As a rapper who currently lives in South Africa, Mac VI has always been surrounded by jewelry. South Africa is one of the world’s largest exporters of jewelry, and Mac VI grew up fascinated by people’s love and lust for it.

This fascination naturally brought him to the world of hip-hop, where rappers showcase their bling as symbols of status, success, and achievement. Hip-hop made the jewelry business surrounding him make sense, imbuing these metals and gemstones with stories and contexts from places far away.

Mac VI came to hip-hop to tell his stories back to the world.

His early days as a rapper started at age 12, where he began freestyling cyphers on the streets of South Africa. His cyphers told deep stories of himself, coming out intuitively as natural talents.

As he describes it, “It all comes from my imagination, really. I’m really in my head all of the time, so when I’m rapping it just all intuitively comes out.”

On his latest single “Chains”, Mac VI tells the story of his newfound love for jewelry and how that love developed. The song features a dark trap beat paired with a story-driven, witty flow. 

The lyrics tell of his life as a Black teenager in South Africa and of the ways in which luxury fascinates Mac VI. Luxury has both been a personal aspiration of his and a point of contention. 

His own struggle to attain jewelry symbolizes the struggles he grew up with.

“The song expresses my love for jewelry and touches on my struggles. Like I say, ‘I got nothin’ but chains; I must be a slave.’ I love my chains, but I won’t be a slave for it. But that’s about as much as I’d do for it.”

The music video for “Chains” features Mac VI bask in the opulence of gold and gemstones as he raps in a car in South Africa. “I really needed to bring out the feel in the visuals of this song. It took a lot of strength to grow, and a lot of grinding as a rapper in South Africa.”

Now, Mac VI wishes to bring the stories of his life in South Africa to a global stage. He wishes to reach more people, touching them with his own stories.

He says, “I’ve been criticized for sounding too American, but that is what sets me apart from the artists around me. I’m not going to say I bring a different vibe, but I tell a different story. I am a rapper from South Africa with a different story to tell from everybody else in the field of hip hop.”

Throughout 2022, Mac VI will be releasing a series of singles leading into his EP, Jewelry for Every Heartbreak. The EP uses jewelry as a vehicle to tell stories from Mac VI’s life, giving audiences the broader context necessary to fully understand “Chains”. 

Overall, hip-hop brings together many loves for Mac VI. His life in South Africa, teenage years writing cyphers, and love for jewelry all tie in with hip-hop. This background places Mac VI in a unique position from others in the field, granting the stories he tells additional depth.

Be sure to stay connected to Mac VI on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/mac-vi/1573494713

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6tHcJpcoGxVpxLBl4xA3c8?si=mGZxaPXbRBWY3IO2edLy2w&nd=1

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjB_r96JxWA

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/macvi.official

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/macvi_mmg/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/macvi_mmg