American University is home to a lot of talent musicans and we got to chance to speak to one. Sophomore in the College of Arts and Science studying sociology and education, Marlon Cirker (M. Craft) talked to us about the start of his rapping career. Raised in Hells Kitchen, New York City, M. Craft started seriously working on his rapping since coming to American in 2011. We spoke with him about writing, his influences and the future of his career.
1) When did you first start to learn to write lyrics?
I used to write poems when I was a little kid, and I started dabbling with writing lyrics at the beginning of high school, but it was just something fun to do every once in a while, nothing major. As high school went on I started writing a lot more both for fun and as a way to alleviate stress, and I just kept listening to more hip hop and learning by doing. It wasn’t until freshman year here at AU that I realized that this is something that I really want to do.
2) Where did you your musical influences come from?
Well first of all my dad is a jazz musician, so I always had love and respect for music. As far as my own music, I’ve been influenced by the entire accumulation of artists I’ve listened to since I started listening to hip hop. When I was young I just wanted to listen to what all the older kids around me were listening to, so I listened to a lot of Eminem and a lot of gangsta rap (that’s what was popular at the time) artists like Dipset and Cassidy. Then a lot of New York stuff, like Biggie, Jay-Z, Nas, etc. That’s when I developed a love for hip hop music. In high school I started messing with more introspective artists like Drake in his early years and Kid Cudi, and in more recent years I’ve moved towards everything from underground “conscious rap,” old-school classic hip hop, and the new wave of true lyrical-meets-musical hip hop we’ve seen in the past year or so. It’s all influenced me in it’s own way as my tastes have grown and matured, but if I had to throw you only a couple names, I’d say Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and Kid Cudi have been my greatest influences as artists.
3) What has been the highlight of your career so far?
That’s hard to say. It’s still early, but I think at this point it’s just been getting this whole thing off of the ground and growing and getting better as an artist. The fact that people listen to me on their iPod or in their car and dig my music is just dope to me, no matter how small the scale. My music’s been posted on a good number of blogs, and on some blog-sponsored mixtapes and such. I had an online magazine based in London make some posts about me, that was pretty cool–that people on another continent are bumping my songs. Hopefully at this time next year I’ll have a way better answer for this question.
4) How do you share your music with the AU community and spread the word?
I basically do everything through the Internet—Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Some word of mouth too. I’m still very much an unknown entity and I’m working on spreading the word and letting everyone know about the music. Interviews like this are a great start.
5) Where do you see yourself going with music for the rest of college and beyond?
I’m a pretty grounded and level-headed dude and I know the odds of me doing this for a living, but I also have a distinct vision and a lot of confidence in my ability. I see myself continuing to make music and gain more listeners throughout college, getting better at my craft, and having more experiences that contribute to my writing and my music. I’m gonna do this until I don’t love it anymore, and I think the potential exists for there to be some incredible results. I’ve got some plans for this year—I’m working on a mixtape that will be my first real cohesive body of work, and I’ve got some more dope stuff in the works that I don’t want to elaborate on until they’re official. I’m tryna make moves.
6) If you could collaborate with any artists who would they be and why?
Too many to name all of them, but I’ll give you three that come in first to me right now. Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, and Joey Bada$$. Kendrick because he’s the king of the game right now, I admire his artistry and no one is touching him as a lyricist or rap artist right now in my opinion. I love Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange album, his sound and production are so unique, and I’ve always been a huge fan of hip hop and r&b artists collaborating, so I’d love to work with him on something. And finally, I’ve been listening to a lot of Joey Bada$$ and his Pro Era crew lately. They’re bringing 90s style hip hop back right now in an awesome way that I’m really feeling. Also, he’s a young lyricist from New York City, I’m a young lyricist from New York City…it’d be dope.
Check our M. Craft’s Twitter, Facebook Page and Soundcloud to hear his music.