Gaining recognition after her very first YouTube upload, a cover of Childish Gambino’s “Redbone,” Kentucky native MaKenzie has been on the gradual come up. Stopping by to chat with Audacy and Hot 93.7’s DJ Buck at The Hard Rock Hotel in New York, MaKenzie discussed her journey from viral covers to The Voice, and beyond.
LISTEN NOW: MaKenzie at the Hard Rock Hotel New York
“So funny thing is,” MaKenzie explained, “the first cover that I ever decided to upload to YouTube… went viral. It was a cover of ‘Redbone’ by Childish Gambino.” Almost in disbelief MaKenzie reiterated, “the very first video I uploaded of me sitting down and singing a cover of somebody's song and it went very viral.” Noting the buzz caught the attention “the people from The Voice,” who reached out to her “to come audition, which kind of just jump started the whole thing.”
"So from there, I started posting consistently on Instagram and other pages," MaKenzie continued, “and then I had some gospel things, some gospel covers kind of blow up on TikTok and Instagram. But the ‘Redbone’ YouTube cover kind of started it all.”
Talking about The Voice, which Makenzie auditioned for twice, after a non-chair turn her first go around. Recalling how she felt about the experience, MaKenzie shared, “It was very embarrassing, it sucked, it was awful, I did not like it at all. But hindsight is 20/20, it was super character building, so I'm grateful that it happened. In my defense though I did have laryngitis, so it was not my best performance.” Also admitting her first audition song selection wasn’t quite right, noting “I would have wanted to probably do something a little more like female R&B singer type energy just for the audition.”
Then for her second time auditioning, the stars lined up and to MaKenzie relief she got a chair turn from none other than Jennifer Hudson.
MaKenzie also went on to discuss her love of Rock and Heavy Metal music, naming bands like Tool, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Meshugga, Dream Theater, Animals as Leaders, and Primus as some of her favorites. Also listing off a few of her Gospel faves as well, including Kim Burrell, CeCe Winans, and The Canton Spirituals. “I love all of it,” she said.
An eyes closed type of singer, MaKenzie puts a lot of feeling and emotion behind her performances, “I think it's just because I love music so much, you know,” the singer expressed. “I can't see myself doing anything else. Music has helped me through a lot of hard times. Music has just always been there for me. And the eyes closed thing I would say probably started because of stage fright, which I still have to a crazy degree.”
Noting that after she gets into the groove of things, her nerves start to melt away, but if her eyes are still closed, “it's just because I'm feeling what I'm singing. I’m just in the moment and moving through the notes.”
MaKenzie also shared that she used to dramatically sob and sing Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” on repeat when she got in trouble as a kid. Recalling the sometimes emotional toll of singing in a gospel group, as she did in college.
“So singing back in college when I used to sing with the Black Gospel Ensemble, I realize that singing with a group of people, specifically gospel music that can do it, that can bring you to tears. But even songs outside of gospel, they can make you emotional. Like a lot of Brian McKnight songs… any time after my divorce man, I understood why people sing along to that s*** so hard in the car.”
Acknowledging that the business she’s in can be an emotional roller coaster, MaKenzie shares some tools she uses to help maintain her mental health, especially at the start of her career.
“I guess I try and look at it all, because I've experienced a lot of that, even up till now. I'm 26 and I've lived a lot of life in my 26 years. I think the important thing, and this is coming from somebody who struggled with depression and all that stuff like so much, I think it's just really important to embrace the concept — life is just going to life sometimes and it's not going to be easy. But if you make it over, you know, sometimes it takes a mountain. If you make it over it, you're over it… There might be another one that comes, but that's just it." Adding, “Life is too short to focus on the fact that that s*** can feel bad. You gotta just look at the positive stuff.”
Having covered a lot of singers song’s, MaKenzie has actually had the opportunity to meet a few of them, singling out Mariah Carey as the one that she fan-girled over the most.
“Mariah Carey was a big one, because she was a guest mentor on 'The Voice' and i it was the week of knockout rounds and I sang 'How Deep Is Your Love' by the Bee Gees."
“That was cool singing that in front of her cause I'd sung her songs in talent competitions for years,” MaKenzie recalled. “I would have been so nervous to sing one of her songs in front of her. But the week before that, I had sung one of her songs in the battle round. She cried and she told me that she would have bought that song exactly as I did it right then and there and that's still like a highlight for me. That's like one of the highlights of my life.”
Closing out the conversation, MaKenzie talked about her song “Maybe.”
"It’s a song I have with a producer named Rob Knox, super talented guy, super great person,” the singer shared. "It was my third-ish session when I started coming out to LA to work to just create and get things moving. And it was an immediate, like musical chemistry match for that stage in my life.”
“We wrote it so quick, we wrote it in a day. And then it was just a matter of going back in over the course of, I guess it was two sessions to just fine tune some vocals. Then when we got TA Thomas to be featured on it… and we brought it together.”
Makenzie also chopped it up about her tattoos, shared some advice she got from Jennifer Hudson, talked about her Kentucky roots, and more. To catch it all, check out the entire interview above.