We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marcus Alland. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marcus below.

Marcus, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’ve love to hear an interesting investment story – what was one of the best or worst investments you’ve made? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

The absolute best investment I made in myself so far was that I took time to work on producing.

So at the age of 14, I was on vacation in Georgia with my older brother at his apartment. I was woken up by a loud banging noise from the next room which was his bedroom. I thought something was wrong so I went to his room to make sure everything was okay and he told me to come in. I asked him what was he doing and he told me he was making beats. I was a bit intrigued so I asked him “how do you do that?” The minute I asked that question I felt like this was something that was meant to happen. So immediately he sat me down and from that day until I took things into my own hands, he taught me some basics of producing on FL Studio.

As I’ve gotten older, I started to gain inspiration and being influenced from producers I’m a fan of now. Producers like Ayo the producer, Hit-Boy, Ryan Leslie, and so many others to name. It played out very well because as I became an artist, I needed beats to write to and what better way to save money and have more control over your own sound than to be self-produced.

A lesson I took from that is to be open to learn new things because it could potentially work out for you in the long run and turn out to be a great investment.

Marcus, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am an independent artist and producer from Queens, NY. I’ve gotten into the industry by performing at open mics and many other opportunities. Also by being interested and being passionate about the craft and wanted to show the world what I can do. I can confidently say that I’m not your average emcee or artist that you hear on social media or the radio. I write and produce based on what I like and how I’m feeling. And every song you hear comes with a message that you can solely take away from. Positivity, good music, and being real to my audience is what means the most to me when I create.

What I’m most proud of is the kind of artist I’ve developed into throughout the years of me being in this industry. Learning what certain people like and don’t like, my own likes and dislikes, and being confident within myself and not being easily influenced by the world.

I hope to inspire other artists and other creatives to be confident and passionate about music and other crafts. Being that music is my first love, I plan to continue to create music whether I’m successful or not. Because for me it’s not about fame or fortune even though those things are nice to have. It’s about the craft you fell in love to begin with.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I honestly believe that what society can do is to not focus on the numbers and superficial things artists have on social media and focus more on the music. I’ve seen countless times over and over that people tend to focus more on the presence they have and less on the actual talent that person has as a creator.

I think if we were to adjust that when looking into new talent, we would be able to see so much more than what we’re seeing currently.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Resources I wish I knew about earlier in my journey is some of the platforms that allow you to connect with industry professionals. There are artists who are open to invest time and money to willing individuals that would like to share, connect, and possibly work extensively with that artist they deem worthy.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/marcusalland
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marcusalland23/
• Twitter: twitter.com/marcusalland
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvztcFSyxIoGDFESIEgJnNA