\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\n\tEven if you aren\u2019t intimately familiar with his still-growing catalog, you\u2019ve almost certainly spotted Mack Keane\u2019s name in the credits of some of contemporary R&B\u2019s most exciting and expansive projects. Between Destin Conrad\u2019s Grammy-nominated Love on Digital<\/em>, Omar Apollo\u2019s God Said No (Live)<\/em> and Joyce Wrice\u2019s Overgrown<\/em>, Keane\u2019s talents as a songwriter, instrumentalist, producer and vocalist have helped an exciting, ascendant pocket of the genre streamline their respective sounds.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n \t\t\t\t\tCaribbean Up-And-Comer of the Month: Ayetian Is Shaking Up Dancehall by Blending His Haitian & Jamaican\u00a0Roots\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \t\t\t\t\tHip-Hop Up and Comer of the Month: Lelo On Ghettotech, Sada Baby & the \u2018Kooky Ass\u2019 1970s Movie Inspiring\u00a0Him\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \t\t\t\t\tCountry Up and Comer of the Month: Kaitlin Butts Is Writing Hits and \u2018Writing Off Toxic\u00a0People\u2019\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n\tFor Keane (born Mackenzie Paul Keane), his lifelong love affair with music began in his childhood home. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Calif., Keane is the son of actress-singer Paula Mulcahy and Grammy-nominated songwriter-producer Tom Keane. Keane\u2019s grandfather, Bob Keane, was also a musician and the founder of Del-Fi Records, which notably released Ritchie Valens\u2019s classic \u201cDonna\u201d \/ \u201cLa Bamba\u201d single.<\/p>\n \n\tPursuing music was less of a question and more of a natural endpoint for Keane, 29, whose career took off with his 2016 \u201cModel Behavior\u201d single while studying at New York University\u2019s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. By 2019, Keane began firing off his first two EPs (Donna Ave<\/em> and Aquanetta Dr<\/em>), but he \u201cdidn\u2019t know what the f\u2014k [he] was doing.\u201d Once he linked up with Filipino-American DJ-producer ESTA. (born Francis Esteban) for 2022\u2019s Intersections<\/em>, clarity followed.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWith those first few EPs, I was doing everything myself from writing to producing, with the help of a select few friends who would kick it at the studio with me and my manager,\u201d he tells Billboard<\/em> while traveling between stops on his Wide Eyed Tour. \u201cI was just making songs because I wanted to express myself in that way. Once I started working with other artists and writing and producing for other people, I learned what I want to do, how I want to do it, what I like and what I don\u2019t like.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThat\u2019s why I see [Wide Eyed<\/em>] as my first album,\u201d he continues. \u201cI\u2019m stepping into the artist that I am.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tKeane always planned to put out a solo album after Intersections,<\/em> but his work on other projects \u2014 and a particularly busy period in his life \u2014 forced him to scrap what he had been working on in favor of 2025\u2019s Entries<\/em>, a mixtape that felt like a more immediate purging of his emotions. After hunkering down with key collaborators like twin brothers Austin Daniel Brown and John Sterling Brown, Keane whipped up Wide Eyed<\/em>, which arrived May 8, via a partnership with Rob Walker\u2019s recently relaunched Star Trak Entertainment, once home to N.E.R.D., Clipse and Kelis.<\/p>\n \n\tAt once strikingly candid and quietly hopeful, Wide Eyed<\/em> relays the myriad life lessons Keane has internalized throughout his 20s. From the mixture of Stevie Wonder-esque chords and Fleetwood Mac-inspired guitars on the standout \u201cHoneymoon Dreaming\u201d to the sparse soul of \u201cBloodshot,\u201d Wide Eyed<\/em> grounds Keane\u2019s take on blue-eyed soul with notes of funk and hip-hop.<\/p>\n \n\tKeane\u2019s been playing shows across the U.S. on his Wide Eyed Tour in support of the record, which marks a quick return to the live circuit after opening for Destin Conrad\u2019s Love on Digital Tour last fall. \u201cEvery night, I\u2019m so surprised because they\u2019re singing every lyric, and it\u2019s my first time experiencing that, so it\u2019s special,\u201d he gushes. \u201cAnd I\u2019m with Austin and John; we made the album together, and now we\u2019re all onstage together!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAs his Wide Eyed Tour nears its finale on July 31 at San Francisco\u2019s Cafe du Nord \u2014 and his recent guest appearance on Chris Patrick\u2019s \u201cRun It Back\u201d continues to get love in hip-hop circles \u2014 Keane is already thinking about his next record, which he says already lives in his voice memos.<\/p>\n \n\tBelow, Mack Keane opens up to Billboard<\/em> about the long road to Wide Eyed<\/em>, his relationship with Destin Conrad and how the Odd Future era informed his own maturation as a young L.A. artist.<\/p>\n When do you first remember your brain registering music in a special way?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI shared a room with my older brother for the first five years in my life, and I remember being two years old hearing my mom come in and sing us lullabies. She would actually write songs to put us to sleep. My dad also plays the piano; there was so much music and so many musicians around my house my whole life that it wasn\u2019t even a question\u2026 it was everything. Growing up, my dad had a recording studio in the garage, so I\u2019d be there chilling on his lap while he was working with musicians.<\/p>\n Do you remember the first song that was stuck in your head as a kid?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tIt was probably \u201cIsn\u2019t She Lovely\u201d by Stevie Wonder; I remember my mom playing that a lot. And my dad also would play \u201cCan\u2019t Hide Love\u201d by Earth, Wind & Fire. But I always loved \u201cHey Harmonica Man\u201d by young Stevie too.<\/p>\n What music did you gravitate towards in your adolescence?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI listened to everything, but I was always in the vein of R&B and soul music. I also had a rock phase. My older brother is a guitarist, and he was way more into progressive rock and metal, so sometimes I would listen to Tool, Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Incubus. He even had me on Avenged Sevenfold when I was a kid. [Chuckles<\/em>.]<\/p>\n \n\tI was tapped into all this different s\u2014t, but I was also doing my own discovery and finding Chet Baker, [Lonny Breaux-era] Frank Ocean and Tyler, the Creator and the whole L.A. scene. I was raised in Los Angeles, and seeing Odd Future and all that s\u2014t was so inspiring.<\/p>\n \n\tI remember getting into Kendrick [Lamar] too, and tapping into all the L.A. artists who were coming up at that time. I was always an old head though, so I listened to lots of records from the \u201870s and a lot of Prince, Stevie, Rufus & Chaka Khan, James Taylor, Carole King, Elton John, etc.<\/p>\n That must\u2019ve been a fruitful time to cultivate your own artistry, coming up in L.A.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tFirst off, it made me proud to be from this place. I thought it was the coolest s\u2014t; it was so L.A. skater culture. I started producing on GarageBand when I was around 12 or 13, and that era inspired me to make beats like the early Tyler, Frank and Syd [from The Internet] stuff. I love how whirly the synths were; all that MIDI s\u2014t gave it a DIY feel, but it still felt soulful. You got your major sevenths and minor ninths, plus there\u2019s a bridge going on, but you\u2019re using these digital sounds. And having seen Kendrick perform back in 2012 and seeing where he is now, it really shows that this takes time.<\/p>\n This album is kinda devastating, man. What\u2019ve you been up to in the past year since Entries<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI guess you could call it three years, actually. This album has long been in the making. It\u2019s about me becoming a man and stepping into adulthood across life, love and relationships. I learned a lot in my 20s, man. I would get excited about feelings and emotions but not think too far in the future about what that really means. I would just go off the moment, which is a beautiful thing, but as we get older, s\u2014t gets more real. And you gotta really dig deep and know what it is that you want, so you don\u2019t lead people on in your story.<\/p>\n \n\tThe whole record is the story of what I went through with somebody who taught me a lot. I\u2019m a very vulnerable songwriter for better or for worse, so it definitely sometimes is scary to put out the songs that I do. But I like art like that. I like to be honest in my art.<\/p>\n When and how did you land on the title?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tWe loved making the song \u201cWide Eyed.\u201d Me, Austin [Daniel Brown], and his twin, John [Sterling Brown], who played drums on the majority of the project, were jamming as always. John hit the groove on the drums, I did some other s\u2014t on it, and then I was like, \u201cThis is too funky.\u201d So, Austin tried some more somber chords, and I\u2019m like, \u201cOh s\u2014t, this is it!\u201d I started singing, and we made the record in a day. It just felt so special and really important in my spirit.<\/p>\n \n\tMy friend Jack McKain, who\u2019s a photographer who shot some of the single covers, was like, \u201cI feel like \u2018falling short\u2019 is not the sentiment of the album.\u201d The album isn\u2019t necessarily me failing; there\u2019s also hopefulness, learning, accountability and honesty. So, we put our heads together [for a new title] and kept coming back to Wide Eyed<\/em>. And that title captures being hopeful but also being na\u00efve, so I thought it was perfect.<\/p>\n What song would you say made the album feel complete?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\t\u201cFantasize,\u201d that\u2019s the last record I made. It was actually kind of a last-minute fix. I was alone in the studio one day, made a couple of records, and that was one of them. It felt like the rolling credits, especially with the refrain nodding to the \u201cBloodshot\u201d melody. And we made \u201cBloodshot\u201d in six hours, which completely changed the trajectory of the album. I like that the record ends with one of the last things that I made. It also shows where I\u2019m about to go with the next record.<\/p>\n What do you think it was about \u201cBloodshot\u201d that reset the process?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tWe captured a feeling. I didn\u2019t strive to have the perfect vocal or be perfectly on pitch. We just sought out emotion in the way we played the instruments and in the way I approached my vocal. Even Austin encouraging me not to use Auto-Tune allowed the record to really breathe. I wanted every record on that album to give me that feeling too.<\/p>\n What do you value most about your relationship with Destin Conrad?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tMy relationship with Destin has been hilarious. We first met at a Raedio writing camp for the soundtrack for the last season of Insecure <\/em>in 2021. Me, ESTA. and Destin immediately connected, and we were all younger. Me and Destin locked [ourselves in a room and made our song \u201cO.M.L.,\u201d and we decided to keep the vibe going and do more sessions together.<\/p>\n \n\tDestin called me in for his music, and I started writing with him. I would make these hooks and give them to him, and he would finish songs so fast. He\u2019s such a quick writer. We feed off each other so well. I love Destin. And he really helped me out by bringing me on the road, so I\u2019m really grateful.<\/p>\n How do you define success and what are some of your long-term goals?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI define success by doing what I love with the people who I love for as long as I want. As long as I can maintain that and have the freedom to be creative and live the life that I want to live, that\u2019s successful. I believe success is an active process; it\u2019s not a thing that you grab.<\/p>\n \n\tIn the future, I would love to headline Coachella and do stadium runs. I want to get into TV and films too. I love nature, so I\u2019d like to somehow involve that in my work. Maybe I\u2019ll be the Anthony Bourdain of music and travel.<\/p>\n What does decompressing look like for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s something I need to get better at. I\u2019m a workaholic, man. But I like going somewhere beautiful and remote, hiking, jumping in a body of water, eating good and chilling, watching a fire sunset, and just doing nothing.<\/p>\n \n\tBut in September, I want to work on my next album. I already got some stuff in the works, a bunch of voice memos.<\/p>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/rb-hip-hop\/rb-up-and-comer-of-the-month-july-2026-mack-keane-interview-1236300888\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Up-and-Comer-Mack-Keane-e1784744155769.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard Even if you aren\u2019t intimately familiar with his still-growing catalog, you\u2019ve almost certainly spotted Mack Keane\u2019s name in the credits of some of contemporary R&B\u2019s most exciting and expansive projects. Between Destin Conrad\u2019s Grammy-nominated Love on Digital, Omar Apollo\u2019s God Said No (Live) and Joyce Wrice\u2019s Overgrown, Keane\u2019s talents […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48],"class_list":["post-2056452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2056452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2056452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2056452\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2056452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2056452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2056452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
![\"Ayetian\"](\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Up-and-Comer-Ayetian-v22-e1784140010136.jpg?w=237&h=147&crop=1\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
![\"July](\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Up-and-Comer-HH-0626-1800.jpg?w=237&h=147&crop=1\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
![\"Kaitlin](\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Up-and-Comer-Kaitlin-Butts-billboard-1800.jpg?w=237&h=147&crop=1\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
![\"Billboard](\"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/2HpFicp.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n