On The Rise: Maz

There’s something happening in Luxembourg right now. A wave of young artists are coming through, collaborating, sharing their knowledge and supporting each other as they roll out to European festivals, showcases, and stages. At the forefront of this is rappper Maz who makes lyric-heavy music that toys with timing and delivery as he reels off his impressively dense vocabulary.

Releasing his debut album Immortalisation two years ago aged just eighteen, he’s spent the time since developing and honing his live show into a formidable proposition. Returning with new EP Sleepwalker and a giant European tour to boot, he’s eager to unleash his message outside the confines of one of Europe’s smallest countries.

We catch up during Sonic Visions, a conference and showcase based in Esch-Belval, a post-industrial part of Luxembourg that plays home to a large university. Maz tells me he played the festival last year, and that there’s a concerted effort being made by his government to support homegrown talent. “There is a lot of money that is made available for the music scene and also to be an artist myself. And so for the moment, I manage to make a living off music and I’m still at the very beginner point in my career, so that’s amazing.”

Artists performing at a certain level can get a living wage. And how is this aiding the artistry coming out of the country? “Two years ago I felt like no one was interested in Luxembourg and no one here really dared to try and say no, I’m gonna do music and I’m not gonna work in a bank or go to university,” he firmly states. “No one really dared to do that and now things have changed and there’s a whole new creative wave here in Luxembourg and you feel it every day and I’m super happy to be part of it. When you think of Luxembourg it’s always banks and money and you don’t instantly think of a cultural and creative scene, and that’s still a little bit of a problem, but that’s what we’re trying to change.”

Maz started writing rap songs five years ago. Previously he’d been playing the drums and piano, but at the age of thirteen he had started to write poetry, which progressed to rap. “At the beginning I was quite a metal head and I still listen to a lot of metal and rock music, that’s where I played the drums as well, I’m really into that,” he says. “And then only at fourteen/fifteen I started listening to rap music and hip-hop, from the UK mainly. The biggest inspiration was Ocean Wisdom. Right now he’s starting to get really, really big in the UK. There’s a label called High Focus. I was really into High Focus and I still am. And then some alternative rap music, it’s kind of different, it’s very dark and melancholic. There’s one artist called Mr Key, there’s another one called Edward Scissortongue, and it’s very deep, intellectual, poetry rap. It’s weird but he’s amazing. That’s what got me started.”

Listening to Maz, a lazy comparison would be Eminem, taking his fast-paced delivery and idiosyncratic tone. “It’s kind of a compliment, I guess” he shrugs. “The thing is now with this new EP Sleepwalker, I think I really managed to create a certain universe for myself and for my music and I want to explore this universe because I think there’s much more to discover. I’m really trying to integrate my past of rock and metal music into my own project. I would love to have some live instruments and also for the stage to have a drummer and maybe play some drums on the stage. Because I just understood that it’s a part of me and I really want to work on it and have a little rock sound somewhere. To still stay in the melancholic and the dark mood, but sometimes more aggressive when it comes to instruments.”

On this tour, Maz has played shows across Europe, from Amsterdam to North Macedonia, but it’s right here in Esch-Belval at the Rockhal that he played his biggest and most mind-blowing, opening up for Nicki Minaj. “That was…” he bursts out laughing. “Amazing. Right now I don’t get too nervous before the shows because I’ve got some experience now when it comes to live shows, but I’ve never played in front of five thousand people. I was standing right beside the stage with my DJ and the thing is, I didn’t see the crowd really. I saw that there were a lot of people and I was super, super nervous but I didn’t really see how many people there really were. And then they cut the lights, and my DJ went on stage, and people started screaming and then I heard how many people were actually in the room and I was like, oh fuck. And then there was no way back, there was no way back and I had to go on stage and I came up on stage and I saw the people, the lights on the crowd, and it was an amazing feeling. And I started the first song and then it was good. We had a very good show, people liked it, my Instagram kind of exploded that night, it was a lot.”

Releasing his new EP Sleepwalker, it’s a statement to his generation to wake up to all the injustices and destruction that’s happening around them, to wake up and get motivated. And it’s a theme he’s brought into his live performances. “It’s always very important for me to spread the message” he nods. “So Sleepwalker is really about taking our masks off, to look in the mirror. Really to look in the mirror and not to hate each other and not to hate yourself. And it’s also a lot about my generation and how we don’t feel accepted sometimes and how we have the feeling that we need to fight for our future sometimes. It’s a weird world and I’m trying to spread a positive message and it’s very important for me to say that.

“It’s really about showing people how we all look like in this society and I’m tired of it. I’m coming on stage always with the mask and I’m standing for a minute, not even moving, and as soon as I take it off I’m going crazy on stage and that’s what it’s about - we are wearing our masks in this society and then we are not able to express ourselves and our real personality. That’s what I want to encourage people to do when they see me take my mask off on stage and give everything I’ve got and to give them my heart. I’m trying to encourage people to do the same in their everyday life.

“Might be cheesy” he smiles, “But that’s what it is.”