Meet Makk

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Makk a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Makk , appreciate you sitting with us today. Maybe we can start with a topic that we care deeply about because it’s something we’ve found really sets folks apart and can make all the difference in whether someone reaches their goals. Self discipline seems to have an outsized impact on how someone’s life plays out and so we’d love to hear about how you developed yours?

Growing up in Fort Worth, Texas not a lot was happening especially with the kind of music I’ve dedicated my life to. Outside of my parents I saw a bunch of people that I didn’t want to be like. I remember when I graduated high school I was bombarded with questions about the future and what my plans were and I could sense a judgement from relatives and friends when I said I didn’t want to go to college. I started asking them what their plans were when they were my age, what were their dreams? Not a single person was living their dream. Not a single person was doing what they always wanted to do. I knew at that moment that I didn’t want to be like that and when the time came for someone to ask me what my dream was, I’d be able to say that I was living it.
With that, I always hated when someone told me I couldn’t do something. In my mind I’m like “why not? if it is possible then why can’t I?” so I always did. First, it was to prove that I really wasn’t like anyone I knew, but then I got this feeling of fulfillment every time I kept my word to myself. I started doing self-discipline challenges for myself, I wasn’t posting them on social media for validation I was simply growing the discipline within myself. I’ve done the 75 hard challenge, I quit alcohol for 1 year, I quit social media for 30 days, 5Am club challenge (which calls for 20min of meditation, 20 minutes of journaling, 20 minutes of a workout all starting at 5Am) a 30 day vegan challenge and a 30 day vegetarian challenge that turned into staying vegetarian for 5 years. Every time I start something new I have to finish it.
I used that same discipline to teach myself everything I know now about music and content. I taught myself to record music at home, how to be comfortable in from of a camera, how to film and edit. I’ve also taught myself a lot about the music business and growing a brand.
All of my self-discipline is rooted in one thing – trying. That first step has brought me a long way.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

As a kid I was an over-thinker, that over thinking lead to a lot of anxiety and depression. Looking back now, it makes me sad for my younger self. In the hispanic community mental health is often ignored. I didn’t know that was what I was feeling back then but I knew I felt better when I was playing basketball or doing something creative. Before I knew journaling was a thing I was writing out all of thoughts as an 8 year old kid. I fell in love with hip-hop at a young age because of my cousins who listened to the music but i fell in love with real rap because of my dad. He didn’t like me listening to radio hits back in the early / mid 2000’s. He told me if I wanted to listen to rap then I should listen to real rap so he gave me a bootleg copy of All Eyez On Me an album by 2Pac. I played that every day on a CD player. I heard the stories he told, the meaning it had, and I knew people that were living like that not far from where I grew up. From then, I wanted to put truth in my music. I wanted to talk about things that mattered to me and to the world. Being a female rapper I thought the odds were already stacked against me because of how I dress and the beats I like. It took me a long time to accept and believe that that is my super power. The things I was once insecure about are what make me stand out and the over thinking and dreaming I did as a kid is now who I make music for.

Right now I’m focused on building my brand as an artist and building my discography. I’ve dropped over 30 singles and I’ll continue to do that. I think of them as one song albums. Each track is showing the world who I am. I also share content every day on social media, not only sharing my music but sharing the things I’ve learned about creating content, self-discipline, confidence, and work ethic. I’m a rapper with a purpose and I try to not only share meaningful music but also a mindset. A mindset that can help other people follow their own dreams regardless of age or location.

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?

Discipline, confidence and solitude. These three qualities have helped me the most. Discipline is knowing you don’t want to do something but doing it anyway because you know it’ll benefit you later.
Confidence is knowing who I am and what I’m building and standing firm on that regardless of negativity and doubt. Solitude is more of a skill for me, it’s being able to be alone. A lot of people mistake solitude for loneliness but solitude is being with yourself, not by yourself. How can you get to know yourself if you don’t spend time with yourself?

I think solitude is the first step to everything. If you can learn what you like and don’t like, who you want and don’t want to be, you’ll be able to show up for that person. One of the hardest things i’ve had to practice is treating myself like I’m a really good friend When you can do that, the other things just fall in to place.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

The most impactful thing my mom did for me was make me earn everything. She also taught me to never settle. Granted, I think she might’ve chose a different career path for me but the same rules still apply. She taught me to be a strong woman and anything I wanted in this life wouldn’t come easy and it definitely hasn’t. I think she was fueling a dreamer she didn’t even know she had. I was always a very shy kid so I didn’t tell her I could rap until my early 20’s.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @makkmadeit
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@makkmadeit?si=Tgd7gkM0D8tZe6gX
• Other: Spotify
  

  TikTok: @makkmadeit