INTERVIEW | INTRODUCING MACK JAY (@mackjay )

By Rishma • On Interviews

mackjaFor those who have not heard of you tell us a bit about you and how you got into Hip-Hop?

My Name is Mack Jay a hip-hop Artist Ori­gin­ally from South East Lon­don from Syden­ham hill Estate (Lew­isham Bor­ough ) liv­ing in Croy­don at the moment from a West Afric­an Back­ground (Ghana). I got into Hip-hop at A young age when I was 8 I use to watch yo MTV raps see­ing west-coast and east-coast rap­pers on that show Ice Cube, Nas , Foxy Brown , Naughty by Nature , 2Pac,Biggie and many oth­ers. My mum used to play a lot of Hip-hop in the flat espe­cially at house parties. From the ages of 11 to 13 I made a decision on becom­ing a rap­per after watch­ing 2pac ‘I aint mad at cha’ music video and songs by  Big Pun, Nas, Big­gie and many oth­ers.  I used to recite their lyr­ics until I star­ted  writ­ing and rap­ping my own lyr­ics. In 2004 I start­ing record­ing in a stu­dio in Belling­ham down the road from Cat­ford I released my first music video in 2010 and released my first Mix­tape Called ‘Expres­sions of opin­ions’ in 2016.

 Tell us a bit about your pro­ject Expres­sions Of Opinions?

‘Expres­sions of opin­ions’ is my first mix­tape I came up with the idea for the mix­tape in 2009. I Wanted a Mix­tape that rep­res­en­ted me and every­one in Lon­don, although I star­ted record­ing it in 2009 I had breaks in between my record­ing ses­sions took and in 2013 I took a break from music. The Mix­tape released in 2016 it did really well, it con­nec­ted well on the streets so I guess everything hap­pens for a reas­on . Pro­duc­tion was from French pro­du­cer Kryptic , MGM ‚Red­skull Beats , Freek­van­workum ‘Expres­sions of opin­ions vol1’ is about express­ing your self to the fullest in a world where many opin­ions  where people get ste­reo­typed and labelled every day.

Tell us a bit about some of the people you have col­lab­or­ated with?

I col­lab­or­ated with upcom­ing artists like Joe Brat who was a rap­per from Sweden,  I have also col­lab­or­ated with Mz true an r&b singer/rapper, Wingz  rap­per from East Lon­don, Mass destruc­tion a Rap duo from East Lon­don , R&B Sing­er from South Lon­don D‑van Jones and my crew mem­ber ill sins. (The name of my crew is v.o.s look out for us) I have also col­lab­or­ated with Chantelle lee , Ven­gence Court­ney  and last but not least my new col­lab­or­a­tion with the legend him­self Skinny­man and Kiara Cassandra.

You have per­formed across Lon­don, where was your most mem­or­able gig and why?

My most mem­or­able gig would have to be  at the Chip-Shop in Brix­ton for an event called ‘future hip-hop’ last year.

You have a new track out with Skinny­man and Kiara Cas­sandra. Tell us a bit about it? How did you guys join forces for it?

Sur­viv­al War­fare is about Sur­viv­al in the most real­ist way. We touch on the slavery in Lybia , Police bru­tal­ity ,  the vic­tims of Gren­fell , single moth­ers, young black men and black woman  grow­ing up in the hood  . I met Skinny­man at a Hip-hop Fest­iv­al called Breakin’ Con­ven­tion at Spa fields Park in North Lon­don 3 years ago and then col­lab­or­ated 3 years after the fest­iv­al. I met Kiara in the stu­dio that I record at she was the engin­eer­’s girl­friend at the time I asked the engin­eer if I could get her on the song and the rest is history!

We really believe Hip-Hop can inspire and heal. How has Hip-Hop helped you?

Hip-hop is my escape from the harsh real­ity in the world and con­stant struggles. Its giv­ing me the reas­on to express myself and be the voice of those that can­’t express them­selves the way I do.

What has been the biggest chal­lenge you have faced as an inde­pend­ent artist in the UK Hip Hop scene and how did you over­come it?

To nev­er give up there has been count­less num­ber of times when I felt frus­trated but the love, drive and pas­sion keeps me doing what I do best espe­cially everything I do with this music comes out my pocket.

What have you got com­ing up in the near future?

I have a new single/music video com­ing soon called ‘Pray’and ‘Expres­sions of opin­ions vol2’ is in the mak­ing as we speak

Where can we find out more about you?

You can find me all over the social media — ins­tagram @mackjayuk  my twit­ter is @mackjay and face­book is Mack Jay. For any dir­ect enquir­ies you can con­tact my email address Mackjay1985@gmail.com

 

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Rishma

Edit­or / PR Con­sult­ant at No Bounds
Rishma Dhali­w­al has extens­ive exper­i­ence study­ing and work­ing in the music and media industry. Hav­ing writ­ten a thes­is on how Hip Hop acts as a social move­ment, she has spent years research­ing and con­nect­ing with artists who use the art form as a tool for bring­ing a voice to the voiceless.

About Rishma

Rishma Dhaliwal has extensive experience studying and working in the music and media industry. Having written a thesis on how Hip Hop acts as a social movement, she has spent years researching and connecting with artists who use the art form as a tool for bringing a voice to the voiceless.