JAYD3D: Who is King Madi?

King Madi: I feel like King Madi is the embodiment of everything I want to be. Even if its not how I feel as myself, Ashton, in the current moment, King Madi is almost like a medium where I can express myself however I want. 

JAYD3D:  What music do you still resonate with from your early years?

King Madi: I would say I resonate most with music I grew up listening to like Michael Jackson, Earth, Wind, and Fire, The Spinners, the Black Eyed Peas, Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes, the list goes on.

JAYD3D: Your discography is full of such a wide variety of styles and sounds. Which King Madi sound is your personal favorite right now?

King Madi: I'd have to say my favorite sound from King Madi right now is definitely my MATRIX series. I love my latest self-titled album, but I feel like I'm so much more in my element and ideas flow so much more smoothly when I'm working on something with a concept and storyline. 

JAYD3D:  Can you tell us about your creative process when crafting songs?

King Madi: I typically produce all of my own music, but sometimes I will collaborate with other producers. But it has to move me. That's probably why it takes me so long to finish anything because I can't really just create something if I'm not inspired. Once I have my instrumental, I'll lay down some flows and ideas and write to them. Whenever I'm creating a song, I have to picture it almost like a movie or video game. It has to have a concept. Even some of my most silly songs, they all stem from an idea that I build off of. I will sit with something for weeks, sometimes months and constantly change it until I feel like it's perfect. 

JAYD3D: How do you see yourself pushing boundaries and challenging the conventions of the genre?

King Madi: I feel like I have a sound that really sticks out and it's mainly because when I'm creating music, especially when I'm in album-mode, I will not listen to anything else but my own past work, and try to make something completely different than what I've done before. I have a tendency to disappear and be out of the loop when I'm working on stuff because I want to be in my own little world and create music that can't be compared to anything else people have heard.

JAYD3D: From here, it seems like your audience expands more with every drop. How do you balance maintaining your authenticity as an artist while also appealing to a wider audience?

King Madi: I try not to get too attached to numbers when it comes to my music. I definitely am tuned in with my statistics and I appreciate it tremendously when I see growth, but people appreciate my music because they can tell that I really live and breathe it. This is my life. I truly love the art of producing and writing songs and I think that's kinda what makes listeners gravitate towards me. As far as remaining authentic, it does get a bit hard not to want to play with sounds that are popular at the time, which I have definitely done. But I sit with everything I create for so long and try to listen to it as if I'm not the one who made it. I always ask myself if this is something I'm truly proud of or if I'm doing it because I think it's cool.