By Sarah Therrien, Staff Writer
Many Indian Trail High School & Academy students know Alexander Kain as a talented rapper who wrote our school’s pride song, the diss to Tremper High School, and other songs that he has posted on his social media accounts that exhibit his talent.
His performance of “Gas Tank,” an original freestyle rap performed with Joseph Kotten and Justin Campbell, also won first place in Indian Trail’s 2018 Talent Show, beating out 10 other acts.
But behind Kain’s stage name is Alexander Wimberly, a 4.0 student who has completed 100 community service hours, dropped three mixtapes, and was spotlighted in the Kenosha News “Today’s Teen” feature earlier this spring.
Wimberly has done amazing things throughout his high school career that include creating that diss track about crosstown rival Tremper which has racked up 13,000 views. Wimberly also recently received a full-ride scholarship to University of Wisconsin-Madison by earning The Chancellor’s and Powers-Knapps Scholarship.
“I got it after applying for it and writing an essay,” said Wimberly. “I plan on attending UW- Madison to obtain my finance degree and further my music career simultaneously. When I’m not studying, I plan on performing at every single venue or open-mic that will take me.”
Wimberly’s love for making music was inspired by the competition he saw in Kenosha regarding creating rap music.
“I saw the other people in my city were making music, and I knew I could do better. Once I started making rap music, I learned to appreciate the music itself,” he said. “I’ve always doubted my own skill, but all the praise I’ve received so far motivated me to continue to perfect my craft.”
Wimberly’s success here in his hometown has motivated him to work even harder.
“Kenosha loves my music, and I know Madison will too. The way I see it, it’s only a matter of time before I’m known all over the country or even the whole world. You have to start out local before you go global,” Wimberley said.
Wimberly´s high school experience has been a wild ride. He achieved and experienced many great things that an average student would not usually experience, including having thousands of listeners on the songs he posts on his SoundCloud account.
“My favorite year at Indian Trail would definitely be my senior year. My first three years of high school I was known as ´Alexander Wimberly–the goofy mixed kid who talks a lot in class’ Now I´m known as ‘Alexander Kain’ the rapper,” he said.
The word he would use to describe his high school career is “change.”
Wimberly’s ethnic studies teacher, Carrie Zemke, gave only positive remarks when recalling experiences with Wimberly.
“I would describe Alex as having an all around great personality, a great sense of humor, and always optimistic,” said Zemke.
Zemke met Wimberly at the start of this school year. Her best memory of him is how proud he was when he was selected by KUSD to receive a district Kindness Award for a rap he submitted.
“I think Alex has great potential with a music career. His music is different from other artists because he raps about current teenage issues to a beat with an old school vibe, without the use of heavy vulgar language. Because of this, his music is meaningful and easy to listen to,” Zemke said.