Many know Shane Malcolm as the starting junior forward for the High Point University men’s soccer team but off the field, he’s just as impressive. Malcolm’s first mixtape, “My Life and Women,” was released this December.
Malcolm has had to find a balance between his passion for music, his love for soccer, and his desire to be a well-educated individual. The most important thing, to him, is time management. “Not to say that I’m not thinking about one while I’m doing the other, but there is a strict schedule to my day. There’s a time for classes, a time for practice, and free time for creativity.”
When Malcolm steps out of the classroom and off the playing field, his mind is set on music. But, what really inspired him the most when going into the music industry? “My inspiration for making music is my love for music and my love for rhyming and wordplay. I had a few friends back when I was younger that recorded music and songs about girls that always seemed to catch my interest,” said Malcolm.
While Malcolm’s inspiration came from those back home, Kanye West has also had quite an influence on Malcolm’s music making. “His music is real and has a lot of feeling. He doesn’t really have a filter in the things he says, and he’s himself all the time. I respect that,” said Malcolm.
The process to making music and being successful in the industry isn’t as easy as the artists make it look. Malcolm explains that it’s “the message, the idea, the tune, the production, and finally the lyrics.” On his first mixtape, Malcolm sampled beats, so ideas were easy to come by.
When asked what his favorite song was, he couldn’t narrow it to just one. “My favorite songs on my mixtape have to be between Lucky, Dirty Disco, and We On; I like them all equally but for different reasons. Lucky would have to take the cake because of the producer that I did the song with, whose name is Big Jerm (side note: Big Jerm is the producer for Mac Miller and Wiz Khalifa!)… It was a great experience.”
For his next mixtape, Malcolm hopes to tie in some acoustics to offer his fans a different side of his talent. “ The inspiration for my next EP is branching out to a more natural, easy listening, acoustic feel…. because nothing spells out feel good music more than acoustic.”
You can expect a new mixtape from Shane Malcolm before spring break; that way everyone can have some chill music to listen to during our endless hours at the pool and during our crazy #SB12 adventures. Until then, go check out “My Life and Women” on bandcamp.com and get ready for more big things from Shanetane!
“The more music I do, the more people it reaches. The more people it reaches, the more chances I have to make a living off my music.”
Watch Shanetane’s video for “Ambition”
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