93.9 WKYS is embracing local talent, and every Monday, we will prominently feature a local artist on the WKYS website.
If you would like to be featured on 93.9 WKYS New Music Monday please submit your song in an MP3 format, your photo, your bio and contact information to our DMV’s OWN page and every Monday we will feature a deserving local artist.
This week’s featured artist is Muggsy Malone.
What would you say has been the biggest challenge for you as an artist?.
Making sure that I get heard by the masses. I feel I have something more than tangible to offer not only the DMV but the world and I’ve always tried to put things on a global scale instead of local. I have complete faith in my abilities however I still write at least 16 bars everyday. Same way that Jordan used to go out and shoot jumpers in the off season till he got tired and practice his crossovers and moves in preparation for game night is the same thing I do 25/8. This is the greatest basketball player in the world were talking about and I assimilated that into myself at an early age in life. Getting ready for game seven if necessary. And even he missed a shot or two in his youth and in the league but he has six rings now You have to take yourself serious in order for anybody else to. That’s been a daily routine of mine since I was a teenager. I’ve wanted this more than I wanted to wake up in the morning the next day. You got to want it that bad
What do you hope people get from your music?
I hope I give you black male experience while living in the urban community as well as the come up of the common man in the world aiming for the top. I come from a family where I had both parents but both of them have gone onto God ahead of me. My father and mother instilled the hustle and drive inside of me to pursue for my goals and focus on excellence always. Everyday I thank them for that. I’m a person who’s been through a lot but I’m just like you are and recognize I bleed just like you do. There’s a million moments and situations when quitting is the easiest way to go. If you push yourself past the limit there’s no telling what you may have in store on your road to coming up in whatever you’re field of interest and expertise is. I think I convey that pretty well. Its my opinion personally that life is no walk in the park. Music should be an escape from reality and I agree but I disagree in the same. Here’s a fact of life: Everybody is not doing good. If that were true you wouldn’t have middle, lower, and higher classes of individuals. You cannot come up with solutions if you don’t admit that the problems are there. How can people identify with you if they can’t feel what you went through to get where you are? That’s why I’m always ready and prepared to present evidence to support the things that I speak about. Its a combination of heart , soul and truth I feel I represent.
What would you say has been a defining moment in your career?
March 24, 2008 was the day that I went into negotiations for my first major recording contract with my former recording home Warpath Records that was under Universal Music Group. I still couldn’t believe it actually happened. The label folded but I thank the Lord for that opportunity I was blessed to gain. That whole week felt like my own personal Super Bowl or my NBA Finals Championship because I felt like I was in the big leagues and I had done something some people thought that I would never accomplish. Understand that besides Wale who went to RocNation around the same time, no one at the time was remotely close to having a deal. From another standpoint it was without the co sign of one of the bigger artists in the city at that time as well, that would be Tabi Bonney, Wale and Raheem Devaughn. I got love & respect for those men but that was a win too in it itself because they say without anybody big in your town shouting you’re name you won’t get far and I did. It also proved you have no one holding you back but yourself. I ended up recording with people who won grammy awards, wrote songs for Michael Jackson, worked on Biggie’s albums, spat live on the radio for my first time with the homie Skillz in B-more I mean the list keeps going I could be here all day. It was the best experience as an artist I’ve ever so far.
I never had manager, lawyer none of that. Rest In Peace to my dad because I wanted him to manage me for real and we wouldve been a hell of a team and I know he and my moms are watching over me. I’d been grinding on the open mic circuit for years at a period when we were still getting laughed at in the arena of hip hop and I went at anybody who said we don’t have spitters. Just for representing the entire areas sake I didn’t care because I felt no one wanted to take on the responsibility. I know I’m not the only one who felt like that. I just felt that there was a standard that needed to be set and folks needed to know we wanted in and wanted to be respected. Even though DC , Maryland and Virginia has more ground now in rap than ever that is still one of the main catalysts in what I do.
How has your experiences overseas and in other places affected your music?
If were talking overseas joined the military at 17 and my first duty station was in Korea. There was a plethora of activities to get into I don’t know about how it is now, but there wasn’t anything rap related so I tried to create platforms for people who wanted to. The army didn’t deal with hip hop as much as they do now. You just had the USO show. But when I got back stateside to Texas at Fort Hood i just buckled down and said this is what I want for my life. I wrote a 16 before PT, I’d skip breakfast and write , go to work and as soon as I get off of duty I’m racing around the whole base and on the street looking for ciphers or battles. I used to start em up actually. Then when freestyle friday first came on the scene there was a club called City Lights outside the base. I went by myself twice. Originally you had to put your name in a hat and get it picked and they didn’t take me serious. Skipped me both times. I had to come there about fifty deep just so they could finally let me in and I went 21-0. Ended up meeting a lot of good folks during those moments. I was just as hungry then as I am today.
What can listeners expect to hear on ‘The Consistency’?
‘The Consistency’ is going to be definitely something everyone is going to love. I’m letting it marinate right now picking the right songs , right beats and the right features. I’m almost there with it. That’s going to be more an album than a mixtape. That’s going to drop late in the summer. However the first thing I’m going to be dropping at the end of April is my mixtape ‘No Excuses’. That’s my motto and internally always has been. I have a line of clothing I’m developing as well. By the time this interview is out I’ll have some things to show the world on it. The music is going to be great though. So far on production I got Two Tall from VA , he’s done work with Timeless Beats from Tampa, Grussle from the Inner Loop Records camp, my cousin Trav, Hi-Fly outta the UK, that’s just the list so far for ‘No Excuses’. I’m burning the midnight oil till the day after next with this one and I plan to release it on Djbooth.net
What else do you want to have accomplished by the end of 2012?
I just want to be heard and felt by the world. Become a better business person , father , teacher as well as student , continue to push the envelope in this new age and learn more than the curriculum , and statistics say is my limit. I firmly believe the only dead ends are the roads you haven’t paved yet. There is always a way if you’re willing to make one. I have thought I’m the one man who had enough heart not to follow anyone elses standard and raise the level of where hip hop is today. No one is willing to take the risk on the real anymore. That’s what made this game. Authenticity. Originality. Uniqueness. Substance. The perfection of the craft. A lot of these things are key ingredients and are missing nowadays. Were breeding a generation of followers and not leaders in society in general. At the end of the day as long as were more respected for lyricism, style, being entrepreneurs and musicianship beyond what we are already known for I’ll feel like I did my part. My pops told me one thing before he passed that stuck with me: ‘As long as you leave the world in a better place than when you came, you’re did the right thing’. I’m looking forward to dropping a lot of verses this year. I feel like I got a point to prove. I think people want to sweep me under the rug and I refuse let them put a broom to me and discredit where I’ve been and where I’m going. No way no how. Myself neither my responsibilities will not let me quit or let a person put me in a posistion to tap out. I have more to worry about than just me. I fear nothing, not man nor death. Its how I was raised. If God be for you who can be against you? That’s as real as I can put ‘I will not stop’ no matter right now.
How do you spend your time away from music?
I don’t get away from it. Its impossible for me. Even when I’m spending time with my newborn here now its constantly on top of my agenda. Everytime I see her face I look at the world and say to myself there is more work to be done. I love making music with all my heart and soul. And I might’ve died a long time ago without it. Emphasis on a long time ago. Its the best way that I cope with the things in my life and I figure I might be able to help someone else who has been through similar situations to overcome by listening to me. That’s one of the reasons I think I’m here.
Shoutout to everyone who’s been on my side from then till now. There’s too many to name. Shoutout to all the promoters, labels, websites and artists who support me and love what I do.
Check out The TPK EP and be on the lookout for his new mixtapes “No Excuses” in April and “The Consistency” dropping this summer.
You can get at Muggsy at @MuggsyMaloneDC
