Photo Credit: Aaron Knueppel
In many ways, the notion of being a “veteran” in the world of hip hop carries a stigma along with it. The genre, especially since the advent of the internet, continues to move at a breakneck pace, with trends, slang, and culture in general evolving on a week-to-week basis. For Milwaukee’s Twan Mack, however, being a veteran entails having decades of knowledge, and the ability to bob and weave through pitfalls in order to create a personal brand that can last for some time. Rather than running from the title of “Veteran,” he embraces it on his latest single and video.
For Mack, a life in hip hop almost coincides with the genre itself, spending time growing up in both Milwaukee and South Jersey, N.J., less than two hours from New York City. This meant feeling the effects of hip hop’s first wave, and later with a move back to Milwaukee, the spread of the music into the Midwest. It’s the spirit of those early artists that Mack has carried into his current sound of adult contemporary hip hop.
“When I came back to Milwaukee, the hip hop scene was still developing” said Mack. “Milwaukee, like many other places at the time, hadn’t developed its own identity. More so, people were emulating what they were seeing coming out of the east coast, with a tinge of Milwaukee flavor.”
While elements of the early sound of hip hop, including beatboxing and sampling, make their way into “Veteran,” Twan Mack’s personal history isn’t shied away from either. Lyrics allude to getting caught up in the street life, and a past that allowed him to reevaluate his priorities and move forward as an artist. Since making his way back to music, Twan has focused his energy into creating a platform of incorporating the sounds of today’s era with the spirit of an earlier time.
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“It’s not really that hard to be relevant and to make good music that resonates with more than just one age group” said Mack. “We have old souls out here. The music can and has been identifying with all kinds of people. There’s an open market as far as putting your own music out, which didn’t exist before.”
“Veteran” is part of a string of singles that Twan Mack has been putting out in recent months, with a larger body of work likely on the way in the near future.
