Life +Love, Road Trips and Aux Cords

I don’t remember if the idea belonged to me or to Macklyn.

Either way, it was crazy.

In our messages back and forth, it read something like this:

“I know it’s last minute, but do you want to ride out to Chicago?”

It would be one thing if we were in Gary, IN, and Chicago was right around the corner. But Macklyn and I live both in VA. That’s a 14-hour drive from Roanoke — aka Star City where Macklyn lives — to Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria on State St. in the Chi.

So, of course, we said yes.

With that 14-hour spur-of-the-moment road trip planned, I passed Macklyn the aux cord. That’s the auditory equivalent of the trust fall that corporations do as a team-building exercise.

And homey didn’t disappoint.

He had all different types of music from different genres. And it was all dope. I knew Macklyn had good taste in music. What I didn’t know at the time of our impromptu road trip to the Legacy Conference was that Macklyn also had his own music.

Really dope music.

So with his Life + Love album about to drop on June 17th — also Macklyn’s birthday — I had questions for the Roanoke-based singer/songwriter.

LIFE + LOVE

In 2019, Macklyn had started working on his debut album. It was originally called Dialect.

“It had several completely different songs than are currently on the album — a few of them are the same — and I was all about it,” Macklyn said. “Then COVID hit and I was like, ‘You know what, I’m not going to worry about the album. I want to do an EP.’ Then I came back to the album and said, ‘I want to do a completely different thing.’ I wanted to change it up.”

He dropped the Until Tomorrow EP on September 4th, 2020.

“Until Tomorrow explored love and relationships from the pursuit, the struggles, the perseverance, marriage and the celebration of the woman,” Macklyn said. “I had a performance in February of 2020 in Lynchburg. A friend that was there was like, ‘I got some beats for you.’ He had two super dope beats, and I wanted to build off of those beats.”

With inspiration from two Dill the Nomad tracks, Macklyn turned his attention toward love.

“I want to do a love album,” he said. “I think like sometimes we feel like love has to be expressed one way. It’s always sexual. I wanted to just celebrate the relationships in other ways. I connected with another producer named AH Beats and 808 Ray. They provided all the music for me.”

GROWTH

Evolving as a person and growing in his faith, Macklyn knew he couldn’t make the Dialect project he started out to record in 2019.

“I changed a lot,” Macklyn said. “As I grew more in my love for music, and in my faith in Jesus, I just knew there was a way to still reach people and encourage people, and doesn’t always have to scream Jesus’ name. So how can I do that while making good music? And that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to make excellent music.”

The wide range of topics on Life +Love speaks to Macklyn’s growth as a person and a Christian.

“It explores things like self-care, forgiveness, reconciliation, living and depression all under grace,” said Macklyn, who also will make the eight-song project available on vinyl. “In one particular song, I was dealing with depression last year.

“I just remember being like, ‘Man, this is tough.’ I was beating myself up. I started reading Ecclesiastes. It reminded to not get stuck on things that are chasing after the wind. Just live your life. Lots of the songs tackle different issues like that.”

DON’T WASTE YOUR GIFT

It took the urging of friends for Macklyn to get serious about his craft.

“I was sitting at the house of my two friends Charles and Tranay Wilson,” Macklyn said. “I remember one day sitting at their house, and Tranay is loving but direct when she needs to be in the best way possible. We were sitting at the house, and she looks at me and goes, ‘Macklyn, you have a gift and you’re doing nothing with it. And you need to start doing something with it.’ That’s essentially what she said.

“That was the end of 2017. I remember praying, seeking counsel and being like, ‘You know what, I don’t want to waste this. And I am good at it. I need to use it.’”

In 2018, Macklyn was featured on two songs on Alert 312’s Joy King Supreme album and also released his first single Keep On.

“That’s when I started getting serious,” Macklyn said. “But in 2018, it was still sort of a game to me. In 2019, I would say it got serious when I met Sareem Poems and Ozay Moore. Just the encouragement I received from Sareem was bananas. He built into me, and still builds into me. And DJ P Dogg as well, they both have poured into me immensely. I was serious professionally in 2018, but 2019 is when it happened.”

GOOD VIBES

Sonically, Macklyn is influenced by Musiq Soulchild, Stevie Wonder and Foreign Exchange.

Expect to hear those influences on Life + Love.

“This new project, it screams that,” said Macklyn, who also has merch along with the album. “Those who have heard say that’s the type of vibe they get from it. Oddissee reviewed it, and he said it was a nostalgic blend of hip-hop and r & b. That’s what they were going to get from me.

“Outside of it being about the topics I mentioned, you’re going to be able to sit and and go, ‘Man, this is what r & b was like. This is what good ole old school boom bap was like.’ I have songs that vibe like that.

“Expect that type of feel, that type of roll down your windows and drive and just enjoy the music. I’m just super excited. I hope it blesses people, and people are hyped and encouraged by it.”

Chris Lassiter is a freelance writer, the content writer for Black Men Ventures and an author. His next book is about a conversation between Biggie, Tupac and Jesus, and you can sign up for his author newsletter here and visit his website here.