Malc | ‘For Motivational Use Only’ Album Review
New Jersey native and William Paterson University graduate, Malc keeps in mind that yesterday doesn’t matter anymore and each day is a different opportunity to be great. Granted this, Malc goes above-average when working on his craft. As the clock strikes, you can catch the prophetic artist either listening to sample loops or putting soul between his rhymes. Leaning in, you’ll hear Malc putting his heart into what he speaks on. Ultimately, it’s 100% real life and stuff we all go through. Life has its ups and downs, after all. And so, Malc makes sure others are going on a “soul journey” when his voice bellows out the speakers. He says, ” I base my song’s theme off of how I feel that day or have been going through while listening to the beat.
Malc’s latest project, For Motivational Use Only, follows the popular expression “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Malc uses this album, in particular, to express what he’s battling with over time. On the whole, he’s been at a tug-and-war mentally and with self-doubt. Luckily, music has aided him to let loose and give it all he’s got. Besides this, For Motivational Use Only draws from R&B classics in production and delivery. When Malc raps, he’s felt and heard. The project’s name derived from these mishaps that left him on the back-burner. “I was going through a lot during the recording of this project and I felt like this is something that hopefully someone somewhere will use as motivation to just keep going no matter what the world throws at you,” he adds. The album holds weight in its 7 tracks.
Notable tracks like “Daily Repetition” and “Alone” speak volumes. “Daily Repetition” lets loose about what he’s been dealing with. Lately, the rappers fought demons but this song rolls with punches due to Malc’s powerful delivery. His message in “Daily Repetition” is that he refuses to settle for just good because it isn’t good enough. This line, for instance, speaks volumes, “Fuck a moment, I’m trying to stretch this for a lifetime/Working, I need a 30 for 30/ Bitch it’s my time.” The beat for “Daily Repetition” is nostalgic and carries a subtle 808. Malc speaks about his unwavering ambition. And to summarize this notion is Malc’s verse, “Nah, never cheat the grind/Long as I stay organic, they can’t ever say that I’m far from mine. Who else can turn their darkest times into a lifeline?” On the other hand, “Alone” questions how he’s going to move ahead. After all, being a legend is the goal and he can’t fold. Considering himself “humbly arrogant,” Malc speaks on nights where he’d listen to sample loops and put the pen to the pad. Aside from this, the rapper questions society’s way of thinking, “How can they spend money to build walls and not use it to fix Flint’s water issue?” and life, in general. He retorts, “tell me why I pray and never get an answer?” This song is somewhat similar to the second track, “Make It Out” except it’s more reflective.
Throughout “Make It Out” Malc uses a powerful, oscillating flow to say “Lately I ain’t been feeling like myself. Don’t know if its just a phase or maybe I just need help.” On the outside, Malc is working non-stop so he can get further ahead. However, on the inside, Malc asks himself, “Is this going to pay it off in the end?” Still, Malc concludes he must give music all he’s got. The rapper is destined to make it to the top. As “Make It Out” continues, Malc speaks on battles with doubt and how he does less praying and leans more towards meditation. He calls it, the book of revelations. Along with his words on “fears, worries, and doubts” that he’s “trying to do without,” Malc admits losing his father and brother. After losing his best friend, it put things into perspective. Malc says in this excerpt “Time is of the essence,” and “plan for the future, make sure you live for the now.”
Not to mention, Malc even addresses minor troubles on the lover’s paradise as well. That is to say his song, “Mirrors” has a beat that uses inspiration from Tamia’s “So Into You” except its sped-up and has more snares. Before he met his wifey, Malc wasn’t so invested in relationships and even says there are women who regret dating him. But once the two hit it off, Malc says he knew this love was like no other. For instance, Malc says in this line “forever endeavored, I told you I’d do better and I knew this thing was real from the first day I met her.” Regardless of what they go through, he believes it makes them even stronger and that’s word to his. Case in point, his love begins to have doubts once groupies intervene. Since he’s garnering success, more eyes seem to be on him but Malc reassures that she’s the only apple for him out of the bunch. His feature, Karma carries a note range that’s sweet yet soulful and just naturally executes “Mirrors” chorus. In reference to “Mirrors” Malc says that it wrote itself, “I knew it needed something else, and once I reached out to Kärma who happens to be my engineer also for the feature she knocked it completely out of the park. She did something really special on there.” Other songs that add a great spin-off to 90’s samples are “Hold On/Gina’s Interlude” and “Odds II.”
For the most part, Malc‘s project, For Motivational Use Only is supposed to put you all in the feels. With pain comes joy and there is a greater purpose for it. “What doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger if you let it,” he adds. After all, “They say heaven is what you make it, and hell is what you go through, for your hearts desires you go higher than you supposed, it ain’t what you going through, it’s how you get through that expose you, everybody dealing with life, the circumstances, let em mold you.”
If you haven’t already, stream For Your Motivational Use Only below:
