MXCK (Mack Millsapps) is a producer and rapper who’s coming up in the Arlington/Wakefield scene. A few days before the release of his first official EP, Mixed Feelings (which came out on the 31st of March), I sat down to interview him on his inspirations and process among other things.
Our conversation began discussing the origins of the name MXCK, Mack explained to me that it came originally from a prospective producer tag containing the exclamation, “Muck it up!” From there, we discussed how he got into producing in the first place; “My friend Tim, during the pandemic, I would, uh, play Bed Wars with him, one time, we were done playing and he was just showing me he was making some beats, and I was like, that’s really cool. I want to learn how to do that… It just stuck with me. It became a habit, I’d get off Zoom and I’d watch a tutorial or try to make my own thing and then, Now it’s almost all I do. I look forward to it. I get home from school or whatever event and I just go work on something.”
When I asked him about his influences, Mack responded with a variety of artists. Clams Casino and his sample chopping; Ethereal was mentioned in regards to crafting melodies; Maaly Raw was also cited as a melodic inspiration. As for vocals: Jane Remover and her glitchy style —evident in the EP’s first track, “trust me.”; Lil Uzi Vert as an all around inspiration; and Lucki for his lyrics and messaging.
Mack also mentioned Chief Keef and 90s Boom-Bap drums as a rhythmic inspiration, but also noted that his own drumming style has yet to solidify; “Honestly, my drums change more than I’d say my melodies. I always start with my melody. I’ll either find a sample or, I’ll just start with some chords from there. I’ll record my own vocal layer into it, but the drums kind of change song to song.”
I do think by melody, he is referring to all melodic or non-rhythmic parts of the music, therefore including chords/harmonies and samples. From influences, we segued into his own music as I asked him what caused him to finally make an EP; “I was only making beats for other people, and I kind of was developing my own style, but I was getting bored, honestly. So I was like, I’m gonna give it a shot. So, earlier this year or, I would say, the beginnings of this were probably, late last year, I was really like, ‘my goal for 2026 is I want to release my own music.’”
Mack acknowledged his insecurity in his vocal ability, but noted that he’d never get better if he didn’t try, a good reminder for anyone else out there insecure in their own artistic abilities. I then inquired on Mack’s lyrical process; “I’ll start with a topic or just something super simple. As a topic, it could be a relationship, typically a relationship, because I think that’s most relatable for my own life. Sometimes it could be a true story, but I’ll try to build a story around it. Actually, I just thought of something. There’s a song I’ve been working on recently called, “Sneakers”, and I basically compare a stain from a past relationship to a stain on shoes. Because I have these pants I always wear that stain my converse, I can’t get them off. So I try to find a relationship between two things, like a metaphor.”
For my closing question, I asked Mack about his favorite food in the area; “If I’m just talking, the best, best food, it’s, Bonsai on 23rd St. They treat you like family. That’s important when you get food. If people that give you the food, love you, you get free drinks, free things sometimes, and that’s just lovely. I remember when I go with my family, sometimes, when they see us, they’ll bring us extra soup or something, and it’s delicious. Best sushi, best udon. If you love udon, that’s the place you gotta go.”
I had a blast talking to MXCK and I hope you’ll have a similar experience enjoying his music. I didn’t cover every single thing from the interview in this article, but we also talked about the possibility of playing live, SoundCloud and Bandcamp vs. traditional streaming, and the idea of a Wakefield scene.
I’m glad that more young artists are contributing to an Arlington scene; speaking of which, I’ll hope to cover more in the future.
MXCK’s Mixed Feelings EP is streaming on multiple platforms for your enjoyment!
Wakefield and ACC Filmmaker Ethan Eccker collaborted with Mack on a music video for the song, am i safe?