosphere. I always knew that we were going to be a really good team, and winning made it a lot of fun too. It was just like we were playing yard football with all my friends from elementary school. It was just a lot of fun.
MP: What are your favorite memories from going to school in Marion?
McCoy: Definitely some weightlifting times with my friends. Definitely winning the regional championship in football. When we were playing NMC in basketball in districts – we were supposed to lose by 50 or so – and it was towards the end of the game, and I was [cheering a lot] from the bench. We were down by like 25 or so, and it was the last few minutes, and coach put me in the game. We were at our basket, and I was standing at the top of the key, and Aadin [Yowell] looks at me and says: “McCoy, hop out!” So I hopped out to the three-point line, and I shot it and made it. It was one of the only buckets that I made that year, everyone was screaming, and it was a lot of fun. And then going to the state finals for track in the shot put; going down there with Braden [Prielipp] was a lot of fun.
MP: Since graduating, what’s been keeping you busy?
McCoy: Working at the fire department, I’ve been going down there. We’ve actually been building a weight room there. Lifting weights; I lift weights every single day. A lot of times I’ll lift weights at the high school, and play basketball, and just run around. My Uncle Mark and Marla [McClung] come up every now and then and we’ll get together and hang out.
MP: So you recently joined the fire department. Tell us about that?
McCoy: Shannon brought me home a registration from the library; I signed up, and went down there and met everyone. It’s a really good crew. It’s almost like being on another football team, we have fun and joke around all the time. But then it gets really serious when we get a call. It’s super cool when we get on a call: to see everyone suit up, and get in the fire truck and go do some serious work.
I’m definitely going to get more certifications with the fire department and medical wise.
MP: What else keeps you busy in your free time?
McCoy: Music is one of my main things. I need to make money and stuff right now, and I really like firefighting, but I’m never going to stop doing music.
Music has always been a big part of my life. I go to McBain; I’ve got a beatmaker and producer, Johnny, and I’ll go up there with Thomas Jenema and we’ll make music. It’s rap music, but there’s also singing too; it’s melody rap – we’re very melodic with the beat. We rap about God, and good things for the culture. Not about drugs and that stuff. More about doing the right things – that’s where we’re trying to go with it.
MP: Where can our readers listen to your music?
McCoy: You can find our music on Soundcloud. If you look up, “King.T & M.C.” on Soundcloud, you can find it. Some of our songs are released on all platforms also.
MP: What do you enjoy the most about being a part of the Marion community?
McCoy: It’s a small-town community, where everyone’s a celebrity. I love it. You can walk through town, and you’ll meet at least three people in your life. It’s a “help-each-other” community. We set up our own community events. We have Old Fashioned Days, where everyone meets together down at the basketball courts. I love that. You don’t get that kind of stuff in the big city, only in towns like Marion. I like being a part of the Marion community, and I like helping people.
MP: What’s the best advice you’ve been given?
McCoy: [Marion teacher] Mr. Engleright told me: “You never want to lose all the money in your account, you always want to add on to it.”
And that applies to everything in life. You never want to just stop doing something. You want to keep going, build consistency, and time is the key. That’s how you make money; that’s how you lift weights; that’s how you get good at sports; that’s how you get good at music; that’s how you get good at anything. Consistency is the key. Be consistent with everything you do.
MP: Who have been your role models over the years?
McCoy: My Uncle Mark, he was a big role model for me. He would come up to Marion every three months, and every time I saw him, he’d teach me something new. He’d teach me how to weed whack, or how to lay ground wire, or he’d teach me something with my car. He’d teach me how to chop wood, how to build stuff. He taught me how to change tires on a car – all that stuff.
[Former Marion teacher] Mr. Gillespie, he was a big role model. He got me into weightlifting. When I was younger, I didn’t really exercise, and he said that I should get into it. He started teaching me how to weightlift, and I’d lift with him after school, and he’d give me a ride home. He was always super nice about everything: if I needed a ride, or if I needed someone to talk to about something throughout the day. Or if you didn’t have somewhere to eat lunch, you could go eat lunch with him in his room.
Jesus is a good role model for everybody. Anybody who I see doing the right thing; I try to model my life after those people.
