"My name is Maggie and this is my song."
Twenty-two year old Mahogany Matthews wished for nothing more than being a famous singer. She grew up surrounded by music and was inspired by other artists like Anita Baker, Whitney Houston, TLC, Beyoncé Know...
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||Mahogany||
Everyone was born with a name, a distinctive designation which an individual is addressed or referred to. One would prefer to be called that specific name they were given at birth. Then there were people who wanted be called something else as a way to establish this identity they created for themselves. Otherwise known as a nickname. My given name was Mahogany, like the hard reddish-brown timber from a tropical tree. As precious as my name may have been to say and hear, I was never called that.
I had several unpleasant, disheartening, and disrespectful nicknames. A few were blackie, monkey, and the most popular being that black bitch. As impertinent as these names were, it was a common experience for women like me to go through. It was even more prevalent within the music industry. That's where I mostly heard these rude comments. In an area where I assumed I would be the safest and truly myself. But I was more than wrong and found myself lesser than my peers, despite being more skilled.
Funny how that works, huh?
Even with all of that going on behind the scenes, I still found myself close to the music scene. It was deeply installed into my veins, so I couldn't avoid it even if I wanted to. And I didn't want to. All that I wished was to be in the forefront, to have my own voice and time in the spotlight. But instead of it being me, there was someone else who had the opportunity that I had hoped for. She had my voice, my fame, my shine. That's just the industry was and I was forced to be alright with it.
I really wasn't though.
"So, Sparxxx, this new single has gained a lot of popularity over the last few weeks. How are you handling all this disclosure, positive and negative, that's being done surrounding it?" The interviewer questioned reading off his cue cards.
Behind the scenes was where I had been for a year when it came to Sparxxx or Alycia. I was her ghostwriter. In all actuality, I was the writer for many artists under Echo Records, but Alycia was the one who I wrote for mostly out of the bunch. She was my voice. How I came across this job was interesting and quite a story to tell. It was also the beginning of my stale journey. I come from a small, quiet suburban town in Maine where I lived with my mother and grandmother. I was brought up in the church and sung in the choir while also taking music lessons like my life depended on it.
I was, and still am, a musical nerd. I played four instruments, read and wrote music like it was a job, and educated myself on every single musical aspect that I could. I took music so seriously that when I turned eighteen I moved to Los Angeles to attempt at pursuing a career. I didn't have a distinct path I wanted to go down. I could sing, rap, play, and write. Therefore, I chose to do all four, and be a multi-talented artist. Who wouldn't want that? I thought by having all those skills under my belt that stepping into the industry would be easy.
