Patience Personified—Exploring the Layers of Marnz Malone’s ‘Sabr’

Spanish Town born and Newtown raised, Marnz Malone continues to pave his path to success with his newest mixtape ‘Sabr’, a sequel to his debut project ‘Maktub’. With Maktub being the Arabic for ‘It is written,’ it seems quite telling for Marnz’s sequel to be named ‘Patience’.

Sabr is a testament to Marnz’s growth, not only as an artist, but also as a person. The cover art of the mixtape is a prime example of this, an updated artist sketch of the mugshot on the front cover of arguably his most impactful project, especially because of the place—literally and figuratively—that he was in upon its release.

When asked about the meaning behind the mixtape, Marnz Malone explained:

“My project names really reflect on how I feel at that moment in time. The cover artwork you see on ‘Sabr’ was taken last year, 5 years later than my mugshot (the cover of ‘Maktub’) that they took when I left the hospital for this case, nearly 6 years ago this year. It’s almost like 5 years on.”

“‘Sabr’ is Arabic for patience, and in this scenario of me having to have patience and you lot having to have patience as the audience, just the whole word patience in itself and what it means to me, that’s why I called the tape that. ‘Sabr’ is ‘Maktub’ pt 2 but just with a different name.”

Sabr is an extremely introspective body of work, and it’s prevalent that patience has been interwoven into it. The blood, sweat, and tears that initially gave us ‘Double M’ have now given us Marnz Malone, an older, wiser, and greater evolution of the man he once was. Across 11 tracks, the content is extremely pensive; from love to loss to highlighting the shortcomings within the prison system, societal/environmental failures, and the vicious cycle that drives so many to the roads. It can be said that the reason so many people resonate with Marnz is simply because he speaks the truth; he tells the tales of many via the voices of few.

Many people don’t give Marnz Malone the credit he deserves for the artistry he presents to the world, and he has quickly risen the ranks with very little resources. A corroboration of the person he is and his drive to achieve success, in whatever avenue he has available. With a mixtape that is both varied and full of insight, Marnz Malone keeps demonstrating why he is one of the UK’s best up-and-coming artists.

Check out the video for Cold Hearted World 4 above, the first track on the mixtape, and listen to the project in full here.