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Malcolm Whyz3 Can’t Be Boxed In

The local rapper discusses the Denver hip-hop scene and his latest single, "THE BOX."
rapper Malcolm Whyz3 looking out a car
Rapper Malcolm Whyz3, born Malcolm Whye, is a proud Box State baby.

Christian Hundley

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“It was all a dream / I used to read the Westword magazine / Now I got my face in that thing,” raps Malcolm Whyz3 on his latest single, “THE BOX.” 

Born Malcolm Whye, the rapper has embraced his Colorado roots as the cornerstone of his artistic identity, earning him sold-out shows, a loyal following and yes, even a few mentions in Westword, including a Best of Denver award last year. It’s been four years since he released his debut project, Before the Streetlights Come On, and Whye has been busy touring, building a brand, and unapologetically proclaiming his love and loyalty for the Box State. We caught up with Whye to talk untapped music markets, fatherhood, his upcoming project and who exactly represents Colorado music. 

Whye is one of those rare Denver artists who was actually born and raised here; he started making music in 2019 after the death of his grandmother, and dropped his first single in 2020. While he praises natives who have long been working to build up the music scene, he recognizes there are plenty of transplants doing as much (if not more) for the local industry. “I do give the upper hand or ‘first dibs’ to the people who are from here, the people who paved the way, like Squizzy [Taylor], Trev Rich, those types of people,” he acknowledges. “But there are a whole bunch of people that are here now that want to see Colorado and the scene thrive, so I’m not turning anybody away.” 

As long as an artist shares his goal of uplifting the state’s music community, Whye is happy to consider them as repping the scene, regardless of where they were born or raised. But he warns musicians not to come to the Mile High City expecting a replica of another localized music culture: “Don’t come here expecting Chicago. Don’t come here expecting New York. Don’t come here expecting L.A, then you get here, and say, ‘Well, I don’t have this or this.’ Yeah, that’s because we’re not any of those cities.” 

rapper on stage
Malcolm Whyz3 says his second album will have several features, including a song with his frequent collaborator DNA Picasso.

Aram Aghababian

Whye won’t stand for the notion that there isn’t a thriving music scene here, though. “There are people that shit on Colorado, talk down on Colorado, and say Colorado doesn’t have any culture, doesn’t have a music scene, any sort of scene,” he says. “And that’s what I don’t tolerate.”

When it comes to building a loyal fanbase anywhere, you only get as much as you give, he notes: “Do you support other people? Do you go to other people’s shows? Do you spend money on supporting other people, or are you just focused on yourself? Because there’s a big ‘me’ mentality in certain circles, where people don’t want to support anything unless it directly benefits them. I can’t get behind that, because I think we’re all going to grow together.”

On “THE BOX,” which dropped in June, Whye declares, “Imma be the one that made it without moving away.” But he also believes it’ll be a team effort to put Colorado music on the map: “This is the age-old question of Colorado music, right? How does someone make it happen? I don’t think it’s going to be just me. Of course, I say that in rap as a bravado thing, but I think there’s a lot of people who are going to contribute, and have contributed, and are contributing. There’s not one entity that’s going to make it shake.” 

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He continues, “My mom used to always say, wherever you go, there you are. So you can leave one place, but you take yourself with you. And you’re going to have the same struggles you had in your hometown because you’re not a different person, and you’re not doing things differently.”

Whye had a chance to test his mom’s theory a few years ago, when he was invited to open for Mark Battles on a fourteen-stop tour. He’s one of the select few Colorado rappers to ever tour out of state, but the experience wasn’t exactly what he imagined.

 “If I’m being 100 percent honest, it was not the experience that I was expecting necessarily. It was sort of right before everyone started touring again, so a lot of the stops were cancelled, and a lot of the stops were pretty light on people,” he admits. “Other than that, it was an amazing experience to just be able to experience this country, and how many places I never thought music would take me. My goal wherever I go, whenever I perform, is to make at least one fan. And I can say that at every single stop I talked to somebody, or sold some merch, or had someone come up to me and say I was their favorite part of the show.” 

Plus, he realized that the huge cities so many Colorado artists aspire to play may not be all they’re cracked up to be. Similarly to how many big touring artists (ahem, Beyoncé) overlook Denver, Whye didn’t anticipate the smaller cities on tour to have the largest and most supportive audiences. 

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“Some of the smaller markets are honestly pretty lit. There are so many people that want music and want things to come to their city, and they just don’t get it because they’re not a big market, but they show out and they go crazy,” he confirms. “I think Boise was the most fun show, and I never expected that. You know, you go to LA or something and you’re like, ‘This is going to be the best show!’ Nope, it’s actually a [place like] Boise.”

rapper on stage with a mic
He hopes to expand his Box State Vs. Everybody brand from apparel to playlists, a local business directory and more.

Jackson Blunt

Whye’s 2021 debut album was exclusively made up of solo tracks, but he’s since embraced collaboration and become an in-demand feature artist, dropping songs with such artists as RO$$A¥, DNA Picasso, Keenan TreVon, and ReSrface

“That first album was all me. It was like putting my foot in the water to see if I could do this sort of thing, and just see how people react to it. It was more validation for me that I could do this,” he explains. “Since then, it’s been more collaborating with people, doing more features, working with other artists and that sort of thing. There’s so much that I don’t know, but I’m just more confident in myself to be able to figure something out or get with the right people, and to put out bangers.”

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But he’s also learned to go with the flow and take things as they come, thanks to a new collaborator in his life: his son, whom he welcomed earlier this year. “Becoming a dad has made me more aware of the things that matter and the things that don’t matter. I say that to say, I don’t ever force anything now that I’ve had my son. He’s taught me a lot,” Whye says of fatherhood. 

It’s given him a new perspective on making music, too: “If the song comes, or the lines come, I let them. But all the best music I’ve created has been unforced. I have written a song for and about my son, before he was born and after he was born, which will probably be on the new project. But the number one thing I’m learning from him is to just be patient with things.”

Besides a set at this year’s Underground Music Showcase, Whye has recently taken a hiatus from performing to focus on finishing his sophomore album, which will hopefully drop before the end of 2025. Titled How’s My Driving, he says the project represents the adolescence of his career, whereas his first album, Before the Streetlights Come On, reflected the childlike excitement of his early music exploration. 

Before the Streetlights Come On is like, you’re out playing and your mom says, ‘Just be back before the streetlights come on!’ So everything is fun up until that time, and that’s kind of how music felt back then,” he says. “How’s My Driving is more like, I’m older now, I’ve got the keys to the car, I’ve got my driver’s license, there’s a little bit more responsibility, it’s a little bit more like a job now, and I have these people expecting things from me. So everything is going to be building off of the last project.”

“THE BOX,” the first single off of Malcolm Whyz3’s upcoming album, How’s My Driving, is out now on all streaming platforms.

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