Malkovich: Malkovich Malkovich, Malkovich

Posted by Justin Boland on Jan 11, 2011 | 0 Comments

The weirdest shit has been happening to me lately: I get random self-promotion emails from rappers who are actually really damn good. After two years operating with a 99% bullshit level, all of a sudden I got about a dozen genuinely talented contacts in less than a month. Malkovich is one of them. He hails from Los Angeles and spits some effortlessly nasty quality…

LA seems like it must be a fiercely competitive and fun scene. How awesome is the City of Angels?

Malkovich: L.A. had 300+ murders last year. In 1992 it had 1,000+. So the City of Angels is a lot less… competitive than it was when I was in junior high, and a lot more fun. Drinking Sisco in abandoned Sizzlers was tons of fun, of course. But it’s just not a sustainable lifestyle. Gentrification is kind of gay, but I suppose I prefer live hipsters to dead friends.

What’s your creative process like? Are you secretly churning out hundreds of tracks we’ll never see, or do you focus on one song at a time?

Malkovich: My creative process is: Beats happen, then I write. Or, shit happens, then I write. Most of my songs are inspired by things that happen to me or other people, and have to be written to help me try to make sense of it all. Although it may not seem like it, “The Gift” is actually a love song. Currently, I am secretly churning out hundreds of tracks which I will be churning out very publicly over the next couple of years. Got about five albums almost completely written.

Coming from the L.A. underground scene, I was very focused on the flow and rhythmic patterns of my rhymes, because L.A. has always been on the cutting edge of that, from Freestyle Fellowship on down. But now that I’ve got some living under my belt, I’m more into making sure no word is wasted or misheard, and letting the poetry of the lyrics sink in. I like playing with space, letting each line exist independently, so when I do dip into a flow there’s some contrast. I’m in my Miles Davis phase.

How did 2010 change your mind about marketing your music? Are there any strategies you’re going to abandon, or new concepts you’re open to try?

Malkovich: The lesson of 2010 is that it’s time to become an Internet whore. I heard Google has built an island in the Pacific Ocean made entirely of servers, because the water keeps them cool. I intend to sink it with an overload of iPhone videos of me lipsyncing to my songs and talking about my favorite Vancouver hamburger spots. By that time I will have no friends because I will email every one of them about each and every new video and song, and you know how crazy people are about emails these days (I actually wrote a story all about it here). Obsessing over what every last person in the world thinks of you comes with Internet whore territory, but I look at it as an opportunity to increase my self-discipline.

For example, when some chap on Twitter named @belligerentwill said “thoroughly unimpressed with that Malkovich kid. Picked up Bankruptcy when it came out a few yrs back. Blah”, I almost replied, “I hope you find misfortune in a freak yachting accident.” But you can’t please everyone, can you? Better to focus on folks like yourself who want to interview me now that I’ve become an Internet whore. So my plan is to keep this up all year, so one day, if I’m lucky, hundreds of people will be downloading each of my songs for free instead of just, you know, seventy or whatever.

Do you have any goals beyond people downloading your shit for free, or is that dubious honor really the only thing any of us can ever hope for again? Is there any endgame left?

Malkovich: There’s still a country for rap music. The trick is getting people’s attention, and having a product they want to actually purchase when you do. I have a lot of respect for Wiz Khalifa. He toured his ass off, released all his music free and now he’s a millionaire. Nicki Minaj just went platinum, and I think she’s the best new mainstream rapper there is. It makes sense when you think about it: music costs nothing to record and release now, and it costs nothing to acquire either. I’m not mad at the new game. I haven’t made a buck in this new game, but I’m not mad at it. Twelve years ago we were hustling our tapes on the street and coming home with a cool hundred or so each every day out. Today people complain if you ask them for their email address in exchange for a song. If you don’t think my song is worth a couple extra shapes on your computer monitor occasionally, we have no future together.

Why are you not taking the brilliant music marketing advice of approximately 10,000 bloggers who have never had a career of their own? Don’t you know how much you’re hurting yourself by ignoring their opinions?

Malkovich: Well, I’m on malkovichmusic.com, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, iLike, Myspace, Reverbnation, fucking Jango, I don’t know… We’re having this conversation because I bombarded you and umpteen other bloggers with “The Gift”. I’m in month 3 of Facebook Rehab. I don’t know how much more of a Social Media Tart I could possibly be.

What are your priorities for 2011?

Malkovich: My priorities for 2011 are to get my ex-girlfriend back (Hi baby), visit Chad, and become the irritating sober guy at parties.

Was I sleepwalking through that interview? Definitely yes. You can also find photos of Malkovich pretty much anywhere online, I just decided to run with the whole sunglasses/moustache motif. Thanks to Malkovich for putting up with me, and keep an eye out for Ayatollah Presley.

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Music by Justin Boland