Today we’d like to introduce you to Maya “MayaKay” McFadden.
Hi Maya “MayaKay”, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I have been involved in music my entire life. I started singing in church and at family functions at 5, picked up my first two instruments at 8, picked up the saxophone and started playing in the band at 11, and continued my artistic growth throughout high school and college. College is where I realized that I have a talent for rapping. I attended North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC where I studied Music Performance. I was in pretty much every ensemble on campus from marching band (The Sound Machine) to the Jazz Big Band and everything in between. It was through the relationships that I made in these settings that I discovered my talent for rapping. Now, I have always been a writer. I started writing poetry in middle school and that grew into spoken word which eventually led to me writing my first song, but rapping is a whole other ball game and the rappers that I admire made my personal standard even higher. I didn’t want to just put words together that rhymed. I wanted to tell a story with each bar, to paint a vivid picture for my listeners, to create a flow that coerced you along that journey, and to manipulate words and sounds to do my bidding. I wanted to create lyrical and rhythmic art not just a “song”.
Every day after marching band practice we used to meet at one of our friend’s house near campus, we called it The White House. We would always go to The White House just to unwind from the day and hang out with each other and that always included one thing, a cypher. We would be outside no matter the weather rapping and having the time of our lives! I wanted to be included so bad but since I didn’t feel like I could rap, I would beatbox because everybody could use a dope beat. Everyone used to hop in and take a turn. Some were awesome, and some were not so awesome, but everyone involved was having fun and was encouraging. This gave me the courage to take a whack at it too. Then I started writing and realized how nice I really was. I honestly don’t know where it came from, but it just kept flowing. This was in 2014 but I still hadn’t decided that I wanted to make a career out of it. At the time, it was just something I was good at, and it felt good, but I felt like it was a fluke and didn’t have any longevity.
Despite my long relationship with music, I didn’t see me pursuing it professionally until a couple of months before graduating high school and I didn’t start taking rapping seriously until 2017. This is when I put out my 1st single Candy Barz and the rest is history. I’ve been working hard on my craft for four years now and am excited to see how music continues to change me.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
No, it hasn’t. I had a period where I lost my motivation for music all together this was actually in the beginning of 2017. I was going through a tough time while I was at school and my pride wouldn’t let me ask anyone for help. Which only made everything harder. I was struggling financially, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically. I felt like I was being attacked on all sides and I could never catch a break. After that spring semester, I decided to take a break from school. I didn’t want to, but it all had become too much, and I needed some time. Taking that time is what gave me the clarity to see that music is what I needed to do and that’s when I decided to really pursue rapping. Rap became a way for me to articulate my story and a conduit of release for me. Still, I continue to face obstacles in my pursuit of my passions. People telling me things like “I don’t look the part” or asking why I talk about some of the subjects I do or say some of the things I say. Even me stifling myself because of my sexuality and refraining from putting out songs that address it because I don’t want to disappoint anyone. But since the release of my EP, I have realized that I just need to trust my heart and God. It hasn’t failed me yet.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am an artist. I say that instead of a rapper because I am well versed in so many other facets of music. I sing, I play instruments, I compose, I arrange, I write, and I teach. I have studied a number of styles and performed in so many different settings, and my music is influenced by all those experiences, all those “flavors”. I specialize in rapping and hip hop though. That is the craft and the genre that I spend the most time working on and growing. I released my EP, The Griot, in July 2021 and it was by far my proudest moment. I had been working so diligently on each one of the songs, wanting everything to be just right. I wanted it to show the quality of music that I am capable of and how my music standouts out, from the beats to the lyrics to what I chose to talk about. My goal with all my music is to show my spirituality and humanity in each track and remind anyone listening that they are worthy. Worthy of love, worthy of grace, worthy of time, worthy of wealth, worthy of everything their heart desires. And my hope is that by showing them that I am worthy in spite of things that I have done or experienced that they will realize they are also worthy in spite of.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I don’t know if this is surprising as much as it’s just a little-known fact but before I decided to major in music, I was going to study sports medicine. I had considered a medical career pretty much my entire life all the way until those last couple months of high school. I find the human body’s resilience fascinating and after a human anatomy courseI took I felt like I wanted to learn more. On top of that, I love sports and if I wasn’t going to play, I could at least help rehabilitate the athletes.
Contact Info:
- Email: mayakaymusic@gmail.com
- Website: https://linktr.ee/mayakaymusic
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayakay_music/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mayakay_music
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX-8FYxF6U3cFcxjudJKrew
Image Credits:
Gabriel Trujillo Kahdria “The Kodak K” Davidson Aaron Drumwright Justin “JayBam” Battle Stilo Freelanced
