We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maxx Pain a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Maxx thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I started doing school plays in third grade at the age of eight with zero musical talent other than singing along to the radio. One of the lead singers in the school play got into trouble in class and the word was out to replace em and me being insanely optimistic and competitive I applied and ended up getting the part once I hit the five golden rings high note. From that day forward any recorder or radio with built in mic became mini studios. After selling so many tapes one of my older cousins heard it when I was 12 and came to me and said you have the talent let me take you to the studio and it began at that very moment, professional recording with a good sound equated to currency. From that point of going from studio to studio I met a multi platinum producer who was on the rise and took a liking to my music and formed a group with me and my cousin. We started making a mark instantly and soon after major labels started making offers at that time I was around sixteen and knew whatever the next level was I could be there and make a mark. Years went by with nothing happening other than growth as I ventured off on my own and started my own independent record company Best Around Music (BAM) signing myself and putting out various projects before I had a major idea. In 2016 I wrote a feature film after doing multiple short films that were connected to my music as a video short film people started t say you act really good in those scenes it gave me confidence to further what they could see, I wrote an action thriller named My Hittas that did millions of views and currently still is and it followed with a sequel in 2018 that did millions and currently still is as well. Since 2018 I’ve released 3 music albums a third feature film called “The Noise in Music” (Drama/Music/Romance) that has millions of views on Tubi and Amazon Prime along with My Hittas 1 & 2 with two comedy specials called Maxx Pain Presents Best Around Comedy Detroit part 1 & 2 coming to AVOD thru UCULT Distribution.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I’ve been building my artist brand “Maxx Pain” for many years in conjunction with my “Best Around Music” imprint brand that Maxx Pain resides and does business under. Ive released five albums (Angel Eyes:Music From and inspired by the motion picture My Hittas, Dark Angel:Music From and inspired by the motion picture My Hittas 2, Fallen Dreamz: From The Noise in Music Musical , Purgatory:Between Heaven, Purgatory:Between Hell) all on Digital Markets worldwide along with three Movies (My Hittas, My Hittas 2:Revenge in Blood, The Noise in Music) all on Tubi TV , Amazon Prime, Roku and IMDB TV.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Early on I wish I knew how royalties were collected I wouldn’t have gotten caught up in the I need a deal to have success hype. Their are countless societies that collect your money as a writer, a producer or a copyright owner of music and I didn’t find out any of it until I linked with Gee Gee Miller’s development program. Just knowing every time I release a project I’m going to make any where from 12 to 16 royalties per song changes your perspective a tad bit. As for my films I never had any monetary expectations cause I didn’t know by one who did it to that level so I had My Hittas 1 & 2 on YouTube where they attained viral success before they went to Tubi and Amazon Prime and garnered more success paving the way for my third film “The Noise in Music” that released August of 2021.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the most important things you must unlearn is your core audience may not be friends or relatives but on this little island in a small village sixty thousand people are die hard for you and that’s what matters. I had to unlearn what I thought should be automatic, I mean my brother or sister won’t share til they’re tired knowing it furthers me to overall be able to better navigate the family, but they may not see it that way none the less it doesn’t stop fans from places you’ve never been to wanna do it knowing furthers someone who they believe in.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Instagram.com/maxxpain
• Facebook: Facebook.com/therealmaxxpain
• Twitter: Twitter.com/iammaxxpain
• Youtube: YouTube.com/Bestaroundfilms

Image Credits
Kevin Caldwell