MACSOLO ( born as Sejirin Oluwaseun Olumuyiwa on November 15th, 90’s) , better known as his stage name MACSOLO , is an indigenous Yoruba Rapper
from a big town called Ijako in Ogun State.
MACSOLO was born to a single mother and is the oldest child out of his mother 6 kids; he has
2 brothers and 4 sisters.
He started rap at the age of 16 and began writing his own music after his high school. In 2011 he was
fortunate to record a song in the studio title MA4OR until he met his heaven sent helper (SIMMIE CLASSIC) who owns a home studio.
Then in the summer of 2011, he joined his friend music group called BROSTERZ MUSIC. After dropping 3 mixtapes under the group he lifted on during 2011, and went solo as an indigenous artiste, until he came back fully to the group in 2012 to face his career. MACSOLO is an upcoming star artiste who has great work ethic and projects waiting to be heard.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DOING WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN THE FIRST PLACE?
MACSOLO: It’s been about 7 years for me in this music industry. I started off just playing around in the studio with some friends. I wrote a few bars while they rap in the studio. I created a song while checking them out then I put it with a beat. I then put it on my social networks. A few people enjoyed the track that I posted on my pages so I decided to continue to write. I want to make a career out of this hip-hop music. Hopefully the right person will come along and help me take it to the next level.
WHO WERE THE FIRST INFLUENCES ON YOUR MUSIC AND STYLE?
MACSOLO: I would have to say, Rick Ross, Ja-rule, and Jay-Z when we talk of American artistes, but when we come to Nigerian artiste, I will talk of Reminisce, Olamide, Rugged Man, Seriki etc. They are all completely different in there pattern and level of music. There is so much creativity in their music. As an artiste I can’t help but admire their Talent.
IN YOUR OPINION WHO ARE THE MOST INFLUENTIAL AND SUCCESSFUL ARTIST IN
YOUR GENRE TODAY AND WHY?
MACSOLO: Reminisce, Olamide are still one of the most relevant names in hip-hop today. They’ve done justice to number of other artiste songs like Davido, Iceprince, Wizkid etc. Reminisce and Olamide success has come with years of hard work. Whether you like them or not, you can’t help but become a fan or give them respect for what they have done in and out of the music industry. For all their works, they own their record label.
WHICH FAMOUS SONG OR SOUND PRODUCTION, ULTIMATELY DESCRIBES WHAT YOU’D LIKE MACSOLO MUSIC PRODUCTIONS TO SOUND LIKE?
MACSOLO: Olamide, f**k**g with the devil. He has a variety of songs that talk about real life situations. That’s how I think of the concepts of my songs. I take real life situations that I have been through and create the majority of my songs.
DO YOU THINK YOUR MUSIC IS MOSTLY ENJOYED MORE FOR THE BEATS OR FOR THE LYRICAL FLOW AND CONTENT?
MACSOLO: These are the times of the beats, but with me I am not trying to copy or imitate what all the other artistes are doing. When people hear my music I want it to be more about the lyrics than a good
beat. Anybody can talk about making money, popping bottles in clubs but how many people are actually doing all of this. If I talk about struggling to pay bill, relationships, and actual events of life
that people go through then people can relate to the song. Hopefully they will think about the beat later and the lyrics first.
DO YOU MAKE YOUR OWN BEATS AND WRITE YOUR OWN LYRICS? IF YES WHAT SOFTWARE OR EQUIPMENT DID YOU PREFER USING? IF YOU DON’T DO ANY OF THIS BY YOURSELF, HOW DO YOU GET THIS DONE?
MACSOLO: I do search the internet most time for beats. Sometime it’s hard to find beats that fit my style of rap. Just as the music industry is saturated with hip-hop artistes, but I have music producer that make a beat for me and he make use of FL studio.
I do write the lyrics to all my music. Maybe someday I could get paid by others to write for them.
IF YOU COULD CHOOSE TO WORK WITH SOME OF TODAY’S ESTABLISHED ARTISTES OR PRODUCERS, TO MOVE YOUR GAME TO THE TOP, WITH WHOM WOULD YOU LIKE TO COLLABORATE?
MACSOLO: There is only one name that really comes to mind. Well there are a few of them like, Id cabasa, flip tyce, sossick, frenzy, samklef, but the top of the list would be Don jazzy. He takes the talent of an artiste and makes it work for him. I guess you can say that “he can take your talent to put together a Masterpiece.”
WHICH LATEST SONGS, VIDEOS OR MIXTAPES RELEASES ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TO YOUR FANS AND WHERE CAN THEY BE HEARD OR DOWNLOADED?
MAC-SOLO: The mixtape tracks that I have out now are many, you can search for them online.
Still working on one of the video, so soon, it will be
available for download.
WHICH INGREDIENT DO YOU THINK IS MOST ESSENTIAL IN MAKING YOUR SOUND AND STYLE THE WAY IT IS?
MACSOLO: Only two, “Originality and Attitude”.
WHICH EMOTION MORE THAN ANY OTHER, CURRENTLY DOMINATES YOUR MUSIC, JOY, SADNESS, ANGER OR PASSION AND WHY?
MACSOLO: I have to say all of them. My music expresses my life.
Although there have been more good times than bad, when people listen to my music they can feel all of my emotions.
WHAT ASPECT OF THE MUSIC MAKING PROCESS EXCITES YOU MOST, AND WHAT ASPECT DISCOURAGES YOU THE MOST?
MACSOLO: When I am in the studio on the mic, I am in my own zone. My blood starts pumping, hands sweaty, then show time. That’s exciting to me. There is really nothing about the music making process
that discourages me but finding the right outlets for my music is the hard part “Millions of rappers with limited and beneficial outlets”
HOW INVOLVED ARE YOU IN THE RECORDING, PRODUCING, MASTERING, MARKETING, AND OTHER PROCESSES NEEDED TO MAKE AND SELL YOUR MUSIC, AND DO YOU OUTSOURCE ANY PART OF THESE PROCESSES?
MACSOLO: I am about 20-40% involved with each of those steps. I realized that it takes more than just me to get the job done. I don’t try and create beats or anything of the nature cause I have a music producer doing it for me. If I can focus on only writing, the content of my music could get better with time.
DO YOU THINK THE ADVENT OF INTERNET AND ALL THE NEW TECHNOLOGY HAS HELPED YOUR MUSIC AND INDEPENDENT MUSICIANS IN GENERAL, OR DO YOU THINK IT JUST CREATES A MASS OF MEDIOCRE “COPYCATS” WHO FLOOD THE WEB,
MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO DISTINGUISH YOURSELF?
MACSOLO: I think the internet has help and hurt the music industry tremendously.
Not only that everybody wants to be a hip-hop artiste, it has allowed people around the world to download or copy music for free. Because of the internet, artistes think it’s easy to try and become the next big thing to get signed to a major label. After all some
artistes were discovered on Youtube, many other artists attempted to do the same. Some failed and some succeeded. Some have attempted to buy
likes, views, and comments to gain their fame. Which buying these don’t really get you fame but empty pockets.
My advice to those who pay for those services, “Get in the streets hustle, work, and grind.
At least the number will look more believable than just sitting behind the computer perpetrating.”
I don’t think everything is negative about the internet. It does allow easy access to your music for family, friends, and our truest fans. I can go on and on about how the internet destroyed hip-hop but this
interview can only be so long.
IN YOUR EXPERIENCE THUS FAR, WHAT IS THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE IN THIS BUSINESS YOU ACTUALLY FOLLOWED? AND ONE YOU DIDN’T FOLLOW, BUT NOW KNOW FOR SURE THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE?
MACSOLO: Hustling and working hard is one of them. Also I learned from my manager that doing interviews such as this will prepare me for
other interviews, especially spontaneous one. For the second part of the question, in the beginning, I wanted everything to happen right now.
I was told that I need to have patience and stay motivated. Everything will piece together in the end.
BEING AN INDEPENDENT ARTISTE, WHICH IS THE ONE FACTOR. ABOVE ALL ELSE, THAT YOU CURRENTLY DESIRE MOST (INCREASED MUSIC DISTRIBUTION, BETTER QUALITY PRODUCTION, MORE MEDIA EXPOSURE, MORE CLUB AND LIVE PERFORMANCES ETC…)?
MACSOLO: More media coverage of course. If I get the media on my side, everything else will fall into place.
HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK VIDEO IS TO YOUR MUSIC, AND HOW DO YOU PRODUCE YOUR VIDEOS?
MACSOLO: Although I haven’t released any official video of my current music, having one creates another outlet for my music to be heard. It’s very important for the video to have a plot that is the same as the song. I see a great number of videos both independent and mainstream artistes that create videos that have no content.
WHAT IN YOUR OPINION IS THE BIGGEST BARRIER AN ARTIST LIKE YOURSELF HAS TO FACE AND OVERCOME, TO GAIN ANY COMMERCIAL SUCCESS?
MACSOLO: Budgeting for promotion and marketing. After looking at some promotional packages and marketing strategies, it gets expensive to keep my exposure trending. Everybody wants to get paid, which I totally understand. It’s just that sometimes the money isn’t there.
TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT ANY PROJECTS AND IDEAS YOU HAVE IN STORE OR ALREADY WORKING ON?
MACSOLO: I have another track which I have Seriki on it, It will be releasing about a month from now.” The project is based on the experiences I have had in my life. I am mixing a little bit of old school and new school together on this project. I must say this might
be the best project I will have put together.
IN CLOSING, AS AN INDIGENOUS YORUBA RAPPER
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE TO GIVE OTHER RAPPERS IN THE GAME WITH YOU?
MACSOLO: Believe and Faith, they should believe and have the faith that they gonna reach the top sooner or later. Just keep on trying and praying.
They should also put God First in everything they will be doing. Thanks
ALRIGHT THANKS MAN.
Jaytee 
bebestic