MM Exclusive: In Conversation with Lil Macks

At just 23 years old, Lil Macks has spent the last half-decade meticulously building his sound and growing a loyal fanbase. Born in the Netherlands, Macks moved to North London at an early age with his family, eventually settling in Milton Keynes, where he finally found a sense of home and community.

His breakout track, ‘Protect Me,’ arrived in early 2021, and its melodic, thoughtful wave instantly drew comparisons to pioneers like M Huncho. Macks quickly solidified his place as one of the UK’s most exciting new voices, consistently delivering anthems that balance urban authenticity with profound personal feeling.

The rapper’s early momentum was amplified by an unexpected challenge: early versions of his follow-up singles began circulating online, sparking a frenzy across fan pages. Rather than letting the leaks stall his career, Macks seized the moment and made the most out of the situation, shooting official music videos that cemented his reputation for resourcefulness and resulted in two of his biggest records to date, racking up over 19 million combined streams on Spotify alone.

Now, with the release of his uncompromising new single ‘Amsterdam,’ which lays bare the unvarnished truth of trap-wave culture, Macks is preparing for his highly anticipated project, Block Baby, due later this year. Far more than your everyday trap-rapper, Macks is a super clever, humorous, and deeply self-aware talent who intends to use his platform to shine a spotlight on underrepresented towns in the UK, starting with his native Milton Keynes.

In an exclusive sit-down, I speak to Lil Macks about his journey from MK, the truth behind his viral leaks, his recent Daily Duppy, and how he’s channeling the complexities of survival into his most honest project yet.

For anyone meeting you for the first time today, how would you introduce Lil Macks in one line?

Wouldn’t I just say my name first? [Laughs]

Yeah, of course! But more like, how do you introduce yourself as an artist? There’s no blueprint to this, this is you. Let’s rephrase: how would you describe your sound, your music?

I feel like a lot of girls can relate to what I’m saying. A lot of guys can relate, too. Like, it’s a whole experience of listening to somebody who’s gone through a lot of experiences, and who can relate to a lot of people personally.

And was that the aim when you started making music? That you wanted to create something universally relatable?

100%. My first aim was always for the music to connect with all the guys that grew up like me you know what I’m saying? The guys that grew up in the hood who know exactly what I’m talking about. They can listen to a line and they’d understand what I mean by that before anyone else. That was my first goal.

I’ve always been an emotional guy, very romantic myself. So, I’ve always wanted to make love songs, too. And that was my second goal, which I feel like I’m achieving both of right now.

They really don’t make love songs anymore like, real love songs, the way they did back in the day.

I don’t really even think people love each other like they did back in the day, either.

Why do you think that is? Do you put that down to social media?

Social media. You can scroll and find somebody new you’ve never seen before in your life. Back then, people weren’t really doing that. Nowadays, people don’t stop each other on the street, because this day and age has kind of made that something you just don’t do. So then you speak on social media, and that’s all a facade. What people see online is just the music; they don’t know how I am in my day-to-day life.

Do you prefer it like that? Keeping the two separate?

I do, but there are pros and cons to keeping it separate. In one light, you want the person to like your music, but on the other hand, some of the music I put out, I’m thinking, “You shouldn’t even really fuck with it.”

Yeah, it’s a catch-22. It’s hard to know what’s genuine, or what someone is really there for. I always think: is this really you as a person, or is this the mask you’ve adopted to marry the music you’re putting out? Because social media is a thousand eyes drawn to things we probably shouldn’t even be drawn to.

The good thing for me is that with the career I’ve had so far and the fan base I’ve got, I’ve never had to put up with smoke and mirrors. I feel like my fans actually know that I’m just me, a bit of a weirdo, I make jokes. But sometimes, for certain songs, you just gotta create a little moment, make sense of it. It’s more so about holding a bit of myself back.

I think we can all relate to that. You have to be selective with who you give your full self to, because otherwise, you’re just giving little bits of yourself to everyone and eventually left with nothing for yourself.

Exactly that, exactly that.

Okay, let’s talk about Block Baby. What does it mean to you right now, both as a title and a headspace?

As a title, it’s just a moment. It’s more what my fans have caught onto because I say it a lot. My three biggest songs and I just realised this right now I say Block Baby in the chorus. My first two tapes were League 1 and League 2, so this tape had to feel brand new.

As a meaning, there’s so much to it. When someone refers to a ‘block baby,’ they are gonna assume violence and whatnot. But the way I see it is so, so different. You could be a legit kid and be a block baby; you can work a 9-to-5 and be a block baby. It’s about explaining where I’m from. I live in a world where a guy looking at you in a certain way might start a whole new something. There’s so many consequences to decisions you make in this life.

It’s truly survival of who has the biggest heart. If you haven’t got heart, you’ll get stepped all over. You have to be a certain way to even survive, to even keep any dignity. The side effect is you grow up next to people where we are thinking we don’t know when this guy will try to rob me. He could flip the whole script at any moment. It’s that real.

That kind of feels like a lot of people are born into this anxious state of not knowing what’s going to happen next. Or who you can really trust.

I hear that. I was even speaking to my boy, and I think he noticed that I do have a bit of anxiety.

And so many people just don’t speak about it, do they?

100% they don’t. If you can’t trust the guy next to you isn’t going to turn around one day and rob you, how are you gonna trust to sit down and tell them, ‘Yo bro, I think I’m depressed’? It just wouldn’t work.

I guess for me, it’s a bit different because from young, women are encouraged to speak about our emotions. We are equipped with a toolkit ready to a degree of how to deal with feelings such as anxiety and depression.

The good thing about me is I’ve had the same close circle of friends before music until now. We are behind each other fully. That’s one thing that has saved me from a lot of problems is having them two friends in my life.

It’s so important that you have friends like that in your life. We digressed a bit, but these topics are important to speak about.

Definitely.

What would you say has changed most about your day-to-day life since “Protect Me”?

Everything. Before, there was no plan for the day at all. You just get ready and go to the block as if you got a check-in. Now, it’s completely different. I’m more at home now. Every day there’s something new from my manager: finalising my cover art, furthering my career, etc. There hasn’t been a day where I’m not speaking about furthering my career.

Why was now the moment for your Daily Duppy?

I feel like it made the most sense. I’ve always wanted to do a Daily Duppy. I feel like I can convince the world I deserve a Daily Duppy right now. It’s overdue at this point. As I’ve been preparing the rollout for my next project, I wanted everything to be a big step up. The two-minute, 20-second film I swear down it was at 4 a.m. on my bed on my phone, and I just planned it all out. The Daily Duppy was the most perfect thing to kickstart this whole rollout.

That video was really special. You wouldn’t think it was just you in your room at 4 a.m. with the idea, writing it down in your notes.

I get random bursts of creativity where I just have to write the ideas down. Notes is my main place, and I’ve got a whiteboard to remind me of my ideas.

Walk me through the writing process for the Duppy: did you have a particular track or vision for it?

Funnily enough, yeah. The first part was a track recorded a while ago, when there was no plan for a Daily Duppy. I just recorded one track and actually named it ‘Daily Duppy.’ I feel like I knew subconsciously the purpose wasn’t to make a banger. It was for people to really understand what I’m saying; the main goal was just to talk my shit. The first part is more pain, and the second part a bit more flexy, but I always wanted the two parts to push a different narrative.

Touching back on your Daily Duppy, what do you want fans and A&Rs to take away from it?

Lil Macks: The main thing is for anyone who listens to it, the main thing is that this guy is really solidifying his place. For anyone who may have just glanced over my music in the past, I want them to hear that and think, ‘We have to take this guy serious now.’ And even those who were taking me serious before, I want you to really take me in.

What would you say Milton Keynes gets right about you that London never could?

That’s such a good question. In terms of what they get right, they know my life story a lot more, into the small details. If you sat down with someone from MK, they would be able to tell you a lot of things about my life that I didn’t even know they knew. They are also way more thoughtful. They are less inclined to disturb me if I’m just out with family, because they know there’s a chance they’re gonna see you again.

When people hear “underrepresented towns,” what do they get wrong about the talent there?

I think there’s so much talent in MK. Poetry, guys and girls, a world of footballers in MK. Jeremy Sochan, NBA. Kevin Danso, footballer, playing for Tottenham. There’s so much talent.

If a kid in MK asks how to get seen without moving city, what’s your practical playbook?

If he was an artist, it doesn’t matter where you’re from. People blow up overnight on TikTok, etc. It’s most important your music, and music.

Your follow-up singles were leaked, then you flipped it, made the most out of the situation, won the moment. What did that teach you about momentum?

It taught me that you have to be prepared for anything to blow. There’s no blueprint, the song that I think will do the least well will be the one that blows up

If another leak happens tomorrow, what’s the first three steps on your whiteboard?

Find out the song. How important it is to me. If it’s important to me, I’d minimize the spread.

If Block Baby unlocks one door for the next kid in MK, what door do you want it to be?

I wouldn’t want it specifically towards music, I’d want it to be a door to anything creative that they wanna do. Directing, football, anything that’s bigger than their city.

What’s one thing you want people to take away from listening to BB?

This is Lil Macks, what kind of person he is. The tape shows a lot of things. The key thing is I know for a fact they are going to learn something about me.

What does next year look like for you?

This year times 10! Fuck load of features, abroad shows!