Hassaan Mackey finds his freedom behind bars. His sharp freestyling skills parallel a witty, insightful mind. He pours his heart over beats as he takes us through a journey of his life through inquisition, cynicism, and a spiritual mind that sells his knowledge of self and undoubted sense of purpose. “Soul for Sale”, his latest work, is a priceless tale that is the culmination of a man still standing despite his life’s endless shortcomings, ranging from tragic deaths to the harsh reality of urban living, which he encountered at an early age.
An emcee-in-discovery walked the city streets of Rochester, NY as a youth, finding familiarity and comfort in music. The introvert was exposed heavily to an eclectic blend of soul music in all genres. More so through circumstances than choice, Hassaan was being groomed for the better side of life. Diving into music and more noteably, Hip-Hop, he escaped through the headphones with influences such as Tribe, Cyprus Hill, Common and Pharcyde. Developing cadence through rhythm, who knew a fierce competitor was hidden inside a 9 year old. At 13, Hassaan would be inducted into a local but legendary crew, THE Timberland Foundation. Known for bulling ciphers throughout the city, the hated and feared found a protégé with a remarkable gift to grab un-grafted words from the atmosphere and make it all make sense. Battle after battle, show after show, Hassaan was that trump card rapping among men as an equal and in most cases, his opponents superior. His later artistic-efforts, gained him respect and notoriety locally by hosting Full Circle Sundays, a platform for emcee battles, spoken word, and many art-forms to collide. He also hosted various open mic poetry nights around Rochester. By this point he was winning every freestyle battle he participated in yet his defining moment would be sharing the stage with Common while visiting Rochester on his “Electric Circus” tour. He was picked by chance out of the audience to go onstage to display his sharp freestyle rhymes and awed Chi-towns legend in the spotlight.
Now as a man who defines his art and life alike as “constantly rebuilding”, he writes, performs, and creates for self and has an abundance of recorded material and online footage that captures the humble man at his best. Though ironically modest when it comes to self-promotion, Hassaan can be seen and heard rocking any and everywhere. His enthusiasm and talent is unshaken. Currently recognized in the prestigious “Rawkus 50”, he is among a fresh roster of artists that set the bar for quality music in an industry of mainstream music that often lacks any traces of noteworthy substance. He Also has aligned himself with like-minded artists to form a hip hop group known as “Melodic Dilemmas”, consisting of himself as the emcee alongside two producers. Together they aim to let listeners realize they have a choice to rock to meaningful music. “If it’s for you, you’ll know. Music is a voice. It’s the last voice we have. My music is me.” Get to know a voice that’s keeping hip hop alive—Hassaan Mackey.
