Mally, the soon to be 24 year of MC out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, has the tools (delivery, strong mic presence, punch lines, and strong content) to be a major player in Hip-Hop. After receiving strong reviews for his third project, The Passion (here and here), he appears ready to make that push. We got the chance to speak with Mally about his beginnings as a MC, his name change, and what he has in store for the future. Hit the cut to get to know Mally.
Where you reppin’:
I am a proud representative of Minneapolis, Mn and have been reppin’ the Twin Cities for my entire life (23 years, soon be 24 in March). Primarily, I am on the Southside of Minneapolis performing, promoting my name, and building my following. [They] are the inspiration and reason for all that I write in a song.
Introduce yourself:
I go by the name of Mally and I consider myself to be a very introspective and transparent MC. I am a firm believer in creating a vivid account of who I am on every track. I put my words and thoughts together for those who may not know me as an artist or the man behind the music. I thank God for the strides I have made recently and believe that more people will become listeners over time. In addition, I have learned a lot about myself personally and professionally and want to share my new found knowledge with others who will come after me.
I am the 2010 winner of the “Next Up” (Best New Artist) at the Twin Cities Hip Hop Awards, Nominated for Best Twin Cities Album for The Passion, and was considered to have the best “Underground Album” on Boo Goo Doo Boom (bgdboom.com) and one of the Best Albums in Minnesota over at Midwest Broadcast (midwestbroadcast.blogspot.com) and have been featured on 33jones.com, DJBooth.net and several other notable sites as well.
You originally called yourself Mally From the 612. Why the name change?
I decided to remove “From the 612” off of my name because I didn’t want to be boxed in as a “Minnesota Rapper.” I thought that it might create the perception I was a local artist, with a local flow and a local career. I believe your name can have a positive or negative effect on your career just as much as your music. The name originated during a freestyle joking and I said: “It’s Mally From The 612, I’m still the illest nigga that the chicks run to.” After awhile it started to get old and so corny to me, that I had to put it to rest. The name drop felt like the shedding of old skin and I was starting over again with a new focus, plan and goals that I wanted to accomplish. Some people still call me Mally from the 612, but I doubt they are aware of my internal reformation, so it’s okay. Other than my own personal reasons for dropping the name, I got tired of people saying it was too much text on a flier… haha.
Main musical inspirations:
Growing Up/ As an Artist:
2Pac, Nas, Notorious BIG, Method Man, Jay-Z, Gemstones, Michael Jackson, The Lox, eLZhi, Joe Budden, Stevie Wonder, Kanye West, Donny Hathaway, Little Brother, Skyzoo, Lupe Fiasco, David Ruffin and Gil Scott Heron.
I proudly selected those artists because they have all made notable music that gave me a well rounded perspective on who they were musically and personally. I listen to their music to get motivated, persevere through life and find new ways to get in touch with my spiritual side. All of them have my changed my life (for the better) in some form or fashion.
When did you fall in love with hip hop?
I will never forget the day when I went to Best Buy with my mom, at 5 years old and bought my first rap tape. Kris Kross’ debut album Totally Krossed Out had me hooked from jump. I would have to think of that as my first date, but the day I truly fell in love would have to be when I heard Bone Thugs N Harmony’s “Thuggish Ruggish Bone.” The energy and the way everybody brought something different to the table but created a quality record stunned me. I never knew that I would get into writing and MC’ing because of it, but I guess life has a way of working itself out like that sometimes.
Ever since I fell in love and got married to it (as an MC) I have been doing my homework on her and understanding her more. There are times when I do not agree with the twists and turns she takes, but at the end of the day I always come back. I love this woman called hip-hop and will not stop loving her. I thank my inspirations and good friends at a young age for introducing us…
Previous work that we should know about:
I dropped my first full project The Letter in 2007 and started taking music more serious. This project came out as a shock to my family and friends because it came out of nowhere almost. I was still pretty shy about telling people I was an MC because I didn’t know if they would take me serious, but once they listened to it, they wanted more material. This made me so happy and feel better about myself and know that I was put here to do something life changing. Overall, this project had one original beat produced by Redwine for a track titled “Dear.” The majority of the project featured production from J-Dilla’s album Donuts , 9th Wonder and Kanye West’s “Grammy Family.”
In 2008, I came out with my second project The Moment and was proud to share this with the world. The whole album comprised of original production from Astronote, Rem’, Mydus, Redwine and Zilla Rocca. There were only two vocal features from Zilla Rocca and from Redwine (who also produced 7 of 18 tracks on the album). I believe I changed people’s perspective on me as an artist and created classic tracks such as “My People” (Prod. By Astronote), “Lost In The Music” (Prod. By Mydus), and “Cowboys and Indians” (Prod. By Redwine).
Current projects we should be looking out for:
I would encourage everybody to go out and cop my my most current album The Passion (entirely produced by Mydus). You can find a free download link all over the internet and various sites that have written up reviews on it. In addition, you can find it on iTunes and support me as an artist. I truly believe this album was a testimony about life, the art of rhyme, happiness, regret success and looking forward to the future as an adult in hip-hop. The time it took me to work on this project was much longer than my first two because I wanted it to be perfect through delivery, concepts, lyrically and musically. Mydus definitely gave me the paint in order to create the perfect picture and that’s why it worked out the way it did.
Also, if you are in the Twin Cities area you can pick The Passion up at 5th Element, Electric Fetus, Urban Lights or Cheapo.
Talk about the progression you’ve made from your first release, The Letter in 2007 to your current album, The Passion.
I can speak from two sides both musically and professionally – presentation is essential as an artist. If you look back at The Letter &The Moment, both of those projects were not mixed, mastered, the punch ins were amateur and the album covers were either taken on an iPhone, or a digital camera. I still look back and think “I want to go back and re-record all of my old material” (especially everything on The Moment because I loved every single song on that project). At the time, I used to think all it took to make good music was go in the booth, spaz out, press it up and hand CD’s out.
I didn’t change up my strategy until I started paying attention to other people’s albums, mixtapes, ep’s, singles and promotional strategies and saw how it produced significant yield. However, I had gotten so used to just sending out a facebook or myspace blast I forgot I needed to build a buzz electronically, telephonically and personally. It didn’t click until a friend of mine who is a fellow MC and producer, Zilla Rocca gave me some constructive criticism on my last two projects from a sound and visual standpoint. I remember seeing reviews where cats would complain about the levels and the mixing, but never said I was wack and always spoke highly of me, so I continued to be hard headed. In addition, I wasn’t doing the conventional song with a hook and I needed to give people a better feel for my song making capabilities.
So, the same night I had gotten in town from a business trip, I had my first performance at Station 4 on December, 12th, 2008. This was the night I felt as if I was reborn and given a second chance, and I haven’t looked back since. After that night I went back to writing material for The Passion, doing more performances and collaborations with other talented artists such as Max Haben, Mic 101, Concentr8, Carnage, Abrasive B, Tony From Kamorra and The Wize Guyz.
The whole year of 2009 was a learning process for me. I decided I was going to promote the hell out of my album release show, flood the net with songs up until the release happened, connected with Tommey Walker of V2D Studios who created my album artwork and myspace page. I believe my entire album The Passion reflects the maturation process I went through musically and personally. Now I am working to put together an EPK, get some t-shirts, stickers, business cards because a total package is what I want to bring to the table.
Speaking of The Passion how did you connect with Miami based producer Mydus?
Mydus and I connected through myspace and 33jones.com after he heard my first album and we had a mutual respect for each other’s work to possibly create some new music in the future. Mydus sent me several beats and there were two I absolutely fell in love with. I was able to score one of the two and that “one” ended up being “Lost in the Music” currently on my second album The Moment. After the project turned out really well, even more so that particular song, Mydus propositioned me to do a whole album with him.
I was pretty excited and thought to myself “Damn, Malik this is big time…” I just sat back and thought of Skyzoo’s Cloud 9; Jean Grae’s Jeanius; Little Brother’s The Listening & The Minstrel Show; Buckshot’s Chemistry & Formula; Gangstarr records and all other MC-One Producer albums. I was honored to be involved in a project like this and decided I would do my best to create classic material as these artists before me have.
The production has a soulful vibe to it. Was that the sound you were looking for creating this album or the tracks Mydus sent you?
The tracks Mydus sent me at that point were his best work (in my opinion). It was the exact sound I was going for and that made it easy to write the material I did. Each track spoke its own language to me, and I knew I would be able to speak back to it just as good if not better. The combination between us was heaven sent and was meant to take place at the time that it did. I was more than happy to work with him because we were able to cross paths and now a lot of artists here in Minnesota want to work with him. On the other side more artists that have worked with Mydus are looking to collaborate vice versa, God willing.
The album is a lean 10 tracks with no guest features, was this intentional on your part to shine alone?
My intention wasn’t to shine alone, but it was my intention to only have 10 full well rounded songs as opposed to 7 classics and 12 fillers with 3 skits. I wanted to do what Stevie Wonder did when he made Music of my Mind or Nas when he did Illmatic. I knew that it was possible to create a full serving of food for thought without offering too much gravy, if that makes any sense. Now, when it comes to features I am stingy as hell because I want to make sure the artist is as good as me or even better. They have to mesh well with the project and understand the route I am trying to take as well. If all they want to do is drop a verse with no meaning and expect it to make the project as Papoose would say “I ain’t coming out like that…” The next project should have one or two MC’s feature, but I would like to have some more female representation on a hook or two in the future. Shit, I might even go Drake on em and sing my ass off haha jk.
My favorite song on the album is “Reflection” because of the introspective lyrics. If you had to pick one song (doesn’t have to be your own) that defines your career to date, what song would that be?
Well first off, thanks for enjoying that track because I put a lot into it. To ask me that question is wrong… Damn, that’s a tough question. If I had to pick a song that defines my career to date it would have to be “The Savior” (Prod. By Rem’) [download]. In that song I addressed pieces of my life, past encounters with MC’s saying my name and being put to rest because of it, I even spoke on some personal issues in a more cryptic manner than usual and broke down my current understanding I had for my state, how they have embraced me, neglected me etc.
The production behind the words definitely went well together since I was quite excited, angry but putting some things to a close. I also got a chance to toot my own horn about The Passion and remind people why I consider myself to be a problem and solution in the same breath.
Why should the readers and fans give you a shot and listen to your music from here on out?
I will always keep it 100 and give you my honest opinion. I believe people will get to know me without even meeting me after listening to my records. I don’t think any true fan of hip hop would want to listen to somebody who constantly talks about everything outside of themselves people support artists, not robots. My music is a representation of being Minneapolis minded but I am not stuck in a box or in another man’s shadow. I am gimmick free and make music that I know will change one’s perspective or inspire to reach for more in life. What you see is what you get… you will always get a wide range of records from me and not the same thing…
If you could only take one record on a deserted island with you, what album would that be?
Stevie Wonder’s Music of my Mind would be the album I would take with me and listen to everyday…
What’s next for you?
I will be working hard on creating two masterpiece albums with two producers out of Miami. One project will be titled The Quality of Mind produced entirely by Mydus and the other album The Essence will be produced entirely by Rem’. I look forward to working with both of these guys again and hopefully open more doors in 2010 and 2011.
While the writing and recording process is taking place for both of the records I will continue to dish out underground singles to keep people up to date on me.
Any shout outs or last words?
I would like to thank the KevinNottingham.com staff for listening to my music and giving me a chance. I would like to thank the Cobalt Commission, Sarah “Turtle” Brown (I love you and I miss you), thanks to Zilla Rocca, Fresh, Redwine, Nico The Beast, 2ew Gunn Ciz, Mike Dreams, Rem’, Mydus, The whole Minnesota, Carnage, Concentr8, Hecatomb, 925ve Crew, Mic 101, Wize Guyz. And to all aspiring artists like myself continue to work hard, be loyal, stay consistent and keep your circle full of positivity and progression. Know Mally, Know Life.
Mally Contacts:
www.myspace.com/mallyfromthe612
www.twitter.com/MaLLY612
www.facebook.com/MaLLY612
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Dear (Prod. by Redwine)
From The Letter (2007) [download]
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My People (Prod. By Astroblack)
From The Moment (2008) [download]
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Reflection (Prod. by Mydus)
From The Passion (2009) [itunes] [CD Baby (Physical/MP3)]
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