Exposed Vocals Interviews Maccasio
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Maccasio (born Sherif Abdul Majeed) was born and raised in Tamale, Ghana Zogbeli to be precise. I grew up in Zola Hood. Zola is a big hood and it is made up by Zogbeli and Lamakara and that brings about the name Zola (Zogbeli-Lamakara). What made me decide to become an artist is I realized I has the potential when I was in primary school. I used to use my note books to write raps till I started to record some demos and I really believed I can be like any of these top Acts in Ghana and beyond so I gave it all my attention.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Maccasio also got the name while he was in primary school. I was the only one in the class who had a calculator (Casio). So everyone in the class always come to me for the calculator so they all decided to call me by the name Casio. And since Casio was a huge brand I was also hoping one day I will have such brand but I didn’t want to be use that name. I’m a muslim and it is my dream to visit the Kab’bah because It’s a land where every Muslem goes to purify themselves. So I decided to change the Mecca to Macca. So I added that two words and worked out the name Maccasio and I can see the name is really blessed because the name has started to pave ways.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Maccasio think online music sharing is the best especially we the upcoming artists. Well yes I do give my music for free and its because when you have a mission and determination you don’t look at the money, you have to give the people something great to buy the hardwork and free music I give out will surely payback someday sometime. Lol
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Maccasio will say first all, work hard that’s the most important thing. You should give it all your time and everything so as to make your dream a reality. Also do good and nice music which is easy to sing along when one hears it for the first time. Also try to have good relationship with DJs and Producers because mostly its hard for DJs to play your songs even if you give them the songs but once the song is nice he won’t have any choice than to play it, even it your song is nice some DJs will play it without you giving them the song. Also build a team or mobilize your friends to keep supporting and sharing your songs because your friends are your immediate fans. Music is a big work and you cannot do it alone without assistance from friends and fans you can’t do it alone.
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Maccasio gets inspirations the moment he enters the studio. The lyrics starts to flow when the beat is played to my hearing. Sometimes I also write songs with my phone when I’m travelling for a show. But I do listen to most of American rappers because I get a lot of inspiration from them as well.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Maccasio does not have a website. He uploads his songs on Soundcloud, YouTube and a couple of music sites like Mediahomegh.com, Ghmusicnation.net and Ghfreestyle.com.
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Maccasio will create a recording studio and record talents who don’t have access to studios. And I will also use part of the money to invest in my music career to have a broader knowledge about show business.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Maccasio uploads songs on the sites I earlier on mentioned and sends to radio stations.
The internet works better because it gives a wider audience.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Maccasio just finished recording with Kofi Kinaata and KinDee. Video for the song is also shot and yet to be released. Also I’ve recorded a lot of tracks with other Tamale based Artist which are yet to be released. I’ve a very big project in the pipeline which I wouldn’t love to disclose now because is still in planning stage and changes might come in.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Maccasio would have been producing beats or managing Artists because I’m so into entertainment that I can’t do any work without music in it.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Maccasio does not actually have any other responsibilities. Music is my responsibilities so focus more on my music career.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
Maccasio is working on a lot of new projects which fans will be very happy about. My fans should watch out for More hits, More shows and More work.
Maccasio performance @ Northern Music Awards 2016