Marco McKinnis by Loan Nguyen

YBK

ISSUE #1 - MAY 2015

MARCO MCKINNIS

TALKS LIFE, MUSIC, INSPIRATION, AND FUTURE.

MARCO MCKINNIS Words by Loan Nguyen

that he sees his end goal as eventeen-year-old Dam- a mountain and that every step should take him closer arkus “Marco” McKinnis is ready for the world to know to that mountain. At first, his name. With over 40,000 working for Distaste Magazine seemed like a way for plays on his Soundcloud Damarkus to get closer to page, Marco’s aim is bring his hometown of Hampton, his mountain, and perhaps it was--it was an invaluable Virginia into the mainstep into the art and media stream. industry. As time went on, If you ask Marco though, the gig did less and what he wants to be now, he’ll tell you that he wants to less to move him towards his mountain. “The reason be a triple threat--a model, actor, and R&B singer. There I resigned was because I was a time, though, when he wanted to really focus on was a fashion consultant for my career, with no other commitments,” Damarkus a magazine. explains. “I realized I started His involvement caring about the magazine, with Distaste Magazine rather than my brand alone.” started in March of 2014 and lasted almost eight full months before he realized he career--muthat it was not helping him sic--actually started as nothachieve his goals. The situing more than a hobby for ation was reminiscent of him, a way to pass the time. something Neil Gaiman Early on in high school he touched on in his “Make Good Art” speech, which is started singing over beats from popular songs by other

artists and posted them on his Soundcloud page for fun without purchasing the beats or asking for permission. He never expected the songs to garner as much attention as they did. “After that, people from my school were like ‘Dude, this is tight, keep making music,’” he says. “So I was like, ‘Okay, let’s keep going.’”

“If you like it, do it.”

ince then, he’s started taking music much more seriously. His signature style--characterized by his music’s chill, relaxed vibe--is still there, but the stuff he’s working on now is more refined, less thrown together. It’s music well suited for the soundtrack of a car ride or to nod your head to on a rainy day in. Gone are the days of him layering his voice over other people’s beats (or at least without their permission). He’s gone as far as to rearrange his entire room, moving his bed aside to make it easier to record music between work and school. Being a Hampton native, he’s especially aware

of how difficult it is to get your music noticed. Unless you’re located in an area that is especially supportive of the arts, there are probably gonna be times where you feel like you’re not getting anywhere. Being misunderstood is practically an artistic prerequisite, and it’s

easy to feel misunderstood when no one around you quite gets what you’re trying to do. Even if you do live in a more artistic area, making art for a living is always going to be an uphill battle. “A couple people have hit me up about how people don’t really rock with their music style and I’m just like ‘Man, look--if you like it, do it,’” he says. “Of course, most people in your area are not gonna understand like, being an artist, they’re not gonna really understand the diversity of produc-

ing music. So I’m just like, dude, just do it, because somebody’s gonna like it and then somebody else is gonna like it, [and] somebody else is gonna like it. They might not live in your state but it’s gonna grow. Just do it because it’s gonna put you somewhere.”

s for Damarkus, he’s actively working on getting somewhere, and the changing industry may help him get there. “The music industry is really evolving,” he says, referring to the breakdown of the barrier between famous artists and what he refers to as “underdog” musicians. More and more often, big names like Kanye West are inviting lesser known artists like Allan Kingdom in to collaborate. While this seems like a great thing for upcoming artists like Marco, it’s actually a doubleedged sword--audiences start thinking that the more famous musician is the only reason the underdog artist is even relevant, often to the underdog’s discredit. Marco may not be record-

Photo provided by Damarkus McKinnis

-ing in any studios yet, but he is talking to some other artists and producers. Some features may be in the works for him, and being featured would require getting into the studio so that the quality of his music can match other people’s. With teasers of a feature popping up on his various social media accounts under the working title “No Love,” it’s possible that studio-quality music may be coming soon.

espite being a very active user of social media, Damarkus says that he has a

love/hate relationship with it. “I’m starting to go more towards love,” he admits. He has a pretty stable presence on social media, with over 3,000 followers on Twitter, over 2,000 on Tumblr, and over 1,000 on Soundcloud. There are the obvious reasons why he’d love them all--branding, recognition, the ability to quickly share his work--but none of these are what swayed him towards his fondness for social media. Instead, it’s the visual evidence of growth that he enjoys. “People have been watching me since 2012,” he says, which is the year he start-

ed really social networking. “I love when people tell me, ‘Dude, I love how you’re progressing and I’ve been watching you for this long.’ It makes my heart warm.” He’s even taken to social media for interviews and podcasts, where he shares his thoughts on life and starting a career in the arts. “Love yourself,” he says. “Live life, like, really live life, like, have fun. I am having so much fun, like, I am living my freaking life doing what I love. Learn. You can learn from a lot of things, people, situations, just be open. Keep your mind

“Express every

idea that you have[...]do that idea because it might just change your life.”

open to a lot of things because you never know what it could lead to. Express every idea that you have, even if you can’t at that moment. Write it down in a book, your notepad or your phone, something. Do that idea because it might just change your life.” It’s advice from someone whose soul sounds much older than his seventeen years. His wisdom and drive can be attributed to his mother, who he claims “bestowed success over [his] life as [he] was in the womb.” He says that she, “prayed to God and talked to him to make sure I knew exactly what I was born to do without any form of identity crisis.” “I’m not afraid of the future,” he continues, which is a far cry from most people his age, most of whom struggle to find themselves into their twenties and even beyond. “I know God has a plan and purpose for my life, so I shall not fail as long as he is my God. Fear doesn’t cross

my mind really[...]I just want to help people.” He can’t afford to be fearful in order to accomplish the kind of life that he wants, one that includes having a great family, two boys and one girl--the boys being a set of twins-and raising his kids in California.

If there’s one thing everyone can learn from Damarkus, it’s that ambition is equally as important as dreams are. His ambition is unparalleled and is bound to take him wherever he wants to go.