Maleek Rae

Innovator and multi-talented artist Maleek Rae shares a breath of fresh air and inspiration with Amani Kojo. Connecting their past and artistic expression displaying that the spirit is multifaceted.

A.K: what’s your name and what’s your artist’s name? What does your artist name mean to you?

M: My name is Malik, and my artist name is Maleek Rae, which means I’m choosing my path, making my own rules, and aligning with my lineage/ancestry.

A.K: Where are you from?

M: The Eastside of Detroit, Michigan.

A.K: Do you feel like your upbringing plays into your artistry?

M: My middle name is Rae’kwon, but my grandma always called me Rae my whole life. So, I recently went through a name change this past year. I wanted to start going by what aligned with where I’m from and the people who raised me. You know, I say, ‘I bring everybody that has ever loved me with me on stage, into every song I make, everything I do... they’re right there with me.’ That’s just my fow, that’s my greatness, that’s my soul, that’s my love and my endurance.

A.K: when did you start making music?

M: College is when I started freestyling and listening back to the freestyles. But it really was during 2020 when I was working on a project as a screenwriter/ playwright. I was writing raps for a character, and it was really dope because, in some of the raps, I would be going off, but I didn’t want people to hear me pop it like that. But for the character, it was perfect. Fast forward to 2022, I started working on my project entitled Guttah and doing acting gigs. Around that time, I was in a very ref ective stage in my life, and whenever I was getting ready to write, my preface would be leaning towards current circumstances and family. It made me think about where I was on that day. So I started working on this show, and it just spilled out as music. One of the frst songs I wrote was a remix of Biggie’s ‘Dead Wrong.’ I caught the fow and was like, ‘Whoa!’ So I just kept writing music. I would say of f cially, since August 2022.

A.K: Prior to making music, what were you doing?

M: I was acting, but I started to get into writing in 2019 and 2020. I was really getting into poetry and writing, exploring myself outside of acting. When the pandemic happened, during the shutdown, I tried to keep going with my artistry. There was just so much going on in life, and I thought, ‘Things are shut down for one moment.’ My mind drifted to the idea of quitting acting, and I told my best friend, ‘I don’t want to act anymore; I’m going to be a writer.’ But then, God landed me my frst recurring role on a TV show. There were just so many moving pieces. I had moved back to

Detroit during 2020, and then that gig brought me back to New York in 2021. I didn’t even know I was going to be moving back to New York. So, from 2021 to 2022, my life was flled with straight-up acting.

A.K: Seeing that you’re an actor that was emerging into music how was fnding the balance?

M: Working as an actor... someone did an interview recently, and she said that fghting for equal pay and fghting for what she’s worth has taken the joy out of acting for her. I’m still very joyful, you know, and I’ve been in this thing for a little bit, but still, you know, still fresh and green in some areas. But sometimes, the nature of how people deal with actors and the expectations for an actor feel limited. I wanted to feel boundless, and I didn’t always like working as an actor. It feels like people want a puppet, and I’m nobody’s puppet. Music, for me, felt like a way to really have a voice. It’s not somebody giving me a script; it’s not somebody telling me what I’m gonna say or how I’m gonna do it. I feel like it was the frst thing creatively that gave me full autonomy over my body, my voice, my mind, my life’s experiences. I needed it. I was depressed. I started to get depressed. And rap/music literally got me out of it.

A.K: what gives you the confdence to continue putting even if it’s not guaranteed that the audience will be there ?

M: I think the thing is that I am okay with being on the journey. I don’t make things so they can be popular, so I can ‘become famous and everybody knows me and is listening to this.’ This is a divine mission, divine calling type of stuff. And I know that since I write from such an authentic place, that it is so real. And a lot of times, it exposes me in a way that sometimes I listen to my own stuff and think, ‘Hey, no, I’m like, nobody hears this shit.’

Every song teaches me something about myself. Every song calls for me to go to a new level. Every song helps me grow in some way. So it’s not about who all is gonna hear it, if it’s gonna pop off, or if it’s gonna be a hit. It’s about being for me. Right now, it’s about being on this journey of growth. Damn, that song helped me get to a new level within my artistry. It taught me something new. I might never release that song, but it taught me how to do some different things on the engineering side, or it taught me a new vocal placement, or it made me write about a subject matter I’d never written about before.

So, if it’s between people judging me and me learning new parts of myself, I’ll choose the latter. Even last night, I wanted to record a freestyle because I literally wanted to put out some light. I just wanted to put out an af frmation. And I felt like it was one of the frst things I put out without overthinking it. I’m just seeing the power of creating the offering, releasing it, letting it be, and letting it do what it needs to do. It’s a little track called King Dreams.

You know, you get to a point where it becomes a requirement, something that is just a gift that you have. It’s a blessing to come onto a gift. There are all those technicalities, but I feel like my gift is something I want to honor over time.

A.K: So would you say that your motivation is offering people your gift or? What is your motivation?

M: To give the gift of me to myself. Like, I was in the car the other day bopping to my music. I don’t care if other people like it, but the truth is, if I can’t rock to it, nobody else will.

A.K: what is your opinion on the Alter Ego? And used to get you through moments of doubt. Even though it can be fragile and not as solid

M: I mean, you know I didn’t start acting until I was 16 years old. I never thought I would be an artist; I wanted to go to medical school.

But I am an only child, and it’s a lot to handle as a kid. No matter what I was going through, you know, going to school, it was like this: I’m like, okay, I’m here, and you know, school is tough. Especially being a kid, being in middle school, you know, being a kid is tough. I’m not gonna say I learned how to put on a face, but I defnitely learned how to access parts of me that helped me survive.

You know, even in moments where I didn’t feel like I could thrive, I would say, ‘Okay, these things are going to help me survive, and these things are gonna help me be respected.’ So, you know, now, being an actor, it’s the same way. You get on stage, and I’m not gonna say you bear your heart, but you bear your offering. I’ve done what I’ve been called to do. So, you’re talking about the ego. My artist name is Maleek Rae, but my birth name is Malik Reed. So I’m very aware that when I’m in my work, I’m always receiving, I’m always channeling, and things are always coming. There are parts of me that are completely different. But also, I don’t feel like just because I’m an artist, I have to give everyone all of me. I’m not on an auction block, you know? I’m not performing or sharing myself in order to be purchased. I want people to look at me and see that I’m a human.

A.K: How do you feel like artists need to take care of themselves?

M: I’m ghetto. I’m ratchet. I’m queer. I’m Black. I’m big. I’m from Detroit. I love it, but don’t fuck with me. I know who I am, so I don’t ever gotta spin the block to remind myself. I don’t need to put on a mask. These people are coming to try to put the mask on me. So, when it comes to self-care, I just feel like it’s able to come through authentically.

But I think it’s hard to get down to what your needs are when you don’t operate from your authentic self. I have been on my journey as an artist, you know? In acting school, it’s a lot about acting, but I want my life to be mine. I don’t want navigating this world to feel like a scene. I don’t want to be in conversations with people and have them feel like I’m breaking down a scene. No. I enjoy letting things be what they are.

I’m the type of person where we go see a show, and you ask me what I thought. And I’ll be like ,” Yeah, It was cool; I want some wings now.” You know, I am always an artist. Things are always coming to me, and God is always using me, but I’m also open to being used in different ways. I don’t feel like things have to always be active. I trust that if I set something down and rest on it, I’ll come back to it, and God is gonna bless me with something even doper than what I sat down with or something different.

For me, that is self-care because sometimes I have to die to my ego in order to await my purpose. It’s like that Instagram post that’s going around when everybody is saying, “I’m the bad guy, I’m the villain,” and sometimes it’s like, no, you’re not. You’re just learning how to prioritize yourself, and you’re not catching yourself on fre to keep other people’s wants in order.

It may feel like you’re the villain in that moment, but you’re not.

Sometimes we have egos that tell us, “I’m only worthy when people see me as worthy.” Sometimes you gotta say, “I can go and be everything that people told me I could never be,” and that’s my alter ego.

I feel like that’s a lot of what rap offers me because I’m a 6 foot 3 black person. But at the heart of me, I’m a genderqueer baby. I’m a prince. I’m a princess. I’d be the king, the queen, and everything in between. I know who I am, but I’m also very conscious of how the world sees me. Sometimes, because of my size alone. I’m grounded in who I am. People see me as responsible. People see me as a leader. People see me as this, and I will step up and do those things.

But sometimes, when it comes to self-care and what I need, I have to go against the grain. Other people aren’t gonna allow me to be reckless. Sometimes, I gotta go off and fnd my own way.

A.K:. Then, go through the history book. What do you want people to walk away with? What do you want them to take away?

M:I want people to take away that we’re stronger in numbers and that there’s power in the collective. There is power in the community. There is love in the community, and love is the strongest superpower we can ever possess. I’m so grateful for what I’m able to do, but it would not be the same without the people who love me. Ghetto Alchemy would not be the same if it wasn’t for Mars, 88X, Hillary Jones, Alicia Pilgrim, Camille Upshaw, and my niece Tink. I feel the community, and I feel like communities teach us so much. It’s so easy to get caught up in the individual. Those things are valid, but I think when people look back and consume my art, I want them to feel the power that is in the collective. Especially because it’s so easy to run away from the collective. It’s so easy to run away from love. Maybe that’s just being an only child, but I most defnitely want people to know that it’s okay to be loved, it’s okay to let people love you, and there are all kinds of other people. We weren’t placed here to be alone. Even the greatest artists we look up to are inspired by the people around them.

I write all of my own music. Every single lyric is from my mind, but I’m so inspired by what and who I am around. The love I am around, sometimes the chaos I am around, sometimes the bullshit I am around—all of it feeds into what I create. I don’t think I could bring forth what I’m called to bring into this world if I was just sitting in a white room by myself. After a while, it would be like, okay, what’s next?