Mark Steele: Question Mark

Check out my interview below with artist Mark Steele.

So who exactly is Mark Steele? I’d like to know more about you.

Mark Steele: It’s kind of dope that you asked that because my whole brand is based
off that one question, who is Mark Steele? To be truthfully honest, even I’m still
trying to figure out that answer. Everyday I’m growing and maturing as a man and
as an artist; and I have these constant battles with myself about the person I want
to be vs. the person I am becoming. So just like any true artist, I thought it would
be dope to try and bring my audience along with me on that journey. But to sum it
all up what I can tell you is that Mark Steele is just a normal kid from Durham, NC;
blessed with extraordinary talent and with an even more extraordinary amount of
ambition to achieve his dreams.

I appreciate your honest answer so much. I can definitely relate to the constant battle that we experience with ourselves. So what encouraged you to pursue a career in the music industry? What all do you do?

Mark Steele: Well ever since I can remember I’ve always had a gift musically, but
the blame for encouraging me to pursue this as a career has to be placed on my
uncle Ice Rocka. When I was about 14 he started an indie label based out of Durham,
NC called Stillhouse Records. He signed me along with my longtime friend Mike
Lowrey as a rap duo called “Mic & Rep”. Once we accomplished a little success such as
being place in the “Unsigned Hype” section of The Source Magazine(Feb. 07) I knew
this was something I wanted to do forever. Rapping, directing videos, recording,
mixing, engineering, and designing clothes are the only things I do right now. I
haven’t reached my full potential yet, skill or success wise, so I don’t think I’ll be
adding anything else to my resume until I do.(laugh)

You have so much to offer! It's good to never limit yourself to what you can do. Even you don't know your greatest potential. Mark, who are some artists that you’ve worked with? As a hip-hop artist, how do you stand out?

Mark Steele: I’ve been rapping for awhile so I’ve worked with plenty of artist over
the years. I think so far the most notable collaborations are with Young Money
artist Cory Gunz and 9th Wonder’s Jamla Records artist Rapsody. To stand out as a
hip hop artist I just try to simply remain me. Out of 6.6 billion people in this world
there's only one of me. I try to focus on that fact when I’m making a song and so far
it’s seem to work. Hate to sound kind of cliche.

Wow, that's amazing. By the way, Congratulations on your new album! What’s the
story behind it?

Mark Steele: Thanks! Although I wouldn’t quite call it an album, it’s all
original tracks and its album format but I’d prefer to consider it a mixtape. Its
called “Question Mark” and its my 2nd solo project. It’s actually a spin off of my
1st solo mixtape titled “Who Is Mark Steele?” Like I touched on earlier, as I mature
as individual, I also grow as an artist as well and on this project I touched on a lot
different topics based off that one issue. For example there is a song on the project
called “Balance” where I talk about the interpersonal conflict I have between fully
catering toward the “mainstream” sound or the “underground” sound, because I’m
in love with both and I’m also good at them both so its hard to neglect one or the
other. There's also a lot more topics so I feel the whole tape is a great piece of work
that everyone should enjoy it.

That's dope. Do you have any specific goals as you continue to work in the industry?

Mark Steele: Honestly, I just want to get whatever's coming to me, because either way its coming..

Be sure to download Mark Steele's new mixtape "Question Mark" 


Contact Information
Twitter: @whoismarksteele
Facebook: facebook.com/marksteele
Youtube: youtube.com/marksteeletv