PLAINFIELD, N.J. – Growing up, Marcus Peake Jr. was surrounded by music. His father owned a recording studio in the house, and on a daily basis he’d have artists in the house performing and perfecting their sound – artists such as King Just, the first-ever artist to perform at the High 97 Summer Jam in East Rutherford, N.J. It should come as no surprise, then, that today the young boy who experienced a hands-on education in hip-hop has grown to become one of the hottest new artists for the genre. Performing as Mazee, this new rapper is making waves throughout the northeast and is ready to take the world by storm.
“There were always rappers at the house, listening to beats or tracks my Pops made,” Mazee said. “One of my earliest memories is of sneaking into my Pop’s studio when he had a bunch of guys in there and I caught a cypher of everyone going around the room. From that moment I knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life. Now it’s everything to me. I wake up rapping and I rap every day. There hasn’t been a day since that time that I haven’t rapped.”
Mazee made his debut to the world in 2015 with the release of his first single, “I Be Flexin.” The song became a local hit – quickly picked up by many of the DJs throughout the region and featured on such websites as Presize Ears, Urban Insite and Hot 97 Who’s Next. To date he’s sold more than 12,000 units of the single.
He followed that up with a single called “Invasion,” which has also sold well and received more airplay on radio stations on online streams.
In early 2016 he released his most prolific single to date, called “Till I’m Up.” Within its first three weeks of release Mazee had already sold more than 6,000 units of the single, and to date it has received more than 120,000 streams across multiple music sharing networks online. It has even taken Mazee’s music international by going into rotation in the United Kingdom, Canada and Italy, among other countries.
“It’s appropriate that that song would have the success that it has because it’s a song that talks about how I’ve come from nothing and become successful,” Mazee said. “It talks about not settling for things and never giving up. When I have something, it’s not going to be enough. Even when I’m up, I’ never going to quit. Plus, it’s an upbeat club banger, so I know people will want to play it over and over again. When people hear the song, I want them to know that they can achieve their dreams – it’s not that hard, you just gotta’ work for it. I want people to feel good when they hear my music. Whatever they’re stressing about, if I can get three-to-four minutes to take them out of their reality by listening to my music … I want to leave a mark like that.”
Fans who want to check out Mazee’s single “Till I’m Up” can do so by visiting “Peake Level Entertainment” on his Soundcloud page. He’s currently working on a music video for the single, which is scheduled to be released in early 2017. He also has a live show scheduled for Dec. 15 at the Angels Night Club in Elizabeth, N.J. For more information about future music releases or live performances, fans can follow Mazee on social media @Therealmazee on Twitter and Instagram.
