5 & Done: Mally Stakz

(AllHipHop Features) Jamal “Mally Stakz” Wright is a 90’s baby through-and-through. The 22-year-old performer was raised on the sounds of his mother’s favorite acts from the era. Boyz II Men, New Edition, Donell Jones, and Musiq Soulchild were in heavy rotation in his household as well as hometown Hip Hop representatives like Busta Rhymes and Jay Z.

That musical foundation has led Mally to adopt an eclectic sound palette for his own brand of music. The Bronx born artist’s catalogue is a mix of R&B and rap tunes that he hopes will separate him from the pack of other rising performers.

Having already worked with Olivia, Fred The Godson, Emilio Rojas, and B.o.B, Mally is now connected with producers The Heatmakerz (Dipset, Lil Wayne). The squad is currently in the studio assisting Joell Ortiz on his upcoming House Slippers album, and Mally is scheduled to appear on two tracks off the project. He recently dropped his 7th solo mixtape Mallachi as well.

With collaborations on a Slaughterhouse member’s album, a relationship with one of Hip Hop’s premier production teams, his own clothing line, and the new single “Lil Boy” making its rounds on the net, Mally Stakz is on a serious grind to earn his way to the top.

Get more familiar with Mally Stakz in AllHipHop.com’s “5 & Done” series.

On your Mallachi mixtape there’s a track called “Rotten Apple” where you rap, “I can’t sign to no label cause they try to keep me the same.” Would you ever consider signing with a major or would you prefer to stay independent?

It depends on what they have to offer. I’m not really in a rush. I’m trying to build a brand. I’m trying to sell a whole lifestyle. I’m coming from New York City – the bottom. It’s so hard to make it out of here. It’s harder than everywhere [else]. They just think that doing music is hard, but it does depend on where you’re from. A lot of people have to leave New York to get big. And it’s all independent. It’s not a major push behind me or anything. I’ve just been grinding from the bottom. Started with hand-to-hand.

I saw you say on Twitter you just dropped your mixtape. You didn’t promote it?

I didn’t even promote it. I believe if you just work hard, it’s going to promote itself. I could promote it, put it out, and get a 1000 [downloads] in one day or I could just drop it and get 500. It’s like a surprise to see how many people really tune in when you drop something. When you promote something of course people look out for it, but when you just drop something – and it goes crazy – that’s when you see where you really stand.

If I were introducing you to a music listener who was not familiar with you, what would be 4 or 5 tracks that you would say, “these are the ones you need to listen to in order to get a better understanding of who I am as an artist”?

I got a song – it’s not on any mixtapes – called “All That Matters.” That’s one. You should probably check another cover I did called “Body Party.” It’s a Ciara song, but I did it over. I just like to choose certain songs that I know a person from where I’m from wouldn’t do or know.

It’s so hard to choose five, because I have like over five hundred. It’s hard to narrow it down, but I got music for all demographics, all races, ages, states, and countries. Everybody can relate to it. It’s so diverse. You’re going to find something that you’re not going to be able to stop listening to on repeat. Pain, happy, pleasure – it doesn’t matter. I got everything.

You also have a clothing line? If you could see any three celebrities wearing your gear, who would you pick?

Yes, I do. YND (Young N Dedicated, Young N Doin’it). We offer all type of products, all seasons. Summer we have the tanks. Winter we have the hoodies. Shorts, skullies, snapbacks. That’s just something I started for me and my team, because you have to a uniform if you’re a team. It just started going crazy. Next thing I know I’m sending out shirts to Canada, Germany, Spain, everywhere. This is all just off my Facebook and Instagram. No website or anything yet.

Out of three celebrities, who would I choose? One of them would definitely be Rihanna. I just feel like everybody looks at anything she does. Another would have to be Beyonce. I would love to see her wearing my stuff. The third would be President Obama. It just looks like it belongs on him.

Where would you like to see yourself in 5 years?

On top. I’m not going to stop what I’m doing. I’m not going to stop. If working hard and being around the right people gets you motivated and gets you to the top, then that’s basically where I’m headed. I’m just building a real fan base. I don’t want just an audience. A lot of the new kids come out, and they just have an audience.

I don’t want an audience. I want people to specifically ride for my music, my cause, and my movement. I don’t want people to bandwagon or follow because everyone is saying this is hot. So once you build that, you can’t come down from that, because it’s a strong foundation. Not the whole world is going to like you, but as long as you got your people for you, then you should be good.