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This week on Video Spotlight we are featuring upcoming artist <strong>Maxo</strong> and his video <strong>'Nickel to a Dime'</strong> as he drives through the city of <strong>Los Angeles</strong> dropping bars of the trials of getting the bag to the trance/lo-fi hip hop track. Shout out to our team member <strong>Love Turl</strong> aka <strong>Ta'Raach</strong> putting us up on his new project..</p>
<strong> Maxo</strong> Bio : <em>“I hear a lot of people say my music is relatable, I always found that funny because I just speak on what I’m going through. Crazy how we all be going through the same things but be too caught up in our own lives to realize it. A big part of my life has always been about perspective, being observant and learning rather than saying too much.</em>

<strong>”Maxo </strong> has a golden perspective. Innovative, authentic, and familiar simultaneously. He is the very definition of what is real. Born Max Allen, he spent his early years in <strong>Ladera Heights</strong> with his parents and an older and younger brother. Focused on basketball, music was a passion that came looking for him. After the family migrated east to <strong> Claremont</strong>, <strong>Maxo’s</strong> older brother started pursuing a music career. Watching from the sidelines, <strong>Maxo</strong> began wondering what his own music might be like. He knew he had a gift for seeing both sides of things and a distinct ear for new sound.

In 2013, <strong>Maxo </strong> enrolled at <strong>Chaffey College</strong>. He shared an African-American studies class with <strong>Vik</strong>, a producer and friend of his brother. At the time, <strong>Maxo’s</strong> brother was falling out of love with music. It seemed natural for <strong>Maxo</strong> to pick it up. <strong>Vik </strong> suggested <strong>Maxo</strong> come through to record everyday after a full day of classes. The first six songs they worked on became <strong>Maxo’s</strong> first EP, <strong>After Hours</strong>.

Driven to share his new passion with a larger audience, <strong>Maxo</strong> approached the Alaska-based cassette label Burnt Tapes, securing distribution for his first project. A modest buzz started building for him on the music sharing platform <strong>Soundcloud</strong>. Motivated by his newly discovered voice but without a producer, <strong>Maxo </strong> stole a beat from East Coast producer <strong>Foisey </strong> to record the notable and poignant <strong> Free Nino</strong>. The EP <strong>Gold in the Mud </strong> followed, along with the start of a creative kinship with the visual artist <strong>Steven Traylor</strong>.

The follow up project '<strong>Smile'</strong>, a soulful lo-fidelity collaboration with <strong>LastNameDavid</strong>, started to grow wings of its own. A snapshot of coming of age in <strong>Southern California</strong>, Smile is an honest, youthful, troubled and hopeful record. Sobering and anti-romantic <strong>Maxo</strong> recorded Smile as a reminder to himself and his generation to appreciate every situation, regardless of the circumstances.