UPTOWN magazine - Maxwell: Soul Survivor

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UPTOWN: What made you put down the mic? Your career was in full swing in 2001.

Maxwell: I left the music industry behind because [celebrity] is such a conditional kind of thng. It’s like, ‘We like you if you look a certain way, if you have a hit record. We like you when you do these types of songs.’ I got tired of chasing my tail and other people’s approval. It’s a heavy thing to have to do that all the time. So it was good to get away and experience life like a normal person. I’m not really in to the whole fame thing.

You didn’t leave because you were beefing with Columbia Records over songs you’d written that they said could be interpreted as too gay-friendly? That’s one rumor that’s been floating around.

No. To this day, I wish I could find out where that [idea] came from. It never came from Columbia. MySpace had just started, and people were able to create their own Web pages—they could take your photo, your name, and pretend to be you. That happened to me and it happened to many people. If that's the worst thing that can be said, then I’m doing pretty good.

No. Honestly, I feel like I’m in good company with a lot of other artists. I mean, what are you going to do? I’ll never have the last word. My life will speak for itself. And at the end of the day, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that lifestyle. It’s not my lifestyle, but it’s not that I think, ‘Oh, my God—how horrible.’ I'm in a musical world. I’m in a creative industry.

Yeah. I'm seeing [that lifestyle] now with all my friends who are having children. They’re progressing and going through life, and I see that’s something I need. But relationships can be tough for me. Maybe I create my own trapdoor somehow. I pick circumstances and situations that won’t allow for a long-term relationship. I have a hard time trusting. A lot of it has to do with my upbringing—my relationship with my mom and my relationship/nonrelationship with my dad [who was killed in a plane crash when Maxwell was 3] and then coming into this line of work. You never know what people’s motives are.

Your first single on this new album, “Pretty Wings,” deals with the pain of your last breakup. Was it a case of being with a great person at the wrong time?

That’s the question I think about over and over again. I was involved in two significant experiences. Those relationships really taught me about how my heart had changed—how it wasn’t so easy to move on anymore. Everyone goes through that—where you think you can bounce back. But as you get older, you hold on tighter to your emotions and the sensitive nature sort of takes over a bit.

I love a pretty, pretty girl. And a really assertive [woman] who knows who she is. I’m looking for a woman who has some sort of career that gives her that completeness within herself, a lot of security in herself. [Being] with someone like me and [because of] what I do, if you don’t have that sense of self, you can fall apart, and then the relationship falls apart because of insecutity, jealousy, and all that. I can get jealous. I know how it feels to think someone is messing around on you...I know that as men, we sometimes get intimidated [by strong women], but that’s the only type of woman who is going to put me in check.

Okay, back to the music. Last year you sold out all of your concert dates within minutes, and with a new album to support your tour. Were you surprised by the response?

Yes! I am so grateful. I look up into the heavens and say thank you. At the peak of my hiatus, I would bump into people in the industry and I learned so much about what they were really about. I had them walk up to me like, ‘Aha! It's kind of a wrap for you, huh?’

When I look at people in the industry, I don’t measure their worth by whether they’re number 1 or number 100. For me, [my career is] not a competition as much as a contribution. I don’t own any titles. I don’t have any throne. There is no crown for me. There is just the knowing that I’ll have to pass this baton to someone else down the road.

But it’s not that way for everybody. A lot of people really get caught up, and it’s a sad thing because [the stardom] will leave. It will be take from you. Everything is kind of on lease. We’re renting everything—these bodies, everything. We own nothing in my opinion. I try to walk with that understanding. That’s why I feel like it’s important to just enjoy the moment and take my music where I can.

http://www.uptownlife.net/images/sekou/JuneJuly/Features/MaxwellCoverStory/junejuly_max_cover.gif

PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE EMPIRE HOTEL IN NYC BY ROBERT MAXWELL
STYLED BY NICOLAS KLAM

Fashion Credits:
[Maxwell in blazer]
BLAZER BY DIOR HOMME; T-SHIRT BY CALVIN KLEIN; JEANS BY A.P.C.; RING AND NECKLACE, MAXWELL’S OWN

[Maxwell on bed]
T-SHIRT BY SAVE KHAKI; PANTS BY PRADA; SHOES BY GRENSON FOR ODIN NEW YORK

[Maxwell in trench coat]
TRENCH COAT BY LOUIS VUITTON; SHIRT BY RALPH LAUREN; RING, MAXWELL’S OWN

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written by Joharie , June 04, 2009

Are you sure that you all have is ethnicity correct?

my maxwell
written by chay , September 18, 2009

Maxwell,I am so glad to see you in back and in stride.You have matured and grown so much, and it's good to see you back again, looking good, feeling good, looking healthy and at peace.You have such a Marvin Gaye-ish swag,and that is hard for me to say that, because I was very passionate about Marvin.Not comparing you with the man,but it's acompliment to the highest degree. Ilove me some Maxwell. I am in my late 40's,if I were younger I'd give him a run for his money.You sing deep from the soul,and it's good to purge yourself of all the impurities to bring in the new and all that's good.Stay positive and keep growing. Love you, Maxwell.