[Having shared similar rises to fame thanks to hit television shows and promising rap careers, former "The Wire" star Mack Wilds tells SOHH readers why working with Drake would be a dream come true and how he approached star-studded collabos on his new New York: A Love Story album.]
I think Drake is dope. He’s really, really, really dope. He’s definitely somebody that can definitely spearhead what the new generation of music can be and sound like.
So with that being said and that being somebody I want to be as well, I would love to see what would happen between me and him.
Listen, the opportunities and everything are there. It feels like everything is boundless. There’s definitely something that can happen there.
Working on my new album, everything from the writing to the producing, we really prided ourselves on hitting people with the music first before telling them who we were. I remember with Ne-Yo, I did a reference track and then later on he found out who I was.
My biggest thing was I wanted to surprise people with what I had before we showed them who I was. You get a different reaction when you say, “I’m working with ‘so-and-so-and-so’ from ‘so-and-so-and-so'” and it’s a different thing. They have an opportunity to say no then.
But if you fall in love with the music first, then it’s kind of hard when that camera turns around and you see who it is, it’s like, “Sh*t, this music is actually good. I want to help. I gotta be a part of this.”
I’m fine with juggling the music and acting. I think the biggest thing is not focusing too much on both at the same time. You can’t be trying to do a blockbuster film while you’re working on a Grammy-nominated album at the same time.
You have to pace yourself.
Mack Wild’s debut album New York: A Love Story is described as a hip-hop-centered, R&B-laced tale of love and loss. Born and raised in Staten Island, NY, Mack says that music has always been his first love and dreamed of a career in music from a young age, who credits his musical influences to Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Lauryn Hill, Jay-Z and Nas, among many others. Growing up in New York City, Mack was immersed in music and recounts his surroundings, living in the inner-city and listening to hip-hop as his major inspiration to record this album – to reflect the feeling of all that New York City is – from the sounds, diversity, artistry, daily grind, the good, the bad and the beautiful.