Fast rising star, Magixx is one artist who is difficult to pinpoint. R&B vocals fused to the aura of a rapper, tied neatly with an Afro-fusion ribbon. It is understandable why audiences have quickly become enamoured with the Mavin Records signee. Certainly on his way to cementing his place in the music industry, we caught up with Magixx to discuss his journey thus far and his recent EP, ‘ATOM’.

Before I start my interview, I always like to ask a really random question.

Go for it.

Complete the sentence for me. When I wake up the first thing I do is..

I press my phone.

Okay, quite normal like all of us. Another question, when was the first time you fell in love with music?

So, for me, like falling in love with music has been like a lifelong journey. I’ve always loved doing music. In fact, I wrote my first song when I was 10, 11 and I recorded my first song when I was 13. University was just like, where I started a fanbase. My classmates supporting me, you know, stuff like that. So that’s what university did to my career. I’m grateful for like, you know, the experiences I had in uni, because they like shaped me.

I’m curious to know, what was your experience like in university? Did you ever feel the stress in balancing your studies while still pursuing music?

So for me, like, it has always been so easy. I actually studied law but I opted for mass communications as I know if I did law, it will be so hectic for me so I won’t be able to focus on my music. I never had to struggle to balance school and music. I know how to cram (laughs).

Moving from university to Mavin records, did you always envision them being a part of your music journey?

Actually I always thought I was going to blow by myself. I always had that mentality that people would just know me, like, out of blue. I remember finishing from school in September and that’s like, when everybody’s wrapping up their projects and thinking about their lives after school. And so we were thinking about going to serve. You know, I remember telling myself that, bro, if I jump on that bus, there’s no music for me anymore. Because I have to face reality, hurry, start doing people’s jobs. It was was just reality check them and I actually needed people support. I needed a record label, a team and God did it. God came through for me and it was the right time.

Do you believe in ‘God’s timing’?

Do you know what it is to like to get a record deal, four months after you graduate? So it was the right time. If I was in school, maybe I would have finished it. So I felt like it was the right time and it was was God’s timing [laughs].

There is a variety in your sound, I can’t pinpoint you to an exact genre. Was that intentional?

Being able to do different things very well, thats Magixx. Thats the meaning of the name. I’ve always been in school, I was known as a rapper in school [laughs]. Funny story, right? I was more known as a rapper in school. So coming out from school, people see me like doing more of Afro fusion, Afro R&B. Afro beats. No Rap music at all, people must be looking at me like oh, this guy’s crazy. I started singing more, like in my later years in school, but I started off as a rapper too. So I’ve always been someone that likes doing a lot of sounds, you know. That’s why I don’t like when people say ‘he’s an R&B artist, nah an Afrobeats artists’. I don’t like it. I call my sound Afro-fusion, its a syncing of different sounds, you don’t expect the same thing you heard the last time. Now you always have to expect an element of r&b because I always put that in there. It’s always going to be there but like, don’t always expect the same thing. For me, to always challenge myself to do new things is what really makes me stand out. I think that’s my strength.

Absolutely! You did mention before that you ‘can make commercial music, but you also want to make people move their mind and their body’. Now with your latest EP, do you still have that fear of people putting you in a box of commercial music?

You have to sell record because at the end of the day, I’m under a company, I’m not independent. If I was independent, I probably be doing what I want to do more. You know what, now I have to work with the team. The team has to be like, ‘I feel like, ‘I feel like should do this one EP’. It’s not just me that’s making the decisions. So maybe if I was alone, making all the decisions, I think maybe people will see my own filtered vision. Now I’m in record label where I also have to make decisions with people and also based off like, you know, what we think is best not just for me, but also for business.

I’m getting a sense of compromise.

Yeah, like I gotta do something for the business. Maybe if I start to do three R&B songs, maybe one Trap song in there. Maybe one Afrobeats song in there. I could choose to like, do all Trap songs, if they allow me to do it. I could choose to do all r&b music if if I’m allowed to do that. It’s logical, if you think about it, if you look at it very well, like this. My last EP, we really wanted to do the commercial thing like just wanted to go straight commercial. ‘All over’ and ‘Forever’ are only like R&B songs. That speaks to my first EP because my first EP was an R&B EP. There was only one, Trap song on my first EP and that was ‘Party’.

Let’s actually get into the EP for a minute. I was listening to the Magixx project just yesterday. In terms of like the creative journey, what differs from that project to this one?

So, okay, I was making music for myself more than I was [pause] I didn’t used to have fans. I never used to look at what a fan would think, I never tried to look at the fans perspective. Now I have fans and sometimes you have to put your fast perspective into making your music. So I think I’ve grown. I know what it means to make it hit record. I know how much work you have to put into making people accept a song. Even if it’s dope, you have to also do extra extra work. I think that there was a large difference between making this EP, and the last EP. This one I made a mix of the songs, in fact some were from 2020. ‘Shaye’ and ‘All Over’ were made this year and ‘Weekenjoyment’ and ‘Forever’, I recorded them in 2020.

I know you mentioned the crafting hits for the fans but still are you happy with the songs for yourself as well?

This is how it works, if I’m not happy with the project, it’s not coming out. So I have to be sure that the song that I want is on the project. I actually have the power to choose 70% of the project. Sometimes I can allow the team to take like 50% and I’ll take 50%. You understand? So yeah, so that’s it.

I remember on the song called ‘Gratitude’, you mentioned somewhere about the process of the song being like mathematics. Explain the creative process.

Sometimes it just come you know, and sometimes it could take time. So you don’t have to beat yourself over it, thats how God works. Creating ‘All over’ I remember I wasn’t liking the song all I was the only song. It was the only song that I didn’t like on the project [laughs] funny story. So yeah, I felt like I didn’t do enough on it but it came out to be to be the biggest song of the project right now. That doesn’t mean another song will not beat it in the future but like, for now. I made ‘Weekenjoyment’ in like, two, three days but I wrote the first verse, in like an hour. It took me another 24 hours to come up with a second verse that matches the energy of the first verse. Do you understand? So process process is not something that you have control over sometimes.

You are a perfectionist.

Yeah I think that’s the kind of person I am. I think if I don’t do that, I won’t be satisfied. I think that’s what happened ‘All Over’. Because when I recorded it, I listened to the song just once, and I didn’t play it again [laughs]. So when we’re selecting songs, and they said this one is mad, I say eh?

What is the one track on EP that you can say yourself personally, you will listen to forever?

So I think ‘Weekenjoyment’ is one of those songs. I really love that song. I wrote that song in my house, I think it was on Saturday. Shaye as well, I was even more excited for it than like the other songs.

It’s funny because ‘All Over’ is actually my favourite, so to hear that you didn’t like it as much is surprising. How have you been adapting to the fame? As that can be quite a sudden switch.

So many don’t even know that so much work goes into that every day. There’s so much, but I think I’m doing fine. Most importantly, I feel like the game is set up in a way, you just have to protect your energy. In everything you do, like the fame is overwhelming just protect your energy at all costs.

Protect your energy is a mantra for life!

Everything in life, we find like 60 years old people being so lively. You see, like 30 years old people almost giving up and shit like that. So just stay guided and stay protecting your mind because that’s the only way to work.

With the knowledge you have now, what advice would you give to yourself back in university?

Really, to be honest I don’t know [laughs]. Swear I don’t know because I feel like I did everything right. Like God really just just helped me through the journey. I made the right mistakes because you can make the wrong mistakes [laughs].

What do you want fans to feel when listening to the music?

I want them to feel the happiness I feel. I think that’s what converted into the EP. I just wanted to put out positive energy and I also wanted to progress in terms of how I delivered my last EP and what it is now. For my last EP I only shot one video, from this one I’m shooting two.

You mentioned before your interest in fashion and even owning your own media house one day.

Yeah, I do.

Next year, will we see you venture into that more?

Maybe, not now maybe like in the future but when I’m much more less busy in my music. I just want to explore that side in my journey. I might not be like a supervisor day to day but I just want to own a media house. Probably do music as well [laughs]. I’m very much like the entertainment person. I’m trying to grow my brand, my visuals and solidify my image. All of these are long term goals.

You are already picking up on the fashion aspect.

I did my last show like a month ago. Yeah I remember that we were discussing merchandise you know but there was not much time to do so. Yeah that was the closest we got to doing it but definitely sometime maybe even later on this year. I’m looking to do like fashion shows, have runways for like respectable brands. Supporting African brands as well because I feel like we all need to win. Its already here for Afrobeats, I think it will be here the other things we do.