Up next in 10
Marlon Craft returns to Sway in the Morning to discuss his latest project and his decade-long journey in the music industry. In this insightful interview, he breaks down why he is no longer seeking validation and how he has finally found comfort in his identity as both a man and an artist.
Throughout the conversation, Marlon dives deep into the themes of his new album, The Internet Killed the Neighborhood. He shares his thoughts on the erosion of physical communities, the impact of technology on human connection, and the struggle to maintain a moral compass in a profit-driven industry. From his creative process involving 70s soul and jazz to his lyrical breakdowns of tracks like Come Back Home, Marlon offers a masterclass in intentional artistry.
You will also hear Marlon discuss the concept of the New York sound, the realities of being an independent artist in the streaming era, and his evolving views on spirituality. This is a must-watch for anyone who appreciates substantive, authentic hip-hop and wants to understand the mind of one of the culture's most potent voices.
Chapters
0:00 Welcoming Marlon Craft back to the show
2:50 The Internet Killed the Neighborhood and Unapologetic energy
6:15 Building the house: This is the seminal work
9:40 Why Hip-Hop artists feel they are always auditioning
12:30 The death of the neighborhood and digital addiction
16:00 Creative process: Influences from Soul and Jazz
19:15 Defining the modern New York sound
22:10 Lyrical Breakdown: Come Back Home and the industry pipeline
25:45 Integrity vs nihilism in the music business
29:00 Legacy and becoming a mentor to the culture
32:15 Spirituality and finding connection beyond religion
35:30 Self-awareness and the message behind If I Love Me
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Hey, man. Hey, man.
0:03
I had to play two of the songs off the
0:04
project. Mike News, I needed you to hear
0:06
that, man. You could appreciate sub-
0:09
substantive, original, authentic,
0:12
organic made music. Tracy G, I know you
0:15
felt that vibration.
0:17
>> I always do, man. This is a really
0:19
special guy. He's so thoughtful. He's
0:22
potent with his words. He's potent with
0:24
his mission. He's potent with his
0:26
presence. It is very, very easy to
0:28
support the best we have today.
0:31
>> We got the one and only, man. And let me
0:33
say this about this young man cuz we
0:35
we've had a chance to watch him grow
0:38
uh Heather B even even prior to the
0:40
Funhouse Mirror project he put out. You
0:42
know, we got a chance to just really
0:44
watch his trajectory
0:46
um over the last I feel like damn near
0:48
10 years, right?
0:49
>> Yeah.
0:49
>> Yeah, man. And
0:51
uh one thing for for sure, I know he's
0:56
probably drinking some type of I don't
0:59
know.
1:00
>> Don't pick an animal.
1:01
>> I was going to pick an animal.
1:03
I'll pick an animal, right?
1:04
>> Don't. Yeah, you always pick one. Don't
1:06
don't go with the goat or the lamb.
1:08
>> Don't go with the eagle. I was going to
1:09
say he might be drinking eagle blood cuz
1:10
he hasn't aged at all, man. I don't know
1:12
what it is.
1:13
>> Eagle is cool. Eagle is cool.
1:14
>> Okay. Okay.
1:15
>> [laughter]
1:16
>> You know, I I never know what's going on
1:18
with him behind his eyes, but whenever I
1:21
see him, his aesthetic is always he's
1:23
always glowing. He always has a aura
1:25
about himself that's appealing to me.
1:27
And I think we're like-minded in in in
1:29
in in our disposition in many ways even
1:31
though we we have a big difference in
1:33
age and where we grew up the whole nine,
1:35
but we have some kindred spirits between
1:38
us. I love seeing this man. I want to
1:40
welcome him back to the show.
1:41
>> Yeah.
1:42
>> He is good for music. He's good for
1:44
hip-hop, but he's good for music across
1:47
the board, every genre. Mike News, let's
1:49
give a big round of applause for Marlon
1:51
Craft, man. Marlon Craft.
1:53
>> Marlon [screaming]
1:53
Craft.
1:55
>> Marlon Craft, man.
1:57
>> Thank you guys. Thank you guys.
1:58
>> Man,
1:59
I just played that song off his new
2:01
album uh Unapologetic is the song we
2:04
just played off the album The Internet
2:06
Killed the Neighborhood
2:07
>> Mhm.
2:08
>> and it speaks about wearing Timberland
2:10
boots in the summertime.
2:12
>> [laughter]
2:12
>> The [ __ ] what's that supposed to mean,
2:14
man? What what what's the significance
2:15
of that?
2:16
>> It's funny. I was channeling like
2:18
like DMX, you know, D-Block energy, but
2:21
then like when I was sitting on the song
2:25
last summer, I realized all the Gen Z
2:27
kids wear Tims with jean shorts now.
2:30
>> Yeah.
2:30
>> So, I was like So, I was like, damn,
2:32
like [ __ ] came back around in a
2:34
different way. But yeah, now it's just
2:36
that unapologetic New York energy, man,
2:38
trying to to have some fun with it there
2:40
and then the song gets a little deeper.
2:42
It's really about We spoke about it
2:44
earlier, that comfortability that I feel
2:45
like I'm feeling right now just in
2:46
myself, you know, trying to trying to
2:49
just feel comfortable as a man, as an
2:50
artist, you know.
2:51
>> Mhm. And okay.
2:52
>> No, I was going to ask then was there a
2:54
time as an artist, if you're comfortable
2:57
with sharing, that you were
2:58
uncomfortable?
3:00
>> Oh, yeah, yesterday.
3:02
>> [laughter]
3:04
>> You know what I mean? I I mean, I think
3:06
that's uh I'm still I'm still fighting
3:08
with it. There's this constant exposure,
3:10
you know, like I try so hard. I try my
3:12
best. I put everything into this project
3:14
and I've always put everything into
3:16
everything I do and I think when you're
3:18
young, you're seeking that validation,
3:20
right? Part of the reason you want to be
3:22
an artist, you want to especially be an
3:24
MC, there's some insatiable desire to be
3:27
heard,
3:28
>> Yes.
3:28
>> right? And I think part of my journey
3:30
has been like understanding why I wanted
3:32
to be heard so bad and what I wanted to
3:34
say. And um but anytime you put yourself
3:37
out there like that, it's it's a sort of
3:39
exposure and so there's a vulnerability
3:42
to that that just makes me feel like,
3:44
damn, I hope people are seeing me this
3:46
way, especially now. Like even doing
3:48
interviews and stuff,
3:50
it's like I have to share so much of
3:51
myself, the person, to get my art out to
3:54
the world.
3:56
Um and and it's a weird space. So, I
3:59
think uh when I when I first began, like
4:01
when I used to come up to things like
4:02
this, I was so nervous like all week,
4:05
you know what I mean? And um it's really
4:07
cool. It's always special to see you
4:08
guys and see you as well
4:11
um because it's like this benchmark in
4:13
my life and I can feel like in my body
4:15
it's just like, oh wow. I'm not nervous
4:18
at all. I'm happy to see the fam. Like
4:19
I'm
4:20
>> Mhm. good to be here. I know I belong
4:21
here. And when I first came in here, I
4:23
was just like, time to prove myself.
4:25
>> Yeah.
4:26
>> So, you know, like I definitely have
4:27
come a long way with that.
4:29
>> Yeah, I would say, I mean, obviously
4:31
both Sway and I and you know, we we put
4:34
out music, right? And we we spent most
4:36
of my life as a recording artist. And I
4:39
understand that feeling. And what helped
4:41
me along the way, I had to look at it,
4:44
if this makes sense, like I'm building a
4:45
house.
4:46
>> Mhm.
4:47
>> Some rooms
4:49
other people going to love. Some rooms
4:51
is like, I don't really like sitting in
4:53
there. It's cool. I get why she may have
4:56
done it, but it ain't my favorite room
4:57
in the house. And I feel like that about
5:00
projects as well. You know, I know why I
5:03
wanted this this green wall, so to
5:04
speak. It was at that vibe that day, but
5:07
you you put it in there and you live
5:08
with it. And maybe people could come
5:10
back later and appreciate it later on
5:11
down the line. I think that's what
5:13
happens a lot, too. Go back and listen
5:15
to the music and you feel like, yo,
5:17
damn, he was ahead of his time. She was
5:19
ahead of her time, so to speak. But it
5:21
it takes a minute sometimes to get to
5:23
that point, you know? And I think you
5:24
have to keep building the house, you
5:26
know? You just keep building it. And
5:28
each room, each project, you know, you
5:30
learn something new.
5:31
>> Yeah, that's that's why I feel so great
5:34
about this project because
5:36
all the other projects I have love for
5:38
them. They got me here.
5:40
>> Yes.
5:40
>> But this project is the one where I'm
5:42
like, this is me. Like I did it. Like
5:45
And you know, it's not the best project
5:47
I'll make. I'm going to make better
5:48
ones, but it's like this is the one that
5:51
is like who is Marlon Craft as an artist
5:54
and what is the growth been over the
5:55
last 10 years and just like press play
5:57
on this and like this is the seminal
5:59
work for now.
6:01
And like this is the house, you know,
6:02
like I feel good about like this is this
6:05
is the crib, this is the house, so
6:07
>> Dope.
6:07
>> Marlon Craft is here. New album, The
6:09
Internet Killed the Neighborhood. You
6:11
know what I told him
6:13
before he came on air when I after
6:15
just just watching and I I follow Marlon
6:17
and and I watch a lot of the different
6:19
things he does, the environments you
6:21
create even for other artists as we were
6:22
talking about some of the things you're
6:23
doing in
6:24
on Lower Manhattan.
6:27
This is a project I I I
6:29
I didn't get the impression that you're
6:30
auditioning. You know what I mean? You
6:33
know, and a lot in hip-hop
6:35
we constantly feel like we got to
6:37
audition.
6:39
>> [laughter]
6:40
>> Right?
6:40
>> Only in hip-hop.
6:41
>> Only in hip-hop. You get be in hip-hop
6:43
for years and every time you put out a
6:45
new project, it's almost like I got to
6:48
prove this project. I got to yell about
6:50
it. I got to stand next to it and I'm
6:52
almost like auditioning and I'm looking
6:54
for validation.
6:56
I'm looking for approval, right? Um
6:59
and then, you know, the game changes and
7:01
you start looking at the people you
7:02
looking at for approval from.
7:05
And it'd be people you don't even
7:06
approve.
7:07
>> Yeah.
7:08
>> [laughter]
7:09
>> Yo, and have no qualifications to
7:11
approve you.
7:12
>> And have no qualifications [laughter]
7:15
to approve you.
7:18
>> That part, yo. Crazy.
7:20
>> it for you, you've always had to prove
7:24
yourself, right? What has that journey
7:27
been like when you reflecting and
7:29
beginning to now?
7:31
>> Oh, man.
7:32
It's just been my life, bro. Like
7:35
>> [laughter]
7:35
>> it's my life, right? And I never really
7:37
like speak on it that much because
7:40
like who wants to hear a white boy
7:42
complaining? Like, I don't want to hear
7:44
that [ __ ]
7:44
>> Mhm. You know, but growing up in New
7:46
York, like, that was my reality from
7:48
from my early days on the basketball
7:49
court, hooping, you know what I'm
7:51
saying? When it was about basketball,
7:53
when it was just about like getting
7:54
pressed in New York, it was a different
7:56
time, like, you know what I'm saying?
7:57
And you decide who you want to be, you
7:59
know what I mean? If you if you're going
8:00
to be labeled a certain way, if you're
8:02
going to stand up for yourself.
8:03
Images of like manhood that I was given
8:05
that I was trying to live up to that I'm
8:07
since trying to shed, you know what I
8:08
mean? But um and then getting into rap,
8:11
obviously, and knowing how much respect
8:13
I have for this culture and wanting to
8:15
be assert myself in the right way, but
8:18
but also get the respect that I earn and
8:19
deserve and you know, so like it's just
8:23
it's mirrored my life and I was prepared
8:24
for it in rap based on my childhood.
8:26
>> Mhm.
8:27
>> But at the same time, like, it is
8:29
exhausting, bro. Like, I'm exhausted.
8:32
Like, I'm third I'm 33, you know what
8:34
I'm saying?
8:35
Like,
8:36
I'm like, I don't give a [ __ ] bro. I
8:39
don't care. Like, these people that they
8:42
didn't live my life, you know what I
8:43
mean? Cuz a lot of you know what people
8:44
in the industry like
8:46
you know, it's a lot of fake tough guys.
8:48
>> Mhm.
8:49
>> It's a lot of fake musical savants.
8:51
>> Yeah.
8:52
>> And when you get to that point, when
8:53
you've put your hours in and you know,
8:54
you know,
8:56
and then it's just like you don't know,
8:58
bro. So, I'm not I'm not finna sit here
9:00
and like
9:01
dance for nobody no more and and
9:03
apologize. That's where the Unapologetic
9:05
song comes from, man. I'm I'm not
9:07
apologizing no more for nothing like
9:09
because go out like go ask Sway and
9:11
Heather B like who Lupe Fiasco is. Like,
9:13
y'all I care what y'all think, you know
9:15
what I mean? There's certain people that
9:16
I care what they think. I think most of
9:18
those people like
9:19
you know, they stamp it. And if we still
9:21
have to make some fans, cool, but also I
9:23
can't I can't live for that. It's just
9:25
not healthy. I can't I can't live for
9:26
that. I I know my [ __ ] is my [ __ ] is
9:29
dope and I feel like this project that's
9:31
what I really wanted to do with this is
9:34
like this is my sound. This is what I
9:35
want to make. I know it's musically
9:37
rich, I know it's lyrically rich, it's
9:39
ideologically rich, it's a great piece
9:41
of art. I can't promise you that you'll
9:43
like it because I didn't make it to
9:45
capitulate to nobody's taste that make
9:47
no [ __ ] list or no [ __ ] like that.
9:49
But, I can promise you that if you have
9:52
taste, you'll appreciate the lengths I
9:54
went to and the intention that I put
9:56
behind it. And that's that's all I could
9:57
really do.
9:58
>> There's freedom in that though, Marlon.
10:00
Salute to you.
10:01
>> Salute to you.
10:01
>> Thank you, guys.
10:02
>> The internet killed the neighborhood my
10:05
news. What do you think of that title
10:06
right there?
10:07
>> [laughter]
10:07
>> I know I know that had your brain, your
10:09
cerebellum, your neurons would just
10:13
just sparked after that, right?
10:16
>> I mean that's the conversation we're
10:17
having right now in society. Marlon, so
10:19
great to meet you. It's my first time
10:20
meeting you and I I'd love the music
10:21
that I've heard so far and I love your
10:23
perspective and I love the introspective
10:25
about the idea of having something to
10:26
prove and I think that goes so much to
10:27
identity and then you talk about manhood
10:29
and all that is wrapped into who is
10:32
qualified, you know, to be part of the
10:34
hip hop space up on that. But, the
10:36
internet killed the neighborhood sway
10:37
and how the beat race you we talk about
10:38
this all the time here like artificial
10:40
intelligence, you know, how is that
10:42
changing community and behavior and
10:44
psychological dynamics and so is, you
10:47
know, the internet and social media
10:48
killing community, right? And when you
10:50
think about hip hop, hip hop was birthed
10:52
from the community to speak on behalf of
10:54
the community, to be the voice of the
10:56
community and so once it goes to the
10:57
internet then like what is it then?
11:00
>> Mhm. Yeah, right. And and I I even if
11:04
to like listening to the song, the one
11:06
of the things I start thinking about was
11:09
when we were growing up pre-internet.
11:12
>> Okay.
11:12
>> Right? We spent time together, you know,
11:15
we went outside, we played basketball,
11:18
you know, I'm not saying that organized
11:20
sports don't exist.
11:21
But, it's it's less human contact uh
11:25
and more digital connection when it it's
11:28
now that the internet is here. It's
11:29
little things we may have done back in
11:31
the day that we don't anymore. Even when
11:34
we play video games.
11:35
>> Oh, we played them together.
11:36
>> We played them together.
11:37
>> all sitting around in living room.
11:38
>> We were all in the same [laughter] room,
11:40
but you don't have to be in the same
11:41
room.
11:42
Um and and so that title "The Internet
11:45
Killed the Neighborhood" is even a
11:46
mentality, too, cuz now the neighborhood
11:48
has expanded because of the internet.
11:50
You know, my neighborhood homies might
11:52
be in Australia.
11:53
>> Yeah.
11:54
>> That I talk to every day, right? Um what
11:57
what was the meaning behind this title
11:59
for you?
12:00
>> Yeah, I mean, I think you're getting at
12:01
a lot of it. It's like
12:04
that
12:05
I feel like
12:07
growing up
12:09
community was this
12:11
you know, community was kind of
12:12
descended, I guess, from the idea of the
12:14
village, right? It's like you have
12:15
people in close proximity and they share
12:18
space and then they create culture in
12:20
that space. And then they look out for
12:22
one another and there's mentorship and
12:24
there's elders and there's things like
12:25
that.
12:26
>> [snorts]
12:26
>> And it's not all hunky-dory. I learned a
12:28
lot of [ __ ] from my OGs in the
12:29
neighborhood that was [ __ ] you know
12:31
what I mean? But it was it was, you
12:33
know, shared space created this care for
12:35
one another.
12:37
And I feel like those tenants and
12:39
principles of community and neighborhood
12:42
have been co-opted by tech and
12:44
corporations and put online and catered
12:47
to you in these algorithms that are
12:48
reminiscent of neighborhood because it
12:50
feels like your own little like sliver
12:52
world and then it encompasses people
12:54
maybe from Australia or from all over
12:56
and it's just expanding. But the really
12:58
the agenda of it is to keep you
13:00
compulsive, addicted, and purchasing
13:02
things. And um you know, so so me as a
13:06
man like really coming of age into this
13:09
more comfortable space figuring out who
13:10
I want to be, looking around at the
13:13
city, you know, and how it's changed.
13:15
Obviously, there's there's themes about
13:16
gentrification and stuff like that. Um
13:20
but I think like there's that micro
13:21
thing about what's going on in the
13:22
neighborhood and then how does that
13:23
apply to what we see in the world?
13:25
Because we're just getting more and more
13:27
numb and less and less compassionate.
13:29
And how we treat each other on a
13:32
one-to-one and then how we treat each
13:34
other in terms of like nation to nation.
13:37
You know, so I just think it's an
13:38
expansive idea
13:40
um and yeah, like it's just I think it's
13:43
it's heavy.
13:44
>> You know, Marlon was in his bag with
13:46
this album.
13:46
>> I was going to say.
13:47
>> Guys, bro.
13:49
>> So much of it when you're creating a
13:51
project um
13:54
do you listen to other artists while
13:56
you're creating?
13:57
You know, like sometimes it is different
13:59
methods to it all. Sometimes it's like I
14:01
don't want to hear nobody else's [ __ ]
14:03
I'm focusing on my I want to make sure
14:05
I'm not repeating what somebody else is
14:07
saying. I want to stay clear. Other
14:08
times it's like, well, let me listen to
14:11
see what everybody else is talking about
14:13
and maybe I may get some inspiration or
14:15
perspective from that. Where do you
14:17
land?
14:18
>> I with this album I was listening to a
14:20
lot of like 70s soul, a lot of jazz, a
14:24
lot of like I wasn't listening to a lot
14:26
of rap, a lot of hip-hop because
14:29
I was just really concerned with trying
14:30
to make
14:31
the the bar was to try to make a
14:33
timeless album. Like it's a rap album,
14:36
I'm rapping.
14:37
>> Yeah.
14:37
>> But like just in the genre of and just
14:40
in terms of music like one of these
14:41
classic albums that you could just press
14:43
play from one to and you would just you
14:44
almost commands of you that you want to
14:46
hear the whole thing through. You know,
14:48
you want to see every scene in the movie
14:49
even the ones that aren't your favorites
14:51
because it's just you know, like that
14:53
was kind of my goal. So I was listening
14:54
to a lot of albums that I felt you know,
14:57
from you know, like Al Green and Marvin
15:00
Gaye and [ __ ] like that and just and
15:02
then just like Coltrane quartet and like
15:04
different different [ __ ] like that that
15:06
embodied that like feeling not
15:07
necessarily musically the same [ __ ]
15:10
Um I'm always like listening to rap and
15:12
I'm always tapped into what's going on.
15:15
But honestly like when I'm creating and
15:17
like really when I was deep in this
15:19
project, I might check a project out. If
15:21
it doesn't inspire me, I don't just keep
15:24
listening to it to try to like I'm not
15:26
you know cuz I also just don't um
15:29
yeah like
15:30
I don't know it it the [ __ ] got to
15:32
inspire me. Like sometimes I listen to
15:34
like Coltrane and I'm like ooh and then
15:37
I get the same feeling when I'm
15:38
listening to Stove God. You know like
15:40
I'm like ooh like it just it's not
15:43
necessarily about the the genre it's
15:46
about like the level of like
15:50
the evocative provocative like it just
15:52
like you know brings out emotion in me.
15:55
So I just seek out that stuff and then
15:56
I'll and then I'll roll with it you know
15:58
when I find it.
15:59
>> Yeah.
15:59
>> Marlon Craft is here man. Tracy
16:02
>> Yo.
16:03
Marlon so crazy. I love Marlon Craft.
16:07
>> I know I know it. I was like trying to
16:08
get out of the way of you. What up
16:10
Tracy?
16:10
>> What's up bro? It's actually really wild
16:13
seeing you in LA because
16:16
>> [laughter]
16:17
>> Yep. Yep. Yep. You are New York.
16:20
>> New York.
16:20
>> Yes.
16:21
>> You see I got the hair out. I let the
16:22
hair out.
16:23
>> You got the Timbs on the album cover all
16:25
that man.
16:25
>> You have colors on that aren't blue and
16:27
orange. It's very strange but it's
16:29
working for you. [laughter]
16:32
>> But it does make it does make me think
16:34
do you still feel like the city the city
16:37
of New York fuels you creatively
16:40
or do you also sometimes feel like you
16:42
need distance from New York to hear
16:44
yourself more clearly?
16:47
>> That's a great question. I've always
16:48
done some of my best work out here.
16:51
I don't come out here that often but
16:54
I've always done really great work out
16:55
here because of that distance.
16:57
Just reflecting like I feel like
16:59
changing my environment. I'm a really
17:00
habitual person. So when I'm home I just
17:03
fall into these habits and I can see
17:06
things clear sometimes when I leave. But
17:09
I also think New York yeah still
17:11
inspires the hell out of me. So much of
17:13
the album is just I was talking about
17:15
this with somebody about like the New
17:16
York the idea of the New York sound.
17:18
>> Mhm.
17:19
>> And I'm like, you know,
17:22
this album to me sounds like New York.
17:25
Like, the New York sound doesn't have to
17:27
be like the same boom bap from the '90s
17:29
that we all love. It's like, to me, I
17:31
was making this album with New York in
17:33
mind. Like, the live instrumentations,
17:35
the way it feels walking down a street
17:37
that you used to know and it changed and
17:39
then you don't you don't see yourself in
17:41
it anymore. Like, that's how it sounds
17:43
to me. So, like, for me, this album is
17:45
New York as hell, even though every song
17:48
doesn't sound like analog man. You know
17:50
what I mean? It's like, it's it's it
17:52
just sounds and feels like New York. And
17:54
I think like we should push more for
17:55
that expansive definition of like what a
17:57
New York sound is um in terms as long as
18:00
it's really rooted in New York [ __ ] you
18:03
know? So, yeah, it's a great question.
18:05
>> Mhm.
18:06
>> Marlon Craft has has joined us. Big
18:08
round of applause. New album
18:10
is out [applause and cheering] right
18:11
now. The internet killed the
18:12
neighborhood.
18:14
Um [clears throat]
18:15
I want to ask you about
18:17
a couple of things you said. I got some
18:20
lyrics for you, Marlon Craft.
18:22
>> Are you going to try to rap them or read
18:23
them?
18:24
>> What would you like?
18:25
>> Break down them.
18:26
>> Oh, okay. I'm just I'm you know.
18:28
>> Rap them shits.
18:29
>> We got a lyrical breakdown intro? I
18:30
haven't
18:31
I don't need Sway rapping your lyrics.
18:33
>> What you think, Torch? Can we?
18:34
[laughter]
18:36
>> Is it?
18:36
>> All right, cool. All right. And the song
18:38
I'mma start with is Come Back Home.
18:40
>> Mhm.
18:41
>> Um and I'mma let Torch I just want to
18:44
hear that intro. I haven't heard it in a
18:45
>> You haven't heard the intro in a while,
18:46
so you need to
18:47
>> It's such a great intro.
18:47
>> Yeah, but sometimes it make you want to
18:49
rap.
18:50
>> Yeah. [laughter]
18:51
>> I'm just reminding you not
18:52
>> Well, that's how I also kind of gauge an
18:54
album. If it makes me want to rap, I
18:56
know it's a good album.
18:57
>> [laughter]
18:58
>> You bring your pen back out?
19:01
>> We got it, Torch?
19:02
>> You bring that pen back out?
19:04
>> Let's hit it.
19:05
>> I don't get it.
19:06
>> What exactly don't you get?
19:08
>> Breaking down the lyrics you may not
19:10
understand.
19:11
>> What the hell did you just say?
19:12
>> It's the lyrical breakdown.
19:14
>> I can break it down like whatever you
19:16
want.
19:17
>> Unswayed in the morning.
19:19
>> Featuring Marlon Craft.
19:22
>> You have a song on the new album called
19:24
Come Back Home. Is that Is that correct?
19:26
>> Yes, sir.
19:27
>> In it you rap,
19:29
"They going to try to put me in the
19:31
pipeline."
19:32
>> Mhm.
19:32
>> You know where I'm going with this, of
19:34
another star, potential raw. Yeah, and
19:38
then applauds, and then the fall,
19:40
and then the awe, and then the roar.
19:44
>> [sighs]
19:44
>> I I I I I I wanted to hear what did that
19:47
mean? What were you thinking when you
19:48
put those lines together, put those
19:50
words together?
19:51
>> Yeah, and then it is from all the roar
19:54
from all the laughs and all the shame.
19:56
I ain't [ __ ] with it.
19:58
I think like, you know, I just seen it,
20:00
man. First of all, what's crazy is I
20:01
wrote that in 2020.
20:02
>> Okay.
20:03
>> Like we started that song in the first
20:05
week of the pandemic over Zoom. We were
20:07
all on lockdown.
20:08
And um
20:10
I just seen this game, man. I mean,
20:12
there's names that come to mind. I'm
20:14
sure we could all think of them, but
20:16
it's like I I understand the pipeline of
20:18
like
20:19
when they hurry you through this thing
20:21
quickly
20:22
because they, you know, see that you're
20:24
somebody that
20:25
is a viable option to sell products for
20:27
them,
20:28
which is really what it'd be about.
20:31
And you know, they rush you through
20:33
without time to like figure out yourself
20:36
and work on your craft, figure out who
20:38
you are and what you really want out of
20:40
this life thing, this music thing.
20:42
You get there and it's a lot of like
20:44
shine and whatever, but then they just
20:46
as quick
20:47
to to turn on you and turn you into a
20:49
punchline and and and send you packing.
20:52
Now you you you know, so I I just
20:55
I just
20:56
uh kind of uh refute that. Like I just I
20:59
just turned that down. Like that path.
21:01
Like I just
21:03
you know, like I that's not what I
21:04
wanted for myself.
21:06
>> Yeah.
21:06
>> That's not what you wanted for yourself.
21:08
He just described
21:11
>> That's [laughter] the whole game.
21:12
>> You just described a whole game, man.
21:15
I'm sitting here looking at you because
21:17
people could be in this process and
21:19
going through exactly what you're saying
21:21
and it's oblivious to them.
21:23
>> Yeah.
21:24
>> They don't even because you it's just it
21:26
for us it was just so hard to get into
21:28
these positions that you didn't ever
21:30
want to see or believe the worst. So you
21:32
turn you turned your intuition off. Uh
21:34
you going to also say I've been trying
21:36
to find a pace not a schedule, right?
21:39
And that speaks to that, right?
21:41
>> Yep. Yep. Exactly like, you know, just
21:43
trying to find
21:44
that balance, that discipline, but
21:47
without this overwhelm of like it has to
21:50
happen at this time, a rigidity even in
21:53
my day-to-day schedule, you know, trying
21:55
to allow life to happen to me in this
21:57
time where it's like more and more and
21:58
more you got to produce, you got to
22:00
make, you got to do all this stuff. So
22:02
Yeah, man. It it's it's tough. Like I
22:04
think to the to the first point, too,
22:05
it's like we always we like to laugh at
22:08
people when when they're [ __ ] up
22:10
>> Mhm.
22:11
>> on a big stage and we like to put them
22:13
down. We love to tear somebody down.
22:15
Sometimes some people deserve to
22:17
get laughed at or get or get critiqued.
22:19
God forbid we meaningfully critique
22:21
anybody.
22:21
>> Mhm.
22:22
>> But um
22:23
we [laughter]
22:26
But we but we but we got to we got to we
22:29
we we be forgetting who let them in the
22:31
door.
22:32
>> Mhm.
22:32
>> Who let them in the door? Who got them
22:34
there? As a guy as a guy that's had a
22:35
lot of doors closed on him in his day
22:37
and continues to have doors closed on
22:39
him. It's like
22:41
we should we should remember who and why
22:43
did they get through that door to that
22:45
mountain top so fast.
22:46
>> Mhm.
22:47
>> You know what I mean? So
22:48
>> Wow.
22:48
>> I ain't couldn't be me, man.
22:50
>> Couldn't be you. Marlon Craft is here.
22:53
Um
22:54
nihilism Am I saying that right?
22:57
>> Nihilism.
22:58
>> Nihilism. I'm sorry. Nihilism leave you
23:00
broken.
23:01
But the paper's good.
23:02
>> Mhm.
23:03
>> Damn, I'm kind of nice. Like
23:05
>> [laughter]
23:07
>> I was like
23:08
>> I'm clapping for myself. [ __ ] that.
23:10
Y'all don't want to clap, I'mma clap for
23:11
myself.
23:12
>> I was like I was like this [ __ ] heavy
23:15
because [laughter] well, you know, like
23:16
you work on these songs for so long. I
23:18
write them in an inspired place and then
23:20
it's about like working out the music,
23:22
the production, the the mixing like for
23:24
so long and you I become numb to them,
23:26
but I hear you say it it's like I hear
23:27
it for the first time again. I'm like
23:29
>> Cuz you ain't rapping.
23:30
>> Yeah.
23:32
>> [laughter]
23:32
>> Cuz it's cuz you ain't rapping. See how
23:34
your words hit different?
23:35
>> Yeah.
23:36
>> When you read it.
23:37
>> But but but yeah, whatever Heather. I'm
23:38
not even going to
23:39
>> [laughter]
23:39
>> You're trying to patronize me at the
23:41
same time. You boy, you're diabolical.
23:43
>> I am.
23:44
>> Break that down.
23:46
>> Man, so
23:48
I just feel like
23:50
uh we live in kind of a nihilistic time
23:52
where just capital in the pursuit of
23:56
just economic growth, you know, for
23:58
yourself and and for whatever company or
24:01
corporation you represent, just
24:04
is
24:05
everybody's deity. Like that's the dogma
24:08
and like everything else doesn't matter.
24:10
There's no there's no beliefs, there's
24:12
no
24:13
>> purpose
24:14
>> purpose, right? Beyond that and it's
24:16
like and um
24:18
so that that leaves you vapid and empty
24:20
as a person. That's why you have to keep
24:22
chasing when you're like that.
24:24
But like the paper's good and I kind of
24:27
say it in jest meaning like for me,
24:29
right? It's like deal with the struggle
24:31
every day if I'm really trying to stay
24:33
in a purpose. Like I told you before we
24:34
got on, that's why I really admire you.
24:36
Someone that's been in this for such a
24:37
long time and at least from the outside
24:39
looking in, I'm just like you seem
24:41
resolute in your purpose. And um I know
24:44
you know that that gets trying every
24:46
day. Like someone asked me recently,
24:48
name like a time
24:50
where you really had to stand in your
24:52
integrity and and it's like
24:54
it's hard to think of one. It's every
24:56
day I could do [ __ ] that I like
24:58
don't do or every day with that voice in
25:00
my head when I go to make something or I
25:02
go to do business a certain way says to
25:04
me like
25:05
you know, you know, stick with this
25:07
stick with this. And it's like really
25:08
hard like you could It makes me think of
25:11
a Bronx Tale where he's like
25:13
think about getting up driving the bus
25:14
every day. That's what's really hard,
25:17
you know what I'm saying? It's like And
25:18
so it's like holding on to your
25:19
integrity and trying to fight that fight
25:21
every day even if you lose some days,
25:23
but you persist. That [ __ ] is That [ __ ]
25:26
is the battle. That [ __ ] is exhausting.
25:28
So the paper good I'm just cuz some days
25:29
I'll be like, "Damn, man, I wish I had
25:31
less of a moral compass.
25:33
It might
25:34
>> [laughter]
25:34
>> might be
25:35
>> Damn it, if only I could sell out.
25:37
>> You know, it might be
25:39
I'm not wired that way, but it might it
25:41
might be easier, you know what I mean?
25:43
Like cuz I want to I want the same [ __ ]
25:45
too. I want to be on the beach with my
25:46
lady chilling. I want financial security
25:48
like I put everything I had into this
25:50
album like I don't
25:51
>> Like financially.
25:52
>> Yeah, I don't got it right now, man.
25:54
Like And And from when I started the
25:56
album to
25:57
like the the economics of the streaming
25:59
world have even changed since I started,
26:01
but I like How so?
26:03
Like everybody's streams are down, bro.
26:05
Nobody's talking about it, but
26:06
everybody's streams are way down. I
26:08
watch my streams just keep going down,
26:10
down, down partly because I was I was
26:12
taking a break from releasing cuz I was
26:13
like, "I really got to focus on this
26:15
album." But also just like certain
26:17
certain like, you know, [ __ ] in the in
26:20
the mechanics of stuff like it's all
26:22
just a big grift at the end of the day.
26:25
Hey, so it's like there's no real value
26:27
like ascribed. So this [ __ ] goes up and
26:29
down and then like things the technology
26:31
changes whatever, but everybody's [ __ ]
26:32
is down from where it was a couple years
26:34
ago booming.
26:36
You know, especially a lot of indie
26:38
guys. And
26:40
so I had to watch that happen and not
26:42
shift course. Like now I made a
26:43
commitment to myself that this album I
26:45
was going to put everything I had into
26:46
it. And um
26:48
and then just have you know, so we'll
26:50
see. I mean
26:51
I hope it comes back to me but like but
26:53
that's the nihilism part. It already
26:55
came back to me on a spiritual level.
26:56
There you go. So like
26:58
>> That's the biggest statement.
26:59
>> That's the biggest yeah.
27:00
>> That's the biggest statement you're
27:01
going to get out of this game.
27:03
>> But you know
27:05
tell yourself that when you're looking
27:06
at that spreadsheet. You know what I
27:07
mean? That [ __ ] get hard some days. You
27:09
know [laughter] what I mean?
27:10
>> Listen, bro.
27:11
Well, it's a fight in the test. Like you
27:13
said, you may not you don't necessarily
27:15
see it but it's a conscious decision
27:17
like you mentioned about Sway, even the
27:19
purpose for this show. It's on purpose.
27:21
And it it ain't no tricks. It ain't no
27:24
It is intentional and it's on purpose
27:27
and it it is a fight every single day.
27:30
>> Mhm.
27:30
>> And we what what you choose is that
27:32
people see is up to you. You know like
27:34
you said about opening up so much but
27:36
it's a fight every day.
27:37
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
27:38
>> That's true. You're never rolling on
27:40
autopilot. You always have to make a
27:42
conscious decision. When you were
27:43
mentioning it earlier, Marley, you were
27:45
talking about um recognizing that you
27:48
have an insatiable desire to be heard.
27:51
Um at this point though in your career,
27:53
do you feel more driven by expression,
27:57
by just creating the art itself
28:00
or the impact, how it is received by
28:03
your core fan base?
28:06
>> As a Tracy, you're cooking today.
28:09
That's a great question.
28:11
>> [laughter]
28:11
>> Uh
28:14
I don't know. I've been really observant
28:16
lately of my motivation cuz it's
28:18
changing as I get older. You know and as
28:21
I get more like quote-unquote
28:22
accomplished or I just not so like I
28:24
don't I don't really have a desire
28:26
anymore. It's very hard for me to write
28:28
[ __ ] talk raps. Like I don't I don't
28:31
really like you know, they have to be
28:33
rooted in some type of like purpose with
28:35
the [ __ ] talk. You know?
28:38
Um
28:38
I don't really have as much to like
28:41
prove prove prove and there's a higher
28:43
standard for like
28:45
okay, I've I may have said this already.
28:46
Like what am I What do I have to say
28:48
today? You know, I may need to go out
28:50
and live a little bit more to get more
28:52
inspired to to write. And then I see the
28:54
impact and the influence that I've had
28:57
on people cuz now I've been in this long
28:58
enough.
28:59
>> Yeah.
28:59
>> That like there's a lot of offspring.
29:02
>> Mhm.
29:02
>> And uh that is really I don't say that
29:05
that's kind of funny way to put it, but
29:07
I don't mean it belittling way. Like
29:08
>> Nah, all these dudes your sons.
29:10
>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.
29:11
>> [laughter]
29:12
>> I got it.
29:13
>> You a daddy.
29:15
>> And a lot of them And a lot of them
29:16
don't [laughter] realize it. I'm sure
29:18
you relate to that.
29:18
>> Yes.
29:19
>> of them don't realize it either.
29:20
>> gosh.
29:22
>> Yeah.
29:23
Yeah, come on, man.
29:24
>> One daughter, hella sons, Sway.
29:26
>> He don't He don't say it. He don't say
29:28
it though. Again, you know.
29:29
>> And I And And so I I've now I'm in this
29:32
new role where I try to extend myself as
29:34
a mentor or just be there for young
29:36
dudes [ __ ] that I didn't have and be
29:38
like, "Yo, I'm here." You know, if you
29:39
need questions, whatever, or lead by
29:42
example, or whatever. And um you know,
29:45
so I do think a lot about that. Like,
29:48
the impact that
29:50
the things that I'm doing have on the
29:52
actual culture. Cuz we talk culture,
29:54
culture, culture, culture, man.
29:56
[ __ ] is just talking about
29:57
capitalism. They say that word half the
29:59
time now. Culture. Culture is the the
30:02
Samsung event. Like, you know, come on,
30:04
bro. Like, we talking about I'm talking
30:06
about what we leave behind. You start
30:08
thinking about legacy.
30:09
>> Mhm.
30:09
>> And you start thinking about art and
30:11
like the community where I'm from in New
30:12
York. And like when I go, what will they
30:15
say? Like, how did Marlon Craft Marlon
30:17
Craft impact New York City New York hip
30:19
hop, that space? And that lives on in in
30:22
the people that you influenced. So, you
30:24
know, I've been thinking about that a
30:26
lot and that's been that's been heavy on
30:27
my mind. I guess in the lyrical
30:30
substance, but also just more in like
30:32
keeping me
30:34
growing on my purpose. Because I know
30:37
people are watching me. I've already
30:38
seen it. Like, you know, so yeah, yeah.
30:41
>> Marlon Craft, your mic.
30:44
>> Yeah.
30:45
>> you're enjoying this convo, Mike. You
30:46
got to bring him on the Mike Muse Show.
30:48
>> No shade to Samsung, too. I'd love a
30:50
bag. We could do a little
30:52
>> [laughter]
30:52
>> Glad you walked that back.
30:54
>> That was just the first thing that came
30:56
to mind, which means you're a great
30:57
brand. [laughter]
30:59
>> You trying to get on that beat, Samsung?
31:01
>> I actually got love for I actually did
31:02
an event with event with Samsung, and it
31:04
was great. I'm sorry.
31:05
>> Yeah, yeah, yeah. You want us to beep
31:06
that out? No, I'm just
31:08
>> Nihilism. All right.
31:11
>> And Sway, Samsung's an Android, so there
31:13
goes SKT. Kind of tried that, didn't
31:15
they?
31:15
>> No, [laughter] I'm
31:16
I'm a Samsung fan, man. You know, we got
31:18
the new network, me and King Tech.
31:20
>> Yeah, yeah.
31:21
>> The SKT Network. Download it on your
31:23
phone while Mike asks his question.
31:25
>> Is that Is that Samsung?
31:27
>> Samsung.
31:28
>> Okay.
31:28
>> Yeah, you could bleep that.
31:29
>> Okay.
31:30
>> Bleep You could bleep it. The point
31:31
remains, y'all know what I'm trying to
31:32
say.
31:33
>> Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I know what I'm
31:34
trying to say.
31:34
>> help him out. I want to get him a check.
31:36
All right, Mike, what's your question?
31:37
[laughter]
31:38
>> So, I I have a question that's kind of
31:39
tied into where you and Tracy just left
31:41
off. The question I have is I I know we
31:44
just did the lyric and Sway just read it
31:46
out about nihilism. And so, I'm curious,
31:48
are you a nihilist or is that just part
31:51
of the lyric? And if you are a nihilist,
31:53
I find nihilists very fascinating. Like,
31:55
have you found purpose in this album?
31:58
And then, if you have found purpose in
32:00
this album, what is the purpose that you
32:01
have
32:02
uh subscribed to where you are right
32:04
now?
32:06
>> Yeah, no, I'm definitely not a nihilist.
32:07
I mean, like I was saying, I just think
32:09
like I'm really
32:11
uh
32:12
resolute in my beliefs about art. I kind
32:14
of um and just humanity. You know, I'm
32:17
not a religious person,
32:19
um but the older I grow,
32:21
the more um I feel in tune with just
32:26
forces that are just larger than myself.
32:28
Like, you know, just given just trying
32:30
to be a part of something bigger and
32:32
more expansive.
32:34
And um
32:35
I Yeah, so I I I believe in a lot like,
32:38
you know, I believe in art, I believe in
32:40
people ultimately even even when I when
32:44
I always try to retain hope, you know,
32:45
even in the music even when it gets kind
32:47
of bleak. Um, so I I ultimately like
32:51
amidst the kind of like
32:53
neuroticism and depression or whatever,
32:55
I'm I'm a hopeful
32:57
uh guy that that that believes in in in
33:01
the purpose and the to your question
33:03
about the purpose, you know, of the
33:04
album, I just think
33:06
to express for myself
33:09
to hopefully let others feel seen and
33:11
heard by the way I'm able to express
33:13
myself
33:14
to if I can enhance some understanding
33:17
um in somebody else
33:19
an understanding themselves or of
33:21
community or of society a little bit
33:22
better um or if I can just give somebody
33:25
solace and make them feel like they're
33:27
not alone in whatever their perspective
33:29
or feeling might be. Um, then I think
33:32
I've done my job as as an artist. Those
33:35
are the artists that inspired me.
33:36
>> Mhm.
33:37
>> I had a look to puzzled over there. I
33:38
what is going on? That you got the
33:40
puzzled eyebrow thing going.
33:42
>> You know why? Because I always wonder
33:44
how do how do people
33:47
get to a place. You sound spiritual to
33:50
me and maybe I could I'm misreading
33:53
that, but you you're not a religious
33:55
person. What does that mean? Like you
33:57
I'm not a religious person. You didn't
33:58
grow up in the house where you like
34:00
explain that.
34:01
>> I was my mom tried to raise me Catholic
34:03
actually. I was like an altar boy and I
34:05
did uh
34:06
Sunday school. I used to get kicked out
34:08
a lot of Sunday school. I used to be
34:09
arguing I used to be arguing I used to
34:11
be arguing I used to be arguing.
34:13
I used to be arguing.
34:15
>> Catholic. Yeah, I was raised Catholic. I
34:16
get it.
34:16
>> Uh
34:18
Uh you know, man, I I just like I don't
34:21
I don't personally subscribe to to any
34:24
of the organized religions. They just
34:25
don't I but I absolutely the older that
34:30
I get the more I get in tune with just
34:33
my body and just the world and
34:36
and even just like the great scientists
34:38
like
34:39
you know
34:40
left room for the reality like when the
34:43
more expansive you get of an
34:45
understanding of this whole thing you
34:47
just see how small we are. How small
34:50
small small we are but yet how
34:51
interconnected everything is and so um
34:55
yeah I guess I would say I'm I'm I'm
34:57
becoming more of a spiritual person. I I
34:59
feel that spiritual vacancy like in my
35:03
life at different points
35:04
and so I've been trying to get more
35:06
connected with that and just outside of
35:08
my head and into the present moment and
35:10
when I do I think I feel that I'm a part
35:13
you know of more than just myself but
35:15
y'all got me talking real LA out here.
35:16
>> [laughter]
35:20
>> Well it's your music too cuz you got a
35:22
song called um
35:24
is it a if I love myself?
35:26
>> If I love me yeah.
35:27
>> If I love me rather if I love me
35:29
and it's about being it's about people
35:31
not being self well I took it as it's
35:33
about people not being self-aware um at
35:36
time not turning that mirror
35:38
and looking at themselves right and
35:40
really reflecting on themselves and I
35:43
guess then this conversation I was going
35:45
to ask you when the last time you had to
35:47
look in the mirror you know what I mean
35:49
and and almost check yourself and what
35:51
was it about?
35:53
>> Uh man my mom always used to say to me
35:56
you're really hard on everybody but
35:57
you're hardest on yourself.
35:59
>> Okay.
35:59
>> I've always been like that so I'll be
36:01
looking in that mirror a lot.
36:03
>> Okay.
36:04
>> And
36:06
I I
36:09
I just that's why that song was it's
36:12
part of it is kind of like
36:13
if I loved myself you know I wouldn't
36:16
treat myself this way. Like when we look
36:18
on the internet and we look with how we
36:20
behave you know what I'm saying and we
36:23
look at what we put into
36:26
our bodies and our minds Cuz I'm
36:28
scrolling like everybody else, bro. Like
36:30
I'm not like Zen guru craft, you know
36:32
what I'm saying? I'm I'm I'm I'm
36:34
struggling with the [ __ ] too.
36:36
And um you know, a lot of times I'm just
36:38
like, "Why am I not doing the things
36:41
that I know will make me feel better?
36:44
Why am I not doing the things I know I
36:45
resonate with
36:47
on a spiritual level or or on a on a
36:50
personal level? Um and if I love myself,
36:52
I would I would be better to myself. And
36:55
then I kind of like turned it back out
36:56
on society. It's like,
36:58
"If we saw each other as extensions of
37:01
ourselves, we wouldn't treat each other
37:03
the way that we do in this world." You
37:05
know? And so, it's like
37:07
um that inversion, I just don't see it
37:09
happening a lot. So, but I look I look
37:11
in the mirror a lot, man, and I I'm I'm
37:13
pretty I'm pretty hard on myself. I'm
37:15
actually trying to work on that a little
37:16
bit.
37:17
>> Yeah. I get it, man. You're pretty well
37:19
groomed, though. Something you like
37:20
about you.
37:22
>> [laughter]
37:25
>> Well, you said I Well, you said I
37:26
haven't changed or you said I had I
37:28
don't look any different. I was like, "I
37:29
don't know, man. I've been working on
37:30
this beard,
37:31
>> [laughter]
37:31
>> you know?"
37:33
When I first came up there, it was like
37:36
You know what I'm saying? We We're
37:37
getting somewhere with it.
37:39
>> [laughter]
37:39
>> You were just a little You were just a
37:41
little more scrappy.
37:42
>> I was a little scrappy. I put on some I
37:44
put on some I put on some pounds, man.
37:46
You know, I'm not getting up and down
37:47
the court like I used to.
37:49
>> Yeah, you used to wear basketball shorts
37:51
and stuff around. Yeah, man. Marlon
37:53
Craft is here to end the net kill the
37:56
neighborhood citizens. Just from the
37:58
conversation alone.
37:59
>> Yeah.
38:00
>> Um if you haven't heard the project, go
38:02
ahead and dive in. There's no more
38:04
excuses that there's no good music out
38:06
there. You have to search. You have to
38:08
go find that music, man. I appreciate
38:10
you, brother, and I'm super happy for
38:12
you, Marlon Craft.
#Arts & Entertainment