For a long time now, the presence of my name is often taken with the presumption that it was designed out of arrogance.  The inferior complex that comes from most MC’s when they say the name often generates an imbalance of mutuality because many believe I want what they have.  This is far from true.  Without over explaining or devaluing the meaning of my name, its purpose and definition is way deeper than a simple Hip Hop name.   From my perception, this is my gift from God.

Definition:

In full context, Madman the Greatest means a ‘king in his own world’.  As a child, I was always grown to think of myself as a king.  Not over man or above God but over my own mentality.  For many young black men growing up in my era, it was easy to fall into the hidden traps of the ignorant stereotypes of my environment.  Luckily for me, my parents (my mother especially) believed in me to be more than I could imagine.  Through their heavy encouragement I began to learn my history.  The more I began learning who I am as a black man, I started to understand that this wasn’t just through parenting but nurtured through my culture in general.  This was something I learned through my spiritual ancestors who once walk this earth before me and paved the path of my freedom that I can endure every day. 

Madman (my creative world):

The first part of my name refers to the creative world I live in when I get into my creative mode.  Ever since I started music, I’ve always generally been in the studio by myself so the methods I use can be conceived as “crazy” because I go right outside the box when producing music.  This behaviour is something I learned from the father figures in my life.  Both my father and my grandfather were the same when it came to the arts of sound.

With the earliest memory beginning with my father, he would spend all day in the living room playing 12 inch vinyl on a single deck turntable whilst he would be building and fixing furniture.  Though his main job was carpentry, he was a genius whatever he put his hands to.  Creating everything from dining tables; cabinets and sound speaker boxes, the sound of old school reggae would fill the walls of the house nurturing my musical senses for music. 

On the other side of my paternal family, my grandfather (my mother’s father) was no different.  His outlet was the electric guitar where he would come home from work or church and spend the evening hours singing hymns whilst playing his guitar by himself.  It was bold, brown, clean and well preserved like him.  Every time we was there, you would hear his singing travelling through the air of his house. The house he built by himself.  

So at the age I am at now, I simply replicated their behaviour.  I’m now the guy remaining in the studio, building and creating music being just like them.

The Greatest:

This part of my name symbolises three things: God; my parents & my culture.  The three things that at its very foundation make up who I am as a complete person.  Each as important as the other, my perspective would be distorted without one.  As just me, my complexes often take over my confidence.  In no shape or form do I believe I am perfect.  However when I am in the midst of God; act on the influences of my parenting and infuse the art I have with the knowledge of my culture, there is no doubt I am empowered. 

My voice has distinction; my music has energy and my words having meaning.  Regardless of how others hear it, they can hear the drive that the almighty has put inside me to be the artist I am.  Yes, I do reference myself as a King; as Great and as a Lord of my sound to symbolise a politically correct version of the cultural title, ‘Negusa Negast’ meaning King of Kings.  I use this in reference of all our Black Leaders like Malcolm X; Martin Luther King; Harriett Tubman; Haile Selassie; Marcus Garvey and Nelson Mandela to never forget where I am coming from and to do what I can every day to never give up because I wouldn’t be able to be free without them.

It is through the grace of God himself that has built this skill in me to become an advocate of an alternative view into the familiar stereotypes that plague the associations of young black men.  Music is my platform and my words are my soldiers. My name has a purpose that only God can challenge.   

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Author: Madman the Greatest.