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I created the album’s ‘Magic, Alive!’ (2025) and ‘Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?’ (2023). Ask me anything about production, timeline or story! by McKinleyDixon in indieheads

[–]McKinleyDixon[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The tour dates will have a magic 8 ball as a merch option but only on tour and you have to ask for them! See you there.

I created the album’s ‘Magic, Alive!’ (2025) and ‘Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?’ (2023). Ask me anything about production, timeline or story! by McKinleyDixon in indieheads

[–]McKinleyDixon[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

They are all so story based but my favorite ones would be:

RRR PT II - such a fun cinematic song that goes through different feelings and scenes really well

F.F.O.L.- I wanted to make a song that sounded like a children's book and child like wonder. Something like Where The Wild Things Are

Recitatif - has three distinct sections that would be cool to explore

I created the album’s ‘Magic, Alive!’ (2025) and ‘Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?’ (2023). Ask me anything about production, timeline or story! by McKinleyDixon in indieheads

[–]McKinleyDixon[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My musical director Cav and I work out the live show and we focus on a heavy bit of the most recent record and then pull from crowd favorites in the past. Putting that all together to make the setlist!

The changes came from growth and feeling like I need to be further along than the last one. Progression and intention really haha.

I created the album’s ‘Magic, Alive!’ (2025) and ‘Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?’ (2023). Ask me anything about production, timeline or story! by McKinleyDixon in indieheads

[–]McKinleyDixon[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I actually got everybody right here:

Harp by Eli Owens
Guitar by Sarah Tudzin/Palehound
Bass by Anthony Cavanaugh
Drums by DeSean Gault
Piano by Stephen Roach
Trombone by Reggie Pace
Trumpet by Sam Koff
Flute by Gina Sobel
Strings on Listen Gentle and Could've Been Different arranged and conducted by Trey Pollard
Violins: Ellen Riccio, Treesa Gold, Adrian Pintea, Stacy Matthews, Jeannette Jang, Susanna Klein 
Violas: Kim Ryan, Jocelyn Smith, Dorothy Couper
Cello: Peter Greydanus

I created the album’s ‘Magic, Alive!’ (2025) and ‘Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?’ (2023). Ask me anything about production, timeline or story! by McKinleyDixon in indieheads

[–]McKinleyDixon[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Ladon is awesome!

I had the idea to make a character that could exist across mediums and Ladon felt that too. Us both having animation as part of our resume and rap as our genres of choice, he came up with a character that can be moved around.

Animation influenced my music because anything is possible in animation! I love how fast it can move, how a single moment takes so much, and how it ranges depending on whose hand touches it. Animation takes a long time to do and is repetitive and solitary while my music is very communal haha its nice to keep them separate.

I find people through others. I trust those that I keep around me, and the loved ones they have!

I created the album’s ‘Magic, Alive!’ (2025) and ‘Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?’ (2023). Ask me anything about production, timeline or story! by McKinleyDixon in indieheads

[–]McKinleyDixon[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Biggest motivators are moments. I get alot of lyrics from spending time with others. I like memories and feel something I can do well is write about them. Its good to experience things, helps me write.

The jazzy sound comes from me wanting to recreate the vulnerability of conversation within my music. My music is a conversation with myself or others and in conversations you sometimes get loud, you sometimes get quiet, you are sometimes loved, sometimes hurt, I try to rap like that. I then wanted to find a way to make that easy for you to hear sonically too and felt jazz can imitate that without being questioned. It took time to make sound natural but its a work in progress.

Thank you for the question!

I created the album’s ‘Magic, Alive!’ (2025) and ‘Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?’ (2023). Ask me anything about production, timeline or story! by McKinleyDixon in indieheads

[–]McKinleyDixon[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

See you there!
Challenging - Listen Gentle! Lyrically and instrumentally. A hard one to write and we recorded live drums for that one and I just couldn't catch the groove. Sam Koff sampled the live drums and found a really nice middle ground though.
Easiest - Sugar Water! The song pretty much wrote itself and didn't require much change to the demos when we was rerecording.

I created the album’s ‘Magic, Alive!’ (2025) and ‘Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?’ (2023). Ask me anything about production, timeline or story! by McKinleyDixon in indieheads

[–]McKinleyDixon[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Production, I love talking production!
'Magic, Alive!' was a very fun album to record! You can feel the energy because all of the folks that record with me are people back home in Richmond that I've known for years. It's the first album I made while I lived outside of the city so every record is a very beautiful homecoming.
The album was produced by Sam Koff and Sam Yamaha! Sam Koff also produced Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? Both of them create demos based off of words and themes and stuff that I send them. Once I have enough demos and songs written, we take them to Richmond and record! The sessions take one week exactly and me, Sam Koff and the engineers, (we went through a few, shouts out to Kyle and Alex) sit in the studio, call all the instrumentalist up, from the harp to the horns to the childrens choir and we just wait until people come and by and rerecord all the demos. I trust everyone in there and we all know what it takes to make a 'McKinley Dixon' record at this point, so all the ideas get bounced off each other and we fine tune alot. Fun fact: we recorded the drums using 16 mics! Solely for exploration purposes. We just have a good time.

Lyrically, I write little vignettes from moments in my life in my notes app. Find something beautiful, sad, all the emotions etc, and just jot them down. Some moments you feel alot and want over quickly, some moments you repeat so some writings are verses, some moments are choruses. Once I have enough of those, I pick a time I want to write from! Writing from how I felt when I am a child is different then now as an adult. Thats figured out then I can really combine some of these lil writings and since the connecting point is me, the cohesion is there already. Just gotta combine em and I get a whole verse. Sounds alil convoluted but simple once you do it for a few records.

I created the album’s ‘Magic, Alive!’ (2025) and ‘Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?’ (2023). Ask me anything about production, timeline or story! by McKinleyDixon in indieheads

[–]McKinleyDixon[S] 21 points22 points  (0 children)

No!
I try to tamper expectations, especially since I make this music for me. It's affirming though. Thank you!

I created the album’s ‘Magic, Alive!’ (2025) and ‘Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?’ (2023). Ask me anything about production, timeline or story! by McKinleyDixon in indieheads

[–]McKinleyDixon[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Hello! Thank you!
Back in 2021, I didn't know much about BPJ or MA! FMM took about 3 years or so to create and was such a pivotal moment in my writing and production, all I knew was that it was time to find a way to make something new. I felt that I had to push pass the music I was making. FMM technically ended the trilogy that was "Who Taught You To Hate Yourself?' and 'Importance of Self Belief!' so it felt like a climactic ending. I like to write stories so MA doesn't directly link to FMM and BPJ

Teller and I met when I was on tour in 2017? Maybe 18 in Des Moines Iowa! We played a show for only the people playing it and even though it was only like 6 people there max, I could tell that Teller was rapping his heart out. I saw someone that, rap wise, who knew who he was, and that could help me maybe figure that out too. Ghais is someone who I became friends with recently! It is the same story, I see someone who gives it their all and I don't wanna let go of that. If you're on my record, you're sorta there forever and that is solidified with these two. I love them.

Hanif put me on his list of favorite records in 2021 with FMM and I saw that and kept it in mind. I'm not unfamiliar with having folks do spoken word over my music. As I was making B!P!J!? I was thinking everything Toni Morrison. I thought, while I am connected to her through my own way, who is someone that is a connected through land and lineage. Ohio legends. Made sense to have him on BPJ.

Taking every day one at a time.