In light of Youth Month, we continue to celebrate young talent, trailblazers and game-changers on the music scene and Marc is a thought-provoking lyricist who is taking the hip hop industry by storm.
The up-and-coming rapper recently released two singles, Choose Remix and Want Me. The star-studded track Choose Remix features industry heavyweights Sean Pages, DJ Zan-D, Manu Worldstar and Scooby Nero.
We chatted to Marc who was discovered through Slikour On Life, a hip hop platform which showcases new talent. The platform was created by hip-hop star
Siyabonga Metane, popularly known as Slikour.
With remixes, artists would traditionally feature one or two fellow artists, but you worked with four industry greats. How did that came about?
I originally worked with Manu Worldstar, just me and him and as we kept pushing the song the guys told me that they loved it. We had an idea to put together a remix, give it a different feel. Then we approached Sean Pages because we felt he was perfect for the song.
He jumped on board and we ran into Scooby Nero, who told me the whole Nigerian feel and his sound was perfect for what we wanted for the remix and then Zan-D was also facilitating the production side of things, and Manu was part of the original, on the chorus.
How has the single been received?
The song is still being picked up by radio and people are loving it, almost as though with the current single, it’s almost like we released it prematurely, so we’re pushing it.
So we’re still distributing it, especially in the big radio stations’ space, because as upcoming artists and radio, it’s like an ongoing
battle, but it is one that we’re slowly winning.
What are the challenges you’ve met as an upcoming artist?
It’s an ongoing battle for upcoming artists, it’s the whole thing with the economy taking a downward spiral, people are taking less
(financial) risks. They would rather book a well-known artist because they’re sure of a good turn up, instead of going with a new artist. So you have to work twice as hard.
There’s a hundred thousand of us flooding the music scene, so you have to work extra hard to make sure that you stand out. If so and so is bringing 100%, you have to bring 300%, so when people have one person on a remix, you must bring four.
Tell us about your relationship with Slikour?
During the phase when I was still trying to get into the industry, I ran into Slikour and he’s always been involved in helping young artists.
When he started Slikour On Life and he created the platform for upcoming artists to shine and all, I was one of the artists he picked to be featured on the website, so it has been a tradition that every time I release a new project, it debuts on Slikour On Life.
Can we expect an EP?
We’re putting together an EP, we don’t have the title yet. Right now we don’t have the budget for an album so we decided to do something on a small scale and build up from there.
We are going to have new songs, there will be brand new songs on the EP.
What inspires your sound?
As much as I enjoy making music that I like, I also want to make music for the people, music that will inspire people, music that will challenge their thinking and make them see the world differently, because that’s what hip hop is, and really what it used to be, so I’m just at a point where I want to make hip hop great again.
Are you hoping to get signed with a record company or are you working on distribution?
I’m at the point where I’m trying to move forward with my career, anything that puts me ahead and gives me more exposure, my music gets the marketing that it needs, so that people can hear it, is what I’m hoping for.
So whether it comes as a record deal or via my own efforts, it really doesn’t matter right now. If the deal makes sense we’ll take it.
Do you have aspirations to collaborate with any other hip hop artists?
I just want to make music with everybody that makes music. Right now, I would like to do a song with Riky Rick, he’s one guy that I look up to Cassper Nyovest as well.
Who would have thought Jay Z and Linkin Park would put together their sound? It feels so in sync and someone must just take that first step.
* Choose Remix and Want Me are on all digital stores. Connect with Marc on Twitter @MarcWorldWide and Instagram @MarcWorldWidee