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1) Tell us a little about yourself and your background.

Well my name is Calvin Maldonado I got by the name of MALCALVIN. I was raised in one of the top fives worst cities in the US. Stockton CA, Growing up I was surrounded by drugs and gangs. But luckily music helped me stay away from it.

2) Who were some of your musical influences coming up?

As I grew up what kept me from falling apart was listening to Eminem, Andre 3k and 50 Cent.

3) How would you describe yourself as an artist? Has your style changed much over the years?

As an artist I can say I have a lot of drive and passion to succeed. I use to take beats from youtube because I wasn’t capable of producing them. As the time went by I got tired of not having full ownership of my music and worked day and night to learn how to produce my own beats.

I also learned how to engineer my own vocals and write my own lyrics. I build all my music on my own now and that is something I am proud of.

4) What’s your process like for making music? Do you have a set routine or does it vary track by track?

When it comes down to making music or starting a project. I like to keep a story line going something people could relate to. When it comes to singles I like to have fun and make sure I provide a lot energy so the listeners could vibe with me the whole way.

5) Can you run me through the making of your latest project – Before Anything EP? Where were the studio vibes like?

Before Anything EP was started when I moved out on my own. It was originally suppose to be produced by Alex Adelantado and 8 tracks. but things didn’t go as planed. So I produced it and engineered it myself. Alex made the art work come alive.

Through the process of making the EP and recording it I lost a two childhood friends to gang violence. It brought me so low I thought of quitting. But the beats I was making made me keep going and I know my friends wouldn’t want to me to quit.

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6) What sort of independent hip-hop promotion and marketing are you doing to differentiate yourself from other artists?

As of right now I don’t have a different way of promoting besides social media and the streets. I play a couple songs for people and email pages like HNHH, Teambackpack, etc., and hope they at least listen to the song or project.

7) What are you thoughts on the current state of hip-hop music today?

I think hip hop now a days is all about how much money you have. It seems like people are really enjoying this new flashy movement. I miss the days when hip hop use to be about the struggle. Now a days I can’t relate to most of the music.

8) What music are you listening to these days? Anyone in hip-hop really blowing your mind?

J. Cole is really inspiring he is the only artist I could search and listen to his entire album without skipping a single track. 2014 Forrest Hills Drive production was over the roof to me.

9) If you could work with any artist you wanted, what would be your dream collaboration?

My dream collabrations would be every artist signed to Funk Volume. If it could be one it would defiantly be Hopsin.

10) What has been the best moment in your music career so far?

My best moment in music so far was being able to perform at one of my friends album release party. It was live and the people vibed with me the whole way through. It was a blessing to watch people move to my music.

11) So what’s next for you?

What’s next for me is my mixtape. I am currently working on producing the beats The tittle is still TBD but my purpose on it is to tell people about an addiction problem I’ve been having and how I am working my hardest to get rid of it.

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Written by Stop The Breaks
Stop The Breaks is an independent music marketing company focused on showcasing independent hip-hop artists. Our goal is to help motivate, inspire and educate independent artists grinding around the world. We provide branding, content marketing, social media, SEO and music promotion services.