Malcolm Mays

Malcolm Mays
Born (1990-02-14) February 14, 1990
Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres Hip hop
Occupation(s) Rapper, musician, singer, actor, producer, director
Instruments Vocals, keyboards, sampler, piano, guitar
Years active 2005 - present
Labels Last Monarchy
Website Official website

Malcolm Michael Mays (born February 14, 1990) is an American rapper, director, and musician. At the age of seventeen, Mays co-directed and produced his own short film, aided by producer Todd Black, Gary Martin of Sony Pictures and others.[1] Mays is the nephew of Stanley "Tookie" Williams, the notorious founder of the Crips gang.[2]

Film career

Sony Pictures, Kodak Films, Todd Black, John Singleton, and Denzel Washington, all have played an important role in Mr. Mays’ productions.[3] His film entitled Trouble, aimed to shed light on the African American and Latin American (Black vs. Brown) tension in South Central Los Angeles; the place where young Mays was reared. The New York Times found Mr. Mays’ story to be so compelling that they printed a front page article, “Based on a true story,” detailing the accomplishments of this young man.[1]

Cash Money Records artist Glasses Malone announced he would be executive producing his first short film titled The Division, which will feature the rapper as a drug kingpin in Los Angeles. "The Division", a Cash Money Records Film, was written by Charles Penniman and Malcolm Mays and will be directed by Max Albert, co-founder of Albert Mason Media.[4] [5]

Mays starred in the 2013 picture Life of a King, co-starring alongside Cuba Gooding Jr.. The film premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival and Mays was hailed by Variety Magazine as a natural and a highlight.[6] Mays was cited in an August 9, 2013 interview of Cuba Gooding Jr. in the Huffington Post as part of the "next generation" of African-American actors.[7] Millennium Entertainment has acquired all U.S. rights to the film and it is slated for an early 2014 release.[8]

Mays starred as Gabe in the 2015 sports drama film Southpaw directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by Kurt Sutter. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker, and Rachel McAdams. The film was released on July 24, 2015, by The Weinstein Company.

Mays has been cast as a series regular in FX’s drama pilot Snowfall, about the beginnings of the crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles in the 80’s. Co-written by John Singleton and Eric Amadio and directed by Singleton, Snowfall is set against the infancy of the epidemic and its ultimate radical impact on the culture as we know it. Mays will play Leon Simmons, Franklin’s (Damson Idris) best friend since childhood.[9]

Music career

Malcolm Mays started playing piano at age eleven and is the self-proclaimed writer of music heavily influenced by 90's R&B and 18th century poetry.[10] Mays cites broad influences from music, art and film. Influences cited by Mays as inspirations include music from Eric Dolphy and John Coltrane to Rachmaninov and Beethoven, paintings of Caravaggio and Michelangelo, performers such as Sinatra, Prince, Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones, and the poetry of John Keats & James Baldwin. Mays has also cited the voice of Nina Simone and the readings of Maya Angelou and acts such as The Yardbirds, Cream and Jimi Hendrix as major influences.[10]

Mays linked up with producers like Skiii Team who is known to have worked with Hollywood Holt, Mikey Rocks of The Cool Kids to produce the tracks for his initial release.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 David M. Halbfinger (Dec 27, 2007). "Based on a True Story". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-07-22.
  2. ↑ "From The Streets To Behind The Cameras: The Malcolm Mays Story". YouTube. 2012-09-03. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  3. ↑ "Press Line Entertainment Team". Pressline Entertainment. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  4. ↑ Alice Clarke (2010-12-22). "Glasses Malone Exec Producing/Starring In Flick 'The Division'". AllHipHop.com. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  5. ↑ "Rap, R&B and Hip Hop Music News and Videos". Theboombox.com. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  6. ↑ Justin Chang Chief Film Critic @JustinCChang (2013-06-22). "'Life of a King' Review: Cuba Gooding Jr. Teaches Kids to Play Chess". Variety. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  7. ↑ "Cuba Gooding Jr., 'Lee Daniels' The Butler' Star, On His Complicated Relationship With Hollywood". Huffingtonpost.com. 2013-08-19. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  8. ↑ "Cuba Gooding Jr.'s 'Life of a King' Gets U.S. Distribution". Variety. 2013-09-30. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  9. ↑ Denise Petski (July 31, 2015). "Erika Alexander Joins 'Bosch'; Malcolm Mays In 'Snowfall' Pilot". Deadline. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  10. 1 2 Artist Spotlight #15 Malcolm Mays at the Wayback Machine (archived May 27, 2014)
  11. ↑ Above and Beyond Magazine - Malcolm Mays at the Wayback Machine (archived May 25, 2011)
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