Source: AJ McKee / AJ McKee
Fan of the blog Elevator Mag? Then you’ve probably come across some dope content published by Jake Markow. He’s definitely one of the leading voices behind Elevator Mag, helping to push the culture forward.
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I found Jake on Twitter doing my usual social networking…
97.9 The Beat: So Jake, how’d you hookup with Elevator Mag?
Jake: One of the Elevator editors had been following me on Twitter for a while and I was sending him some music that I was producing and he was really into it. I never asked about writing for them, we just had a dope relationship and he knew that I was also writing for Dirty Glove Bastard and was pretty in tune with what’s going on musically in the South. After a few months he brought up the question of if I would be interested and I told him that I was definitely into it, and a month or so after they brought me on.
97.9 The Beat: This is very random, but where’s your favorite place to eat?
Jake: That is very random. I would have to say that my favorite place in the entire world to eat is El Burrito Jr. on Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach, CA. I grew up in Southern California, and my dad is from the South Bay so he would always take me over there and they have the best burritos hands down. Aside from that you can catch me at Chipotle pretty regularly.
97.9 The Beat: You pretty much have the scoop on all of the up-and-coming rappers. With that being said, who do you think is the next big artist coming out of Texas?
Jake: If I had to call an artist that has a radio ready record that I think can pop off at any moment it would be either Yella Beezy with the ‘Up One’ remix featuring Lil Baby, or Maxo Kream with a few records on his last album. As far as artists that are really making their way up right now I would put my money on Lil Lotus. He’s actually from Dallas, and he’s probably one of the most slept on artists in Texas but that’s going to change soon.
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97.9 The Beat: If you weren’t a professional blogger, what else do you think you’d be doing?
Jake: Well to be honest I wouldn’t refer to myself as a professional blogger. I’m a full time student, and that’s still what I would be doing if I didn’t write. I have been producing for a while now, so I’d still be making beats and working with artists even if I wasn’t writing. With sites like Elevator I’m fortunate enough to be able to show people what I think is dope, but blogs or no blogs I would still be involved in the music industry.
97.9 The Beat: How do you balance school at the University of Houston and all of the emails you receive from up-and-coming artists looking to be featured?
Jake: It’s not very easy to keep it real with you. It’s not even just emails; it’s calls, FaceTime, texts, DMs, and running into artists on campus and around the city. I set aside daily time to handle all of the music related responsibilities that I have, but if I don’t have time because of school or other priorities I’m learning to say no. At first I felt like I had to cover all the music that got sent to me, but 6 months later I’m learning how to prioritize stuff and say no to people that feel that just because they have access to me I’m obligated to support their music. Not to make it sound like I’m not consistently on my phone or computer, but when it comes down to it school comes before everything else; especially as I’m only a year away from graduating.
97.9 The Beat: Where’s some place you’d like to travel that you haven’t been already?
Jake: I’ve always really wanted to go backpacking in Asia. I think it would be dope to spend some time going around Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia; either that or I’d want to go the Philippines. I’ve always loved to travel and I have been to a decent amount of the U.S. but I really want to explore Europe and Asia when I have the ability to.
97.9 The Beat: What are some of your goals you plan on accomplishing in 2018?
Jake: On New Years Eve of 2017 my three goals for this year were: produce a song with a major regional artist, have my writing published in an internationally recognized outlet, and get a summer internship in New York. As of today, I’ve done all three of those things so I’m definitely looking to adjust goals for the remainder of the year. I told myself I was going to keep my GPA above a 3.0 so we’ll see if I made that happen in a few days here when grades get posted. My next goal has been starting to look like it’s going to be a little more on the management end of music. There’s a few really dope artists that I’ve been helping out over the last few months but I think I’m going to lock in with one and see how many people we can make mad.
97.9 The Beat: Last, but not least, how can artists get in touch with you?
Jake: The best way is on Twitter (@jakemarkow) to be honest, even if I don’t get the time to respond to everyone I really do see most of the stuff people send my way so if it’s fire I’m going to reach out. I get a ton of pitches in my email so if you come across that just know that I do check everything, but you definitely can’t just be emailing me “f*ck wit me bro” and expect a response. I do want to say that the more professional you keep it and the higher quality your music is or if there’s really a buzz there that nobody’s talking about, I’m always gonna hit you back. Lastly, don’t ask for my number from people that know me because I’m a normal person that has a life outside of music and the last thing that will make me want to check your music out is you randomly trying me on FaceTime for an hour.
Interview by 97.9 The Beat‘s Online Editor Farlin Ave (@farlinave)
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