A Conversation with M.A.K of F.E.S.
Recently I had the privilege of sitting down with an old friend and Colorado grown rapper to talk about his blossoming music career, and the life of a working man with a passion. His name is Mitch, but is known in the studio as M.A.K. He was recently involved in an Cloutstronaut-produced album as a single artist, as well as part of the rap duo F.E.S.
As I see Mitch for the first time in a few weeks, he greets me in his daylight attire — a button down, slacks, as well as loafers. No one would guess at a first glance that his after 5 o’clock passion is one of a rapper. As we walk to his newly acquired apartment, I’m reminded of the utter humor and inspiration he always has to share with company. He tells me of the typical trials and tribulations of the working man, his family, and how this all ties in to his moonlight rap career.
He reminds me that no prize is unearned, and there is true passion when it comes to art. I hope you enjoy the insights he has on his craft, the inside information on his most recent project, and the development of his songs.
Daily Puulse: So Mitch, where are you originally from?
M.A.K.: Colorado. I was born in Aurora I grew up around that area. I’ve lived in Colorado basically my whole life. Born and raised, this is home.
Daily Puulse: Are there any important parts of your history that you would like your fans to know about you?
M.A.K.: Being part of this group Foreign Exchange Students (F.E.S.) — there’s a reason. My mom’s from Belarus and my dad’s from Iran. So I have a really interesting background. I have two cultures that I grew up with. And since my parents were divorced, I got a big taste of both. That’s been a huge part of me growing up. I had this culture behind me throughout my life and then I was also born in the United States, so I had that American aspect plus the Russian and then the Persian side of me. Those are all huge parts of who I am.
And then, I’ve always been really, like, or at least try to be strict with my education. That was a huge part of my life growing up, and then soccer as well. I played soccer since I was two years old. So, from two to 18, I was playing like every day. So, those are like the three things that really embody who I am plus music, obviously.
I started listening to rap when I was seven. The first song I ever listened to was “Ass Like That” by Eminem. And as a seven year old you’re like “what is this?” You don’t understand a word that’s going on because you don’t know what an ass is, but I thought it sounded good and it was funny so I was like, alright. From then I listened to everything that Eminem put out after. Then I listened to Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, Biggie, and then I was like “I really like hip hop.” Granted, I still had no idea what they were saying I just thought it sounded really cool and then by the time I got to middle school, I was like, “Oh, this is what they’re saying. Cool.” Now it’s even better because now I understand there’s a rhyme pattern behind it, there’s this and that. So, yeah, music has always been a huge part of my life.
Daily Puulse: Can you tell us about your F.E.S. counterpart Seher Ahmed since he’s not here with us today?
M.A.K.: Before I was super close with him we played basketball together when we were little. And then he transferred to Smoky Hill, my high school my sophomore year. We just became best friends. And then, I learned that he rapped. I was rapping for fun and I used to book studio time at a library. One day I was going and invited him to come with me. We went and we recorded a bunch of freestyles — we had so much fun. That day is where we were like we need to think of a duo name for us. And we were huge fans of That 70’s Show. So we were like “Fes! Because he’s the foreign exchange student.” Seher is Indian, his parents are from India, and on me with my background, we’re both foreign kids in the US. This is crazy, this is perfect. So, that’s where F.E.S. was born — sophomore year of high school in 2012.
Daily Puulse: Where do you draw inspiration for your music?
M.A.K.: I try to adapt and try different flows and different types of rap. Sometimes, you can group rap as just rap. There are people who just spit and just say words together and it sounds really good, but I analyze hip hop. I look into lyrics, I look into flows. It’s like a math equation for me. For example, if you look at rappers from the UK they do something completely different. So, one song that Seher and I have been working on is like a UK rap song with a similar flow to that. And that was fun to record because I never recorded anything like it, but it sounds dope. And then on the project like King Clout and Friends my go to style is boom bap lyricism type stuff, old school hip hop kind of flows. So, that’s where I get most of my inspiration. Like Biggie, NAS, Eminem, Tupac, Jay Z, Lil Wayne. And so, it’s those guys who I get the most inspiration from, but then there’s these modern day rappers like Denzel Curry, XXX, and Juice WRLD, and people like that who are doing some other unique type music. So there’s always an influx of inspiration, it’s nonstop.
Daily Puulse: So you and Seher were just featured on the album King Clout and Friends. What was that experience like in general?
M.A.K.: It felt like a family reunion, because I didn’t see those guys for a while because of school. So, once I finished my classes I was like, I’m free — let’s do this project. It was cool going to the studio with those guys because we’re dumb asses, we’re idiots. When we get together it makes a whole lot of mess, and in the studio we just like have fun, you know, and it just felt like I was with my brothers again. It was really refreshing. That was the main part of it, it was just so nice to see those boys again. I want to spend more time with them.
Daily Puulse: The track that you had your feature on King Clout and Friends is “The Butcher.” Can you tell me about the development of that track?
M.A.K.: I was feeling really passionate about what’s going on with Black Lives Matter, Donald Trump, and Coronavirus. That was all that was in my brain so I took a walk. Then I wrote it in 30 minutes, because I was just taking a walk listening to the beat on loop, just typing on my phone. There are times when I write, it’s either I need four days to finish a song because I can’t like get it together, or it clicks and I need 30 minutes. So that day, it just clicked.
Daily Puulse: Is there a particular track that you’ve made or collaborated on that you would like your fan base to listen to the most?
M.A.K.: I want everybody to go listen to King Clout and Friends. I’m so proud of Austin (Cloutstronaut) and Seher, and everybody else who worked on it. Shout out to Nick and Taylor — that project is awesome. Also, the more you listen to it, the more we can make more music. The amount that Spotify and Apple Music pays per stream is not a lot. I did the calculations and we have 500 total streams on Spotify with that project. That’s $3. I imagine 500 separate people in room. People should listen to it. Not just for the monetary part, but because I feel like people will enjoy that, the whole entire project.
Daily Puulse: Is there anything else that you would like to say to your fans?
M.A.K.: Thank you for supporting me. It’s crazy that a guy like me can have support. You know — people are willingly listening to my music, which is nuts. I love art, and the fact that people are listening and appreciating mine just makes me so happy. Thank you for the support of F.E.S. and Clout, and everybody else. Those boys deserve it. Without them I don’t know if I’d still be doing music, so they deserve way more recognition than they get now. The fact that this project, which has 500 plays in a week, means that the sky’s the limit — we can do a lot.
To listen to the new project King Clout and Friends, featuring M.A.K., F.E.S., and many more, click the link here.
Featured Artists: M.A.K, F.E.S, Seher Ahmed, Cloutstronaut