Meet Maceo

We recently connected with Maceo and have shared our conversation below.

Maceo, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I’ve been through a lot in my brief 23 years of life, ya know. Emotionally, spiritually, romantically, etc.. I feel as if those experiences kind of forced me to grow, especially since I started really young and was always around people older and, at the time, far more talented than me. But I just always want to improve. Both as a creative and artist, but more so as a person. My music is always a reflection of who I am, and what I’m going through so if there’s growth musically, there’s growth personally.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m a singer/rapper based in Orlando, FL. Music, sound and feeling is my specially. I want to deliver truth and transparency through every word and frequency that I share in hopes that it inspires others to do the same in their ways. I’ve spent a lot of my life feeling alone and very small, and I want people that feel similar to know their not alone, and there’s a beauty in those feelings that should analyzed. Your ugliness can be pretty, your darkest moments won’t last forever.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Have a team of people you trust and love around you, Execute your ideas to your best ability, and always be learning.

As up and comers, often times we find that we have to do everything by ourselves. Especially if your more introverted like myself. However, that can only get you so far, your back can only carry so much weight before your knees give out. So when you have friends who do other things (photography, videography, graphic design, etc.) work with them and keep them around. The work becalmed more meaningful and the quality will show.

Don’t compromise your ideas for other peoples pallet or attention span. You wanna drop a 10 minute short film for an album, do it! Don’t worry about people’s attention span or other opinions. If u have an idea, see it through to the absolute best of your ability.

You should be a student of the game just as much a player. Every day should be a new thing learned or attempted. Questions should be asked, and experimentation is a must with creativity. So never stop learning. The moment you stop learning you stop growing.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
Often times I just stop everything for a second. Don touch any music (or at least I try), go outside, have conversations with strangers, talk to some birds, get lost. It just resets me. I get really into my work and my study so I find myself living in the same 4 walls but if I want my art to exist outside of those walls I have to step out of them and experience life. So live a little. It informs my music and my music informs me about how I feel about myself. It’s necessary for me to take those breaks sometimes.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Instagrams: @stonevsearth

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