Malice K
Malice K is a New York City-based musician, and right off the bat you should know that this isn't your average Perfectly Imperfect post & Malice isn't your average artist. There was apparently some kind of misunderstanding that resulted in us receiving over 1,300 words on his come up…and zero recommendations. Whether it’s an attempt to subvert our format or a genuine mixup, I could tell it was special and true to him which is ultimately all that matters. So after sitting on it for a long time, I'm publishing it because I truly believe that Malice is a generational talent. Just listen to songs like "Changes" (which has a beautiful music video), "Fast Car," "Back Into It," or "Complicated Dreams," and I think you'll seen what I mean. He's fresh off a label deal with Jagjaguwar and back with a brand new single titled "PHD" that came with a cool video from talented friends of PI Jake Lazovick and Ben Turok. Lucky for us, Malice is here to…tell us his story.
Oct 2, 2023 BY
@malice-k😃
I’m just out here doing my best. I moved to New York a little over a year ago on a one way ticket for a record deal. I was previously out in LA, living and recording under the independent label Deathproof Inc. for over a year. Nascar Aloe brought my attention to Deathproof when I still lived in Olympia, after a friend sent me a video of one of his shows. I’d never heard of him, but I thought it was the coolest thing that I’ve seen happening right now, and I wanted to be a part of it. I had no idea how to contact him, so I google searched “how to get ahold of a celebrity” and google told me to message someone that they’re in a lot of pictures with who doesn’t have as big a following. So I messaged this guy Myagi that was tagged in a lot of Nascar’s posts. I sent some pictures of these clothes I was painting to see if they would wear them on the tour they were on at the time. Myagi got back to me immediately and said yes. He was really sincere and kind to me, which I wasn’t necessarily expecting. I’d been having a rough couple years scrambling to be a full time artist. Just kinda classic story of every attempt made being a dead end, and feeling completely disposable. I’m not a religious person, but I was praying a lot in that time for something, anything to happen. It was hard enduring the constant disappointment, and working so hard blindly with everything based on a feeling. But I got into this “fuck it” mindset. Not self deprecation, but more of a “nothing to lose” philosophy. It can be motivating to have people not believe in you, when you’re showing no sign of success. Helps you focus. Makes you hungry. After a few days we lost touch. They were busy on tour, and I eventually gave up after a week. They were on the road and it’s not like I’d have an address to ship the shirts anyway. A few days later I woke up in the late afternoon, and saw an instagram ad for a Nascar Aloe show in Seattle, which was an hour south from me. The show started in a few hours so I bought a ticket, grabbed the shirts, and drove to the show. I recognized Myagi at the show and waited for a moment to speak with him. I was like “hey I’m the shirt guy.” Again, he was very supportive and kind. Turned out, he put the whole tour on and he was Nascar’s manager. I had the t shirts under my arm for Nascar. He took me backstage and I met Nascar and all the members of Deathproof. Nobody, not even me at the time, knew that we were about to start living and making music together over the next year and a half. When the show was over I hung around a bit and talked with Myagi. I was doing my best to give the impression that I wasn’t just a fan. I realized when we were talking that I was selling myself short. I realized I wanted more than to just have someone wear my shirts. I wanted to be up there too. When I went home I started recording an EP. I was expressing parts of my self with my music I didn’t know I could express. It was amazing. I felt so self assured and free. I finished a collection of songs, and sent them to Myagi asking if I could join Deathproof. Then I turned off my phone for 3 days. The potential rejection was too much for me. I played out the scenario of yes and no until it didn’t bother me as much. I turned on my phone and he said “Yup”. Flew out to LA, they picked me up at the airport, and started recording my first project Harm or Heck immediately after we got to the house. Made some music videos, started performing, building fans, getting attention, getting recognized. Living like a rock star every day. We moved houses several times. Moved into houses with issues, and they would exercise their renters rights by withholding rent until the issues were fixed. The landlords would eventually give up and say we didn’t owe anything as long as we’d leave. Every house was left trashed with holes in the wall, graffiti, ripped off doors, and burn marks. I never had to pay rent. Myagi housed me for free because I didn’t have a room. I slept on piles of clothes, or mats, and the couch sometimes if it wasn’t already occupied. Everyone that had a room shared it with someone else, except for Myagi. He was the boss. At all times of the night there’d be people coming in and out. Slipping under the garage or just walking in. Always drugs, always groupies. Always making music, or playing music. I’d find a blank radio station that was just static, and turn my headphones to the fullest volume to sleep. I loved it though. And I loved my new fucked up family. I got to see the world under the arms of guys that nobody in their right mind would dream of fucking with. We got to do whatever we wanted. It felt like mad max. The whole thing was just so interesting cause I never saw my music resonating with the people I was surrounded by. It taught me a lot about humanity. If you just be true to yourself, it’s like this universal language. I had these guys come up to me in blue and ask “hey are you malice?” “yeah” I say. “I fuck with you. Your shit goes hard, on crip. For real bro on east.” and then I looked up and saw his other friends nodding and throwing up signs. People were showing their parents and telling me they liked it. My parents and my family liked it too. The reach I was developing was amazing to see. I felt so honored and lucky. After awhile some mutual friends of Deathproof offered me a deal on a room in their house. There was an empty room in the house, and they wanted to help support me. I was tired of sleeping on the floor so I accepted. After 2 months I decided to fly back home to Olympia and drive my car I had back to LA. While I was home my roomates decided to take back the deal and start charging me regular price for the room. With only 6 days until the end of the month, I had no feasible way to pay that amount. We got off the phone and I just stood there, I didn’t want to go back to the floor, I didn’t have the money, I didn’t know what to do. I just took some time to accept that I had to start over. It sucked. 15 minutes later I get a phone call from a record label based in NYC that offered to fly me out. I had done a performance at the Roxy theater in LA a month earlier. I went home and cried after because I thought the music thing wasn’t going anywhere. I felt super beat up and tired. Turns out the live stream of the show had a lot of label people watching, and over the next two months I was being looked at by several major labels without my knowing. The people that called me were the first to the draw, but after I arrived in New York I found out I had a lot of eyes on me, and options. I didn’t end up signing with the label that flew me out initially, but I ended up finding and going with someone else, and I’ve been here ever since. Everything after that up until now is it’s own story.
Oct 2, 2023
