Hailing from Milton Keynes, Lil Macks quickly garnered attention for his unique approach to storytelling and his ability to seamlessly fuse various musical genres. From the outset, Lil Macks demonstrated an innate ability to connect with listeners on a deeper level.

As Macks continues to refine his sound and hone his craft, his dedication has allowed him to yield remarkable achievements. His ability to use melodies and create music that highlights his authenticity has not only resonated with his fans, but has also earned him success in the charts.

His most notable single ‘Oslo’, recognised by UK heavyweights such as Santan Dave, peaked at number 66 in the charts. An impressive feat for an independent artist who has had to overcome multiple challenges throughout his musical journey.

While acclaim from your colleagues in the industry is always a nice feeling, familiar names in the footballing realm have also hinted at being Lil Macks fans - with the likes of Cesc Fabregras, Edouard Mendy, and Max Aarons all using his songs across their social media platforms.

Recent releases such as ‘It’s Up’ and ‘Mob Ties’ have been well received as he gears up towards dropping his third mixtape, hopefully without having to combat any leaks this time round

When did you realise your musical gift? Was there a specific moment you realised you could actually sing?

I don't know, I can't lie from a young age. I always used to sing these random songs, back when Fetty Wap was popping, so I always knew I could sing, you feel me? But it's about when I realised I could put it together for my own songs, I'd say probably like year 10 or 11 maybe. I was going to the studio with the mandem and everyone's laying down a little something, but nine times out of 10 what I'm laying down was something you would probably hear on an actual song on GRM Daily them times, so it's like yo, this is sounding better than what I hear so I might as well just drop it myself init.

How did it feel to sell out your first London Headline show? What was that experience like?

It's like the first time you see it in front of your eyes, as my brother loves saying ‘this shit ain't a dream it's reality my bro, you can actually go and get it’. When it's right there in front of your eyes… you can't deny nothing, you can't say shit ain't popping. There's people screaming from the top of their lungs my bro, screaming my name, so you realise it's real my bro - and to have my fucking blood cousin come out with me and shut it down with me, made it even that much better. Shout out Malzo for real man.

As an artist spending hours in the studio, how difficult is it when you see your music getting leaked?

I don't trip about that a lot, I don't trip about it as much as I should. I remember now the first time, astaghfirullah, I was actually annoyed when ‘Leaked’ came about. My songs got leaked, I was thinking fuck this and I was bugging, I remember talking to my brother saying fuck this shit blah blah blah. He's like to me ‘why you buggin bro? You've done this in the space of 20 minutes you could just do it again’. Then I remember I said you know what? It's leaked, I'd rather profit off it myself, than someone else just leaking and giving it to niggas for like a tenner or something. So I said you know what, let me just release ‘Leaked’ one and that's how the tape came about.

What's the most significant lesson you've learned about the music industry throughout your career?

The most important thing I've learned is never forget your upcoming. No matter where you get, no matter how much money you come across, never ever forget your upcoming. Whether you haven't made it, whether you've got a million in your bank account, if you're not in the status where you've actually made it my bro, you ain't made it. Because at the end of the day what's a million bro? A lot of people are close to touching a million, and they're still upcoming, they'll look at you and say I ain't done nothing yet. You always gotta kickback and still keep the same grind as when you started you feel me?

I saw your insta story from the other day about getting love from a fan in Taiwan, where’s the craziest or least expected place someone’s shown support from?

That's a good question, there've been a couple booky countries, booky countries. There was one girl from, I don't know if it was the Philippines, somewhere near there bro, it's like a place where they got bare hills. I forgot what the place is called, but probably there, I think Nepal! A lady from Nepal stopped me one day, she said 'I'm from Nepal' I don't even want to imitate the accent but it's like she stopped me, I'm from Nepal, I love your music so much. I was just taken aback but yeah, that was probably one of the maddest ones.

How much would you say your environment and surroundings impact your creative process?

I feel like it's the biggest thing, in a good way and a bad way. The good way is you realise you don’t want to be around negativity and weird shit - you know how it is in different areas, sometimes it clogs up your mind. That’s also the bad part, you can get too carried away into that shit, you let people feed off your energy, you just have to take a step back and realise you’re in a different lane.

What would you say is the most difficult part of actually making music?

The creative side, I've never really found it hard. I never really found making music hard, you feel me, if I did why would I even be doing it kinda thing? That's always been the easiest part for me, actually making a song, but it's now about when I start stacking up songs. For me, there'll be songs that I've made so easily in the space of 20 minutes, to someone else like one of the mandem, they'll just be headbuss thinking what the fuck is this? And now there's five different songs that's making this guy do that. So now you've got to think which one shall I release? Choosing which songs to release then becomes a problem, you just stack up too much and keep holding them till you're left with a whole pile and the first thing that comes to my head is a mixtape. It's not a bad problem to have, a lot of niggas wish they had that problem, but when you're in that problem...

Was there a specific moment where you realised yeah this is me, I’m actually a music artist now?

When I got signed probably, before that it felt like it was just some street shit, everyone's popping, our names are ringing bells everywhere. Then when I got signed shit started feeling a bit different, everything's more formal, business and that. I had to make a company just to get signed to init because of all of this, you know how it goes. So that's when it started feeling like an actual business and I realised, yo this shits serious, they put a lot of thought and a lot of money into artists.

You made it onto the charts with Oslo, followed it up with Barbados, where are you taking us next?

Ooof, where are we going next? You know what, you have to go through with life you can't just say I'm going here init. I might just go to the studio and a country will pop into my head. It could be Somalia my bro I don't know, it could be wherever, depending on how I'm feeling, depends where life takes me init.

When making a song how hard is it to balance being authentic, pleasing your fans, experimenting with new sounds, and also being commercial enough to chart.

Radio never comes to my head man, I've never made music like that, and I never will. Number one, before you answer that question, you've got to understand your fans. What would they listen to and think, Is this guy taking the piss now? He's just trying some next shit. What would they listen to and say, I like this new sound? Because you've got to remember, I never made a song like Oslo before I released it. There's no song with that kind of tempo and vibe. That was something different, and they took to it - more than took to it. It covered all aspects of radio, charting, fans liking it, and a new sound, everything you just said. You've got to know how to do it and how to come across with it.