The Maxon Margiela Interview (2025)

For someone who started treating rap as a serious pursuit only last year, Maxon Margiela’s growth has been impressive and noticeable. My first ever Sadprt interview was with Maxon in November 2024, almost a year ago. Since then, he’s not only gained a following but also sparked a few controversies and been the subject of some heated debate. What has changed about Maxon Margiela?

Jack Tellier: Our first interview was in November. ... How have you changed since our interview?

Maxon Margiela: Yeah, I've definitely learned a lot, being a whole year in the space ... Last year has just been crazy. Even in personal life, just like as an artist, you know?

JT: Can you give me an example of something that you were taught about yourself or about the industry?

MM: Well, I kind of learned that where I was a year ago compared to now is, like, not shit. ... I wouldn't even consider myself like fully an artist back then, you know what I mean? I thought I was taking it serious, but there’s levels to this shit, bro. And I found that out over this last year; I had to really step up my game and take myself seriously.

JT: You recently changed your Instagram profile picture to Johnny from “Naked,” which is a very good movie. I haven't watched it in a few years, but I love [Mike Leigh’s] work. What was the thinking behind that change?

MM: I'm a really big fan of “South Park,” but like that's pretty much all it comes to in terms of the meaning of why I had Kenny as my profile picture. So I kind of wanted to have my profile picture, have a little more meaning. Like going back to taking this shit seriously, I didn't want no goofy little profile picture.

And I relate to Johnny a lot, the character. Not really what his actions and choices are, because obviously, you know, he's ... made some questionable choices, but just as in terms of his way of thinking, his vulnerability and whatnot. He’s hella vulnerable, I can relate to that. Like everyone who listened in his life, he ends up self-sabotaging it and running away.

JT: When we talked last, I asked you if you watched movies and you said you just watch “South Park” mostly. So is you watching movies more of a recent thing you've gotten into?

MM: I used to be into movies hella, but when I first was getting into this artist shit, I was like, out of touch with my personal self and just was like more of like Maxon. So I didn't do any of my personal things that I like to do anymore, like watching movies. I would just watch “South Park” in the hotel or whatever. This last year I've kind of got more in touch with myself, like my older self. And I’m trying to do more personal things that I used to like to do.

JT: What are some other things that you’re getting back into?

MM: Fishing. I've been fishing a lot, like on some Florida stuff with my boy, Perc and shit.

JT: How is your artistic process, like the mechanical aspects of music, how is that different now than it was back then?

MM: My whole recording process has always been kind of, like, odd or irregular from a normal artist. I started off using BandLab and shit. The first song I put out, “Mansion,” was a song I recorded in my fuckin’ car with my homeboy while it was pouring rain, we were hotboxing. ... Sometimes it would take me like two days to record a song in BandLab because I would record half of it and come back to it later.

Maxon started using BandLab just for fun around 2021 or 2022 with his friend, Ant. He stopped and picked it back up again in 2024.

So like, June of 2024, which is like four months into me rapping, I got to the studio for the first time. In the beginning, I would just punch in ... I would go in with no topic or idea or anything and just hear the beat and go bar for bar.

Now I look at it a little more mechanically like, I hear a beat and I’ll sit on that beat for a week and just listen to it over and over and over and every time I hear it, a new thing pops into my head and I'll put it down and start, like, a whole writing process. Even if I don’t have a beat, it'll be the same thing with a producer. I'll sit down with a producer and be like, “this is the idea for the sound that I have,” and we'll work on that beat together specifically for me to get onto it. I’m not just cluelessly hopping on beats.

JT: How often are you writing or recording?

MM: I haven’t recorded in a little bit, honestly. I should be recording way more. But you know, it's still a learning process. I'm still getting used to recording more and more. In the beginning, my recording trips would be so spaced out. ... We would do like one recording trip a month and it would be like five days in that month where I'm just recording every day.

JT: This past year you’ve gotten yourself into some kinds of online beefs. How would you approach those sorts of situations now if they were to occur?

MM: It depends on the situation. I’ve said some things poorly in the past, but I stand on everything that I said. I just think I expressed myself poorly. It was kind of just like a spur of the moment thing. I think about things a lot more now. Before it was kind of just like, yeah, I wouldn't really think about it. I would just say things or do things and I wouldn't think about them — that goes for all aspects of my career. Now, I’ve had a lot more time [as an artist] so I'm a lot more aware. I just go into things a little slower.

JT: These little online squabble things, whether it be the Rolling Loud thing or something else, what have those kinds of situations taught you about yourself or the industry?

MM: For myself, again, I just need to slow down before speaking up too quick. I guess about the industry, like, I was a fan of Rolling Loud, you know? I was at Rolling Loud like three months before that situation, so like, it was kind of alienating. I wasn't expecting that. I do understand where they're coming from though. Obviously, they have to defend their image or whatever, but I do stand on what I said. I just think I spoke for myself poorly. It was eye opening on the industry and how shit works and people move.

In an interview earlier this year, Maxon made some comments regarding Rolling Loud, essentially saying he feels the festival has a tendency to book artists that no longer interest many festival goers. Rolling Loud’s Instagram account commented on a post about upcoming Florida artists and called him “the dollar store nettspend.” A strange exchange to say the least.

MM: I’m kinda at a point where I’m regrouping everything that has happened and building off of that to see how I move forward. I think it’s time for a new era, a new Maxon. I think people want that.

I don’t think “Filthy” was my greatest work, I think it was just the start. I kinda was pressured by [the] label and management to...

Maxon paused for a few seconds to find the words.

To drop like a lot of- I don’t know, I don’t think I would have dropped a lot of songs I dropped. I was confident on dropping it, I thought it would do well, but I feel like it was comfortable. And I'm not trying to be comfortable, I'm trying to be risky and take the chance. A lot to expect from me.

JT: So, you’re saying “Filthy” wasn't your best work. I remember Tino reviewed it on our page, and I think he gave it a 6. How do you feel about that?

MM: At first, that kind of had me a little thrown. I was like, “Damn Tino, a six?” But I respect it. I respect his opinion. I personally don't think it was a six. I think it was maybe like a 7.8 or something ... I think he had some good points.

JT: I really liked “Wish U Well” a lot. ... I thought it was kind of refreshing from you. It sort of showed this vulnerability that you're more willing to dive into recently.

MM: I want to get more in-depth with, like… me. That goes for my lyrics and my image, everything. I want to get more personable.

JT: What are some of your vulnerabilities or personal themes you want to start to touch on more?

MM: Just kind of like... the struggles of being who you are. You know what I mean? Some people don't really fuckin' open up, bruh. And I haven't opened up in a while.

JT: Would you say you struggle with actively being yourself?

MM: Yeah, for sure. I have for a while. I've struggled with like a lot of like, family, and like, personal relationships, too. Abandonment and whatnot.

Like, I've been on my own for a while. I've been on my own since I was 17. A lot of people would just assume that I have a rich family (laughs). I haven't lived with my family since I was 17. I feel like I don't speak ever on me. No one really knows Maxon for real.

JT: What was that like? Did you move out or... what did you do?

MM: So my mom had me kicked out of the house because I had some personal stuff going on. I had gotten into rehab over some court order shit. But yeah, I was on my own at 17 and moved in with my grandma for a little bit.

And then I was 18, I started working at this job that would move me around Orlando and South Florida, like all types of places in Airbnbs. So I was just doing that for a while.

This job Maxon was working was not easy work but it was good money. He was working for a lighting company where he would stand in and operate tech lifts and bucket trucks that were 60 feet tall. He’d work six days a week, 10 hours a day.

MM: And then I was like, “fuck this shit, bro.” Like, my whole life is going to be like this. I had to do something about it. [I] Started doing BandLab again. And then I made that “Mansion” song in the hotbox, raining, a couple weeks before Fashion Week in 2024. Then I played the song for my friend after we made it. He was like, “bro this shit is insane, like, come with me to Fashion Week and we'll shoot a video.” So I shot the video there and that's where Maxon started.

JT: That's a good story. It's kind of like “Naked” in a way, how Johnny is just drifting around going to different places.

MM: Yeah he would stay for a year and then he’d abandon that whole life he had going on. Which, I felt like that ever since I was 17, that's kind of how it was. Like I'd spend a year somewhere and then something would happen. And I'd just abandon that whole life and move on to something new.

Maxon and I talked about his friendships in the Florida scene and how they came to be. Maxon first met upcoming rapper Drxop at an Orlando Lazer Dim 700 show in April 2024. Maxon’s friend, Percaso, was opening for Lazer Dim and this was Perc’s first Orlando concert. The next day, Dxrop accompanied Maxon on a trip to Jacksonville to meet Brennan Jones. In regards to Drxop, Maxon says, “He poured me up on that trip. That's how I guess the friendship started.”

Fun fact: Maxon is in Brennan Jones’ “RIP Corbin” music video. He’s the person wearing the mask.

Oddly enough, Maxon became friends with Percaso through Percaso’s manager, Ant. Ant and Maxon have known each other since they were teenagers. He was the person who initially encouraged Maxon to get into rapping.

JT: How do those friendships play into your life or your artistry?

MM: They're definitely a big role. I wouldn't be here without them. Without Ant, I wouldn't be here. Without my manager, Zay, I wouldn't be here, you know? Like, Zay's the one that got me back into it after that year of working. And like, he's the one that shot the “Mansion” video for me. ... And then after that, I had quit that job so I had nowhere to stay so he let me stay at his crib, and I was like there for a year, bro. I wouldn’t be anywhere without these people around me.

JT: How are you feeling about this new maturity you've taken on?

MM: I’m — I’m ready, you know? I'm ready for what's coming. I'm excited. I'm excited to put out shit. I'm excited for what's coming. I'm excited for a lot of shit.

JT: Would you call this first era of Maxon — that you're over now — would you say that was inauthentic?

MM: No, it wasn't inauthentic. It just wasn't my full true self, if that makes sense. It was withdrawn. I'd say for sure, and it wasn't my full potential. ... like I've taken everything that's happened and recouped and regathered and I’m ready to push forward.

Despite his recent change in heart towards the trajectory of his sound and career, what has remained unwavering throughout it all is Maxon’s sense of brutal honesty. A sort of bluntness that, when it comes out in interviews, can land him in hot industry water. However, this honesty is not limited to the rest of the world, Maxon is perhaps most critical towards himself. He is perfectly willing to admit his past failures and recent shortcomings not only as an artist, but as a person. Maxon Margiela intends to shift his music and image to be more mature as well as more aligned with who he truly is as a person. I think this conversation was a great demonstration of his desire to do just that.