By: Mical Roy, Contributing Writer

The sun’s rays are beaming indefinitely onto my patio, and Maxx is laughing as usual. As hot as it is outside, you’d think he’d be complaining like the rest of the world, but that’s just not his steelo. The irony in his success story isn’t necessarily painted in gold, in fact it’s much less than many who’ve come to him could ever begin to imagine.

Hailing from New York, by way of Los Angeles, Maxx Paine is an astute lyricist who lays his words gently over some of the best production I believe I’ve ever heard. Paine is no veteran to this industry; however, he does a great job at appearing to be larger than life, whether he’s rhyming or indulging in ordinary conversation.

I first came in contact with Maxx a few months ago after viewing his “Listen 2 the Rain” video via a friend’s Facebook page. I was astounded at his ability to facilitate his words so effortlessly, while the track literally rained in the background. I must’ve replayed that video at least 10 times analyzing each word. It was exciting to see the underdog appearing so regal. Even the video was well thought out, classy, and proportionate to the overall theme of the song.

By: Dondric Joseph, Feature Writer

I remember growing up and hearing adults say, “life is all about decisions.” It always sounded like it made sense but it wasn’t until I was an adult and began to make my own decisions that I really understood what they were saying. So many times we see celebrities on the news for simply making the wrong decisions. As humans, it’s not our job to judge because everybody has made a bad decision or two in their lifetime. What’s important is how you come out of that bad decision. Some celebrities seem to never learn their lesson in that bad decision but there are also some who’ve come out as a better person because of their bad decision.