Mak7teen Perspective on Long Overdue
Mak7teen, a Sacramento California Hip-Hop artist.
Since the release of my last project, it seemed only right to address my absence and let the listeners know what I've been doing since the last album.
West Coast Hip-Hop / Rap
Doing what it takes to be the best at your craft, longevity, quality over quantity, reaching your goals, achieving your goals, being a leader vs a follower.
I believe the artist plays a major, gigantic role, in the shaping of the minds eye view, upon society. It's our job as artists to tell our side of the story, from the only perspective we have, our own. The better we are at conveying what we see through our music, the better the picture is painted into the minds of the listeners. That's why I do my best to drop life gems into every song, like bread crumbs so the listeners won't get lost.
Inspired, motivated and in the mood to get up and go get it..!
My definition of success is defined by a person going through the trials and tribulations of life, never giving up and becoming who or whatever it was they were trying to be...
To go from a nobody trying to be heard, to a somebody that needs to be heard, and seen performing live, is a huge accomplishment, for any independent artists.!
I'm just glad the people are starting to catch on, I don't plan on stopping no time soon!
The death of my mother and my death of my 16 y/o son... Those two things haunt me the most...
Don't get me wrong, I've been in police chases and shoot outs, but no experience I've ever been in was worse than or scarier than those two experiences.
Music And Knowledge is what the Mak in Mak7teen stands for, so those are my 3rd and 4th favorite passions next to breathing and a beautiful session of you know what, lol...
No but seriously I have a great passion for learning new things and discovering new places. I also have a great passion for music, as I can rap to the rhythm of my own heartbeat...
Therefore, when it's time to write, I go through the beats looking for that one beat that's talking to me, asking me to create to it.
2Pac, Scarface, DMX
To be recognized as one of the best Hip-Hop/ Rap artists coming out of Sacramento California..!
I'm aiming to be labeled as one of the best to do it, without being signed to a major loan / record deal.
No, I have multiple reasons...!
The people who look up to me as an inspiration..! My family, my friends, my listeners..!
They all inspire me, especially those that enjoy pulling up to the live events and getting down with us!
Participation means a lot to us artists, no matter where it's coming from!
We appreciate everything that gives us the energy to keep creating and being creative...
At the time of creation, I was on a creative streak, trying to keep my mind busy. My brothers Filthy Phil and SpaceBoy have a created a ton of music over the years, but after Philip Gonzales (RIP) passed away, I felt super obligated to prove to the world that my brothers are dope producers and deserved to be highlighted as such.
I listened to the beat for months and approached it from many different angles freestyling but none of them were working. Then I sat down and told myself that it's time to create a hit to this dope asx beat..!
I let the beat play over and over as I allowed myself to find the best way to start the song off with a powerful statement that would allow me to prove it by the end of the song, with that mindset I was able to knock out both verses in an hour and a half...
When it's my music, I personally take different approaches that may take some time to develop, vs. doing a feature.
When it's a feature I usually take at least an hour or less to write and a week to get it perfected/ memorized enough to record it, so it doesn't sound like I'm reading it...
I truly enjoy both, but if had to pick or choose, I'd prefer to collaborate with others! Merge minds, switch styles, exchange beats and concepts, networking and building.
That stuff is the best part of being a dope artist... People want to work with you and you get to pick and choose who to work with from good to great..!
It's a great way to add depth and value to your career as an artist..!
But I must say, you really have to be choosy upon who you work with, some folks are in it for the wrong reasons and will drag you down with them, so you have to do background checks before working with them.
Not really, I'm constantly surrounded by noise. Every song on this album was created by drowning out the noise around me and truly honing in on my creativity. I look at the everyday life around me and use it as my canvas for painting lyrical pictures for my listeners to hear and see in their minds...
Writing - the finished product matching up with the way I heard it.
Production - when you are able to close your eyes and hear what the instruments are saying.
Release process - after everything has been uploaded, and you get the green light that your release has been sent to the DSP, and it's scheduled for the release date.
I used to make my own beats but my friends always told me that the songs would be better if they were the industry type of beats. That's when I turned to producers like Filthy Phil and SpaceBoy.
I can't even lie, I have always wanted ten of them beats made be the Mechanix!
I first started using the name Mak7teen on social media was around 2015, and recorded my first studio album in 2016 and released it in 2017.
They all work for me. But I use FB, IG, & TikTok the most.
It made things way more accessible than before, there's more people in music now than ever before and it's partially due to those platforms. Since their creation, we've seen more mainstream artists doing whatever it takes to keep the attention of the people, almost in the same manner as those artists trying to make it...
TikTok, FB & IG
FB gives me the most hassle due to their new terms and their new conditions. IG & TikTok hasn't gave me any issues.
Overall, I enjoy being able to connect with people who enjoy my music. I make music for the world to hear and social media has made that truly possible!
IG, they aren't as bad as FB is with the terms and conditions, or restrictions. Plus I can plug my music on my story plus the link to my music or merchandise.
Music And Knowledge...
That's a good question.! I'm not sure, I want all my music to go omega!!! But to answer the question, this song would be the song i want to go viral...
Due to it being the song I have a video to.
That all depends on what folks consider viral. Life is based on perspective and perception. A person may see 10K as viral, 50k as viral, 100k as viral, or 1m as viral.
I've never reached 1m streams or views on a single or album but the others were achievable over time but not yet instantly.
Yes, I love being able to share my accomplishments with my friends, family, and lovers of Hip-Hop music who enjoy my music.
Life... The constant ups and downs of life are like the waves in the ocean. You have to learn how ride the waves if you want to stay afloat.
So I take life's experiences and turn them into a songs.
My biggest influence is my engineer. He inspired me to keep going when everyone else was busy doing them.
My children keep me on point at all times. Whenever they're in need it makes me want to be the best version of myself and create nothing but dope music.
