WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MAY 28 - JUNE 3, 2021 | 15
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Milano The Great channels adversity into art Liz Fay Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
Milano the Great's most recent single is “Skeye Red.” PHOTO BY DENZEL DERANAMIE
It took only a few seconds for Milan Scott to understand the nightmare he’d woken up to on March 18, 2014. It was early in the morning when the 22-yearold Worcester resident experienced the scare of his life, after being disturbed from his sleep by two men standing over him holding butcher knives and a crowbar. While struggling to lift himself off the ground, Scott looked down to see himself covered in his own blood, realizing he’d already been dragged from his bed, struck in the head by a crowbar, and stabbed multiple times. After roughly 30 minutes of receiving brutal beatings and life threats, Scott was left for dead by his two attackers who disappeared from the scene unscathed, after robbing the home of $80,000 in cash, which Scott had spent years saving. After being found by his father, who had left earlier that morning to drive Scott’s mother to work, Scott was rushed to the hospital, where he survived a total of 15 stab wounds throughout his face and body and a sliced tendon, leaving him with an immobile left index finger to this day. Having survived such a violent assault, the now 30-yearold Worcester rapper and songwriter has worked to channel the pain and adversity he’s faced into his artistic persona, “Milano The Great.” “I’m a really resilient person,” he said. “I’ve never let the hard times I’ve been through render me from pursuing a bright future, or discourage me. I never ran in the face of adversity. I didn’t run from the city, I
didn’t run from my attackers, I stayed and I figured it out and still continued on with my life.” In his most recent single, “Skeye Red,” which was released earlier this month, he vents the pain he’s both witnessed and endured, while remaining resilient by nature. “Pain in my heart, pain in my eyes, look up the sky’s red” and “made it through the door ya ya made it through the war ya ya, built it up from the floor ya ya.” For Scott, not running away from his problems has been a major factor toward becoming the inspirational man and artist he is now. According to Scott, “If I would’ve left the city I might not even be making music.” Scott’s 2021 track “Neva Ran” provides another sample of the artist’s fiery spirit when he raps “Dark days made me that (expletive) I needed to feel that pain” and “Them boys cut from a different cloth they don’t compare to I, I really been all through it deserve my piece of the pie.” While Scott’s song lyrics only hint at the violence and injustices he experienced, Scott plans to release an emotionally charged and detail filled music video for “Neva Ran” on June 1. Scott’s manager, Happi Hongla, a former executive assistant to Atlantic Records, describes the music video as “a cinematic experience based on true events.” Scott revealed that music has always been an important part of his life, but it wasn’t until this past year, after meeting Happi, that he began to intentionally develop a musical career for himself. According to Hongla, “There are so many ways he’s evolving See MILANO, Page 18
