the biggest celebrity in South Africa. He uses his brand to shed light on xenophobia, HIV AIDS testing, even the rise of women football( soccer) players. Asheru started the Hip Hop Education Literacy Program which uses hip hop lyrics to teach students how to read. Heretofore, I just wanted my music to bring people together. HHP and Asheru’ s leadership enhanced my perspective RAM: What books have you read that have inspired / energized you?
CM: Steve Stoute’ s The Tanning of America and Napoleon Hill’ s Think and Grow Rich are two
favorites. Let’ s add one more- Onward by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz RAM: As an Indie ARTist that has reached amazing plateaus in your career such as being nominated for a Grammy how do you stay focused on creating a powerful and amazing body of work? CM: Thank you. Having a list of priorities helps. Also, surrounding myself with a team comprised of people who are much smarter than I in very specialized areas helps. Everyone on my team- each manager, producer, musician, attorney, agent etc.- is a whiz kid of some sort. Most of all, we love music, and our standards are super high; I’ m talking Kilimanjaro. RAM: You’ ve made the choice to partner with excellence in your philanthropic efforts, was that a choice you made from day one or did you grow into that frame of mind? CM: The strategic partnerships with The School Fund, Carmelita Group, and others evolved organically. RAM: Can you share with our network the musical lineage within the Malachi legacy that began with your grandfather John Malachi? CM: To my knowledge, in my great-grandfather’ s line, I am the only Malachi to pursue music as a career. I have a responsibility to honor the foundation he established. I see it this way. If your great-grandparents immigrated to the United States from Italy, they earned enough money to buy land, and you eventually inherited that land. Would you neglect the land, till the land, or sell the land to developers? I choose to till- to cultivate and build. RAM: As such a responsible ARTist, where do you envision yourself in the next 5 years?
CM: Within the next five years, I expect to be working full time in my craft as a world-class songwriter and performing artist. I expect my music to ignite the people. I expect to headline soldout world tours. I expect my music to spark ideas which lead to conversations and then to change. I expect my music to be heard ubiquitously and continuously. I expect the miracle because I trust God.
11 JUL-AUG 2013 ResponsibleARTistry. com Issue II