RealStreetRadio Premiere – Vega HeartBreak & M.C have crafted music for a laundry list of notable artists, including Jeezy, Akon, Yo Gotti, Maxwell, Kanye West, Drake, Rocko, Lloyd, Twista and Mia X. But when they take complete creative control, the result is emotionally profound.
Case in point, the duo’s heart-wrenching video for “Monday” featuring Young Marlee Mar centers on the death of M.C’s mother and dives deep into those feelings that surround such a catastrophic loss.
“She was an amazing woman,” M.C tells RealStreetRadio. “Her energy was infectious. She was the cool mom you would see on TV but in real life — educated, beautiful and cool. She was a positive presence in my life in so many ways. My mom didn’t want me doing music at first.
“She wanted me to stick to a more traditional route. She didn’t see rap as a solid foundation or future. Honestly, I understood her stance, but she didn’t realize how much of a passion I had for music and that passion was still developing.”
M.C explains once he started taking fruitful steps toward a music career, she supported him.
“Her pride wasn’t too high to say, ‘Son, I understand and I’m proud of you,’” he continues. “That alone is one of the highest honors I’ve received in my life. She believed. This song is about reflection and appreciate for her contributions and her influence on me. I’m somewhat of an introvert, but I have some extroverted ways.
“Music is my extroverted side and sometimes it’s easier for me to express deeper emotions and capture my true connection through song. Me saying, ‘Hey, I miss my mom’ — yes, that statement is true, but there’s very little depth to that statement, creating music and expressing myself through song allows me to give you a more in-depth perception of my wide range of emotions and temperament.”
“Monday” was never intended to see the light of day but with the urging of his friends and family, M.C realized he couldn’t keep it to himself. He saw how much the song helped others and ultimately decided to share his grief with the world.
“It was never my intent to sit down and write a song about my mom at this stage because I had already done that,” he says. “I have a record called ‘Make You Proud,’ a song I recorded and presented to my mom while she was still with us. I sent ‘Monday’ to close friends and family and the reception/reaction was overwhelming. People called me crying, people sent long text messages expressing their sentiments and most people ended the conversation with, ‘You should release this song outside of family. People need to hear this.’
“I took some time to think about that and had to be honest with myself, asking myself, ‘Are you willing to be this open?’ I’m a very private person and after thinking about this being a way to help people cope with the loss of a loved one and honor my mom in only a way that I can, I became comfortable and OK with the notion of releasing the record to the world.”
Watch the Craig Thomas-directed video above.