ReddRoxx Rundown: A.C. McKenzye Creates A Musical Niche Of His Own
A staple of reading the ReddRoxx Rundown is knowing that you will come across Buffalo’s undiscovered talent and hear great music from talented artists in your own backyard, right here in Western New York and this week’s edition will not disappoint. In an overly saturated music industry we often don’t get the chance to hear fresh new talent, but I introduce an artist by the name of A.C. Mckenzye. Throughout his evolution as a young artist, Mckenzye has held on to his unique sound making a spot all his own in music.
ReddRoxx: Welcome to the ReddRoxx Rundown! Start by telling the world who you are
A.C. McKenzye: [I’m] A.C. McKenzye or Abstract Child Mckenzye.
RR: My next question was what did the A.C. stand for but you handled that for me lol so we’ll just move on to the next one, how did you get started in music?
ACM: Lol that’s actually a funny story, when I was 12 years old I met a Chinese immigrant at my school that was one of the few people besides myself that actually listened to hip hop. We would build about new rap videos and albums and then one day he asked me to listen to one of his raps and I was dumfounded like "you can write your own raps?" and he was just like "yeah why, can't you?" So after feeling like a jackass I went home and gave it a try for myself and I've been in love with it ever since.
RR: You must feel very fortunate to have cross paths with him. So evidently you’ve had an interesting start to your love with creating music, but what would you say separates you from other artists?
ACM: I'm sure you get this a lot but originality. I have my own abstract style and I try to incorporate as many different styles and sounds in my music that I can. I'm not afraid to push the envelope and draw influences from all different kinds of genres, I like for my lyrics to have a poetic vibe to them but I give it a Chillmatic, TrillWave feel.
RR: I would actually say that originality is one of your strongest points as well so I think you’re right on point with that statement. Now let’s talk about those terms! I wouldn’t consider myself a musical guru but I’m definitely not familiar lol please elaborate.
ACM: Chillmatic/TrillWave to me is ambient pulsating pads, textures, and synths playing melodic lines with heavy effects that you can feel submerged in.
RR: Thanks for the new terms to add to my musical library! You also mentioned that you like to incorporate different styles of music, so who are your biggest musical influences that represent the styles you draw from and why?
ACM: I look at musical influences like a family tree because no one is as original as they'd like to think (including myself). Kanye West was a big influence for me becausehis music let us know you can be "weird" but DOPE, but I feel as though with out Andre3000 there wouldn't be a Kanye. 3 Stacks (Andre 3000) has no fear when it comes to daring to bedifferent. His lyrics are always top notch and he's respected by so many other rappers inthe game for being himself. He laces every track he's on but I feel as though with out Q tip there never would of been a Andre 3000 – But I guess with my song writing I draw inspiration from Kurt Cobain.
RR: That’s definitely an interesting mix of influences. It does however shed some light on the difference that I hear in your music that I don’t hear in a lot of others’ – In a good way of course. With having such a unique ear for music, who would you see yourself collaborating with locally?
ACM: Lol I gotta give a few answers, Chae Hawk first because I feel as though he can
match my abstract style and we'd chef up something pretty dope. Then Bentlee Gavin Wright. I actually got a chance to see her perform live at DBBG once but I don't think it was an "official" show so it came off chill, soulful, and organic and her voice blew me away. One of my homies put me on to a cat named M.A. from the mile high crew and I thought he was dope as well.
RR: I’m familiar with a couple of those you’ve named and can see some really dope work manifesting from those collabs. Speaking of work, what’s brewing?
ACM: I'm working on a 10 track EP titled "Aquatic Stimulation" due for April 2014. It’s my ode to women and all the different thoughts and feelings they give me to show my appreciation for their presence on earth. I also have a collaboration album with my long time homie Dame Digital called 3 a.m. We’re projecting to drop that in the summer. It’s a continuous story about the awkward process of figuring out what kind of relationship you want with a person after meeting them and forming a connection.
RR: Sounds intriguing and deep! My type of music lol. I’m sure that you’ve sparked plenty of interest in my readers by now to hear your music so do you have any music available for download or purchase? If so where?
ACM: I have three songs available for free download on SoundCloud. I'll be releasing another one pretty soon.
RR: Cool, so before we head to check out your work, let us know how you would describe your music in three words?
ACM: Abstract, Organic, Trill
RR: Fitting! Let’s re-visit the local aspect of what you do quickly and get your thoughts on the local music scene?
ACM: There’s actually a pretty cool fusion thing happening with old school hip hop in punk parties that I think is dope because I love hip hop, but I also love the punk culture. It’s not superficial like hip hop tends to be. People are just drinking beers smoking cigarettes in someone’s basement talking enjoying music, It’s laid back and I've found it very easy to make friends in that setting but I especially enjoy Dead Trash Mob and Coleman J. Brahski.
RR: So what can your fans expect from you this year?
ACM: At least 3-4 organic albums and mad abstract dope visuals and a few live performances
RR: Cool! Tell the people how to get in contact with you
ACM: Contact me on Twitter or email me at A.C.Mckenzye151@gmail.com
RR: Leave us with one of your favorite quotes
ACM: You know I wanted to find something deep from Curt Cobain Tupac or Gandhi lol but to keep it trill I have to go with something my mentor Carolinah Blu always tellsme that sets me straight when I'm veering off course "Its a marathon not a race."