MALACHI OF ‘GOOD LIVES CREW’ TALKS RED FLAGS, THE CYCLES OF DEATH IN CREATIVITY & WHY HE THINKS HE MAY BE A FAILED ARTIST IN THIS LIFETIME

PHOTOS BY Bethany Vaters ★ WORDS BY William O’Neal Ii

I met Malachi about a year and a half ago after I was invited to Space Cade7’s show at Arlene’s Grocery in the Lower East Side. It was a relatively warm night, the venue was packed and I was front row. When Malachi raps he does more than flow, he dances, he levitates. His energy can be felt radiating through the room, it is hard to stand still when you watch the way his feet move around the stage, weaving in and out of all the other artists that make up the group previously known as Space Cade7s. A year and a half later— I am sitting with Malachi outside of Head Sound Records. He is more somber. It is another warm night. Malachi lights a joint, puts on the new Hiatus Kaiyote record, “Love Heart Cheat Code,” and we talk intimately about past lives, religion, influences, and the history behind the collective currently known as the Good Lives Crew.

WILLIAM: Thank you for being here with me today. I want to ask you first, what is one piece of advice that you would give to Black creatives worldwide?

MALACHI: Advice that has helped me is to have a sense of integrity and to stay true to yourself. Also, to allow the life around you in whatever that is to fuel your creative passions, work, and art. Stay open to the possibilities of inspiration. Even when you’re not creating, there is still something that will reach out to you. It’s important to allow yourself to live and let those things find their way to you.

I met you maybe a year or so ago at one of your shows. My friend Ross Newhouse invited me to Arlene’s Grocery in the Lower East Side. Your stage presence is so alive and it looks and feels like you are having so much fun on stage. Tell me, do you have any pre-show or pre-creation rituals or spiritual practices that ground you before a show or before going into the studio?

That’s a great question. None that I can say I stick to religiously. Before recording, it helps me to think about the character, the tone, and the words that I am trying to convey when I get to a microphone. Knowing these things so well, like an actor, is helpful for me not to forget as well. With performing I love to stretch and sit in silence for a little bit, warming up my jaw and those things as well are helpful. Having a word with myself, my bandmates, and a higher power is also important to me.

How would you describe your artistry? What are you drawn towards?

Yeah, I like that you asked that. I’m drawn to visual art and painting. I’m not a painter in any sense but I do love art so I’m drawn towards those things. All of my uncles were either painters or musical artists, so I was introduced to that through them. My mom and I share a love for visual art. I love movies and I love acting. I went to school for acting at Emerson in Boston. I used to love photography but I don’t practice that much anymore. I also watch a lot of TV. Music and records are very important to me too.

We are currently sitting outside of Head Sound Records. You work here part-time. How does this job influence your music and is it important to you that your day job work in tandem with your art?

That’s such a good question, wow. Yeah so working here part-time, it's a passion for me, working with records. I love vinyl and I love records so much, it feels like such a history-keeping tool for me. Vinyl specifically does influence my art because this is music that I feel like I am very drawn to and inspired by when writing or listening out for music samples. That’s kind of how I got into it. It’s brought me into a lot of different worlds of music genres – rap, jazz, etc. From the consumerism level, it’s influenced me to begin thinking about community and how to share music and pieces of art without having to monetize it. I love to write little notes in the records that I share with people; about why I love it, why I’m passing it on, and how I got it – that sort of thing. I don’t always think that what you pay your bills with needs to be meshed with your art. When I used to work at a bookstore I even felt that books had influenced me and my writing too. At my most recent job, teaching the arts, I found myself advising that I should’ve been taking myself too. I’ve had so many jobs and I think at this point I want whatever I’m doing to pay my bills and to serve my creative life.

What was your first introduction to music?

The first thing that comes to mind is the radio. Because of where I grew up and the age I grew up in, I was constantly in the car driving to school with my mom and she was always playing the radio-– classical, rock, pop. I have so many random memories of different things from dancing with my dad to Brian McKnight, Bob Marley, and my uncles playing different rap artists. My first introduction to performing was probably doing musical theater in 7th grade, I was doing Peter Pan.

You recently changed the name of your collective from Space Cade7s to Good Lives Crew. Tell me a little about that decision and what it means for your next phase as an artist. Also, tell me how the collective came together. Did you have a specific model or group you looked to while that process was happening?

Yeah for sure. So, the group came together when I was in high school, with my two other bandmates. They were seniors and I was a junior, and they began Space Cade7s. I met them in 2012. It started by becoming friends with my bandmates, who are now like my family. They graduated, then I graduated and we were all in college experiencing our lives in different ways. I met two of my other bandmates in college, one of them had another friend that we met and we all came together under Space Cade7s. It’s crazy to think this came from something that started when I was in high school really and to see what it’s become. Some models or inspirations that we had were like ASAP Mob, they were influential to us. Pro Era, Odd Future, Mac Miller, Most Dope but also genres like classic hip hop and R&B. We thought they were so tough, especially Odd Future with Frank, Tyler & Sid, and Pro Era, too. We loved classic hip hop too. The first song we recorded was a classic, funky alternative hip-hop sound. That’s a lot of what we were drawn to. Eventually, I think we felt that we went a long time under that name [Space Cade7s] but were looking for something new, hence Good Lives Crew. We’ve gone through so many changes, some bandmates moving away and pursuing their own lives, so I think a lot of it also was recognizing that it was time to change our name to reflect that.

So, I hear you are “the personality of the group” What’s your sign and your biggest red flag?

*Laughs* I don’t believe that. I’m a Virgo and my biggest red flag, without being too honest, is probably my time management. I’m sure I could get deeper than that, but I'm late to things a lot which I am sure is a little annoying. I’m trying to think of what my partner would say. *Laughs* I also get very distracted easily. I am sure there are other things too, though.

*Laughs* What has been your biggest transformation as an artist over the years of making music so far? Or do you think it has yet to happen?

That’s a great question. What’s yours? Also, what is your biggest red flag?

*Laughs* I think my biggest red flag is I enjoy my freedom too much, which can be challenging for people who rely on me. I think my biggest transformation as an artist can be finding the mediums that I like to work in best that communicate with each other. I started with poetry, then went to film school, and then discovered TV and playwriting. I think through all of that I was able to find my voice and how I like to use language.

Yeah, I love that. So you found your work has gained a symbiotic relationship? Things are working with each other?

Yeah most definitely.

That’s awesome. What are some of your first artists that you love?

I grew up Christian and thus listened to a lot of Christian rock – as you can imagine. I went to a private Christian high school in South Georgia for 12 years. So, I didn’t know who Toni Morrison or James Baldwin was, until I went to college because I was educated in a lot of White spaces. I went to Florida State and then transferred to Emory University and was exposed to these very important artists and writers. Toni Morrison has been like my biggest saint when it comes to writing. James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, Annie Baker, and Lucas Hnath too. It took me longer than I wanted for me to find those voices as they weren’t being taught to me in these institutional settings. You know?

Yeah, wow, that’s interesting.

Yeah, why did you connect to that?

I went to a lot of different schools growing up, where I felt like I was getting a progressive education. Those things, even looking back, I feel like influenced me a lot. I felt like as I grew up my parents' relationship with Christianity was very intense. In school, I felt like I was exposed to a lot of different religions and I guess now I feel like I can explore things outside of what I was used to or knew growing up. I love my parents' relationship with religion and Christianity, it’s not so drenched in a lens that kind of blinds them from tolerance, but at the same time they are very traditional and their views are very traditional. I think growing up, their views and going to those schools, influenced me a lot. It’s just interesting, people’s different experiences.

Yeah for sure, I feel like you learn so much about yourself based on the values you are taught and the ones you don’t keep.

Yeah, definitely. I think the biggest transformation for me that I’ve trusted in is how I write. Trusting my writing process more has been big for me, especially as an artist. Seeing things in a life-and-death cycle has been helpful too, whether it be with creative relationships, decision-making, letting things go, or taking things on.

You have a verse in your song “What’s Missing” that goes ‘you get raised by a village just to see outside its limits but if you're sitting on the fence it doesn't make a difference.’ Who do you know who is sitting on a fence right now and what fences have you sat on?

Yes, I love that line so much. I can’t speak to that line specifically just because it’s not mine, [Yassky wrote it] but I think the person who did write it has such a gift for writing such short phrases or punchlines that provide such a feeling but also a literal message. I think his family or his village raised him to be a certain way so I feel like he was raised to just see outside of the perspective he was brought up in. As we were just talking about, hopefully, we can all have that sort of experience. I think as far as the fence, I would say the support of friends and family and the many artists that we look up to, wanting to fall in line with that. Also, how we release music, improving on how we take inspiration, productivity and share what we have been creating.

What is the biggest curse this generation faces?

I don’t know if I am the right person to answer this as I am of this generation. I’m not really on the outside looking in, if anything I am on the inside partaking. I would say unresolved trauma, whether it’s generational or self-inflicted. Consumerism. I’m just as much of a consumer as much as someone who doesn’t want to overconsume. There’s so much to say, I’m much more of a partaker than an observer. I think we are doing the work to change this, but I don’t think we are on the other side of it yet. I hope we can get there at some point.

I want to know a little about your process of writing, specifically, your relationship to place. How has being born in New York and moving around a bit affected that?

These are great questions. I bounced around a lot growing up, so I think I have a certain sensitivity to that. Feeling displaced in a way and traveling so much, but I now feel like I have a lot of good roots in New York and the DMV. I think this has influenced my writing in a lot of good ways, but also I’ve seen it change a lot in the past few years. I write in a way where I feel like it’s so quick and it feels very automatic. I’ll go back and then change things around or make minor edits, but also there are other times when I write I feel like I am piecing together a puzzle. Often puzzles of all different sizes. I am so grateful for all of it though, I feel such gratitude for writing and being able to put my thoughts and experiences into words. I like to take a lot from nature, everyday things, imagery, feelings, general terms, and phrases. Everything doesn’t have to be so literal all the time. I think also where I grew up influenced that so much. The pace of life where I grew up, I can imagine would’ve been different growing up in New York. And then, of course, my experiences with my friends in high school growing up. Writing can be tricky. It can feel so easy sometimes but also can be the hardest thing.

Hypothetically, what is something you feel like you were doing in a past life that you are trying to return to?

My partner and I talk about this all the time. My partner, Alba, is very grounded and has a great spirit regarding her mindfulness practices, her yoga, and her mind, body, and soul connection. They are so in tune with each other, she has so many qualities of a healer. In comparison to mine, I have felt a bit insecure about myself about what she might’ve done in her life before that has set her up for this life now. It’s interesting for me to think about, “How many times have I done this before and how close am I to breaking that cycle?” We always say that my partner is very close to that [breaking the cycle], but for me, we always say that I have a ways to go. I think it relates to being an artist, being a failed artist maybe. Someone with a lot of potential, with a lot of vices or things that may be in or out of a person’s control. I think it has to do with painting or some type of artistry. I am trying to return to those practices.

Yeah, to know that you have a ways to go is interesting. You have a good head on your shoulders. That’s very in tune, I feel like most people wouldn’t be that aware or at least not want to admit that. What is one thing you’ve been trying to make for a long time but you haven’t yet?

Great question. Whatever is next I think, whatever is next. The clear answer would be an album that I’ve been working on for a while now. Continuing projects from college, releasing things under Space Cade7s and now Good Lives Crew. Slowly, I feel like a lot of the same thoughts and feelings have come back to what I’m working on now. I felt like I was questioning a lot recently, in a dreadful way, and what my perception of certain things is. My inspiration came back again, after changing the name of the project I was working on. I wanted to produce something a bit lighter. I created an abundance of music with our drummer and then the process of making the album started again. I felt like I was thinking a lot about how things are and who I am, which is the essence of the project I’m working on now. I’m already thinking of the next project now, too.

I have been reading a lot of poetry lately, and I read this Dianne Seuss poem that starts “The problem with sweetness is death. The problem with everything is death. There is no other problem / if you factor everything down.” What is your relationship to death concerning the moment you are living in now and the things you are creating?

I feel like I’ve been fairly fortunate that I haven’t experienced a lot of death in my life, in a family sense at least. A lot of my close family members are still alive but when death has happened it has been really sad. However, I would say the degree of how I am connected to it hasn’t been immediate which I am grateful for. I think death, not so much in the sense of us dying, just embracing the birth and death of everything, creatively, in relationships, is so important to recognize and to trust in. In my early childhood, I had a huge phobia of dying, I was very struck with it. I was so scared of what was next and what that feeling was, maybe that had something to do with being diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety too, but I would just get so stuck on that. Even thinking about my parents dying and me not knowing what to do without them. My relationship with it has been very anxiety-inducing but also accepting of it at the same time. Death is just everywhere, and it’s not always a bad or sad thing, it’s more about how you look at it. It doesn’t dim the light of life but walks hand in hand with it.

Yeah. So, with however much time we have left in this life, how can we create more space for Representation, Inclusivity, and Diversity of Black / POC Creatives in Fashion, Art, Music, and Online, WORLDWIDE?

That’s another great question. I think it just comes back to having a sense of integrity, honesty, and having a collaborative spirit. I think we don’t need to stand in each other’s way with anything really, I hope within my artistry that we can foster an inclusive environment for all. My answer is not a universal one or one that should be taken super seriously, but I think it starts by supporting the people who are closest to you and standing up for things that are important to you. Also, I think staying informed to the point where you aren’t closing yourself off to other people’s perspectives or experiences. Just constantly being open to others, yourself, and even yourself changing too can help bring us together as a collective. We can all just ease up a little bit. Live & let live, not be so judgmental. This is all advice for myself as well. Life is just too short and we should be pursuing what we want and what we feel would make us happy.

Wow, this has been great. I appreciate you, thank you so much for sitting down with me!