We are absolutely thrilled to welcome rapper Mustafa Shakir to the Maximal Music Sync Roster!

Mustafa Shakir is a Harlem-raised Hip Hop artist who's collaborated with legendary producers Pete Rock (Nas, Biggie Smalls, CL Smooth, etc.), 9th Wonder (Jay Z, Rapsody ,Mary J Blige), Mark Batson (Dr. Dre, Eminem), and Maximal Music Sync’s own Voli Martung (Kudeta, Young Guru) and Goldfingz (Suicide Squad). He has started his own independent label ibreakrecords and continues to work with some of the best artists and producers in the business. Mustafa is also an actor and has earned critical praise for his starring role in the second season of Marvel’s Luke Cage, where he played super villain crime boss John McIver (Bushmaster). In addition to the Netflix series, Shakir is perhaps most recognized by fans for his role as Big Mike in three seasons of the HBO drama The Deuce written by David Simon, opposite James Franco & Maggie Gyllenhaal. Prior to this, Shakir had a prominent role as Victor, the aggressive and ultimately ill-fated henchman of Michael K. Williams’ Freddy, in the Emmy Nominated series The Night Of, along with roles in the 2017 action thriller BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99 and the Cinemax action drama series Jett. Up next, Shakir stars in the Netflix series COWBOY BEBOP, a live-action adaptation of the cult Japanese animated series, as “Jet Black”, a bounty hunter working from the spaceship Bebop. 

Maximal Music Sync is excited to welcome Goldfingz to our roster!

James E. Wheeler, known professionally as Goldfingz, is an American hip hop producer who started making music at the age of 17. Born in Hopewell, Virginia, Goldfingz started his musical career in 1999 with a local record label called Castaway Records, where he produced several artists during that time. Currently, he is a part of a group of producers known as the Suicide Squad. He received his first break when he connected with Mustafa Shakir, a well-known actor for his role as Bushmaster in Marvel’s Luke Cage. During the winter of 2018, Goldfingz started working with Shakir on his album, Chameleon 42, set to be released on Jamla Records with the legendary producer 9th Wonder and the Soul Council. The potential is limitless for this new and upcoming producer as he continues his journey in the music industry.

Maximal Music Sync is thrilled to welcome NYC-based singer/songwriter Leo Sawikin to our roster!

Leo is an old soul, one who would have thrived in the prime of the Tin Pan Alley days—tirelessly composing beautiful ballads in rooms with open windows for the music publishers whose offices lined West 28th Street in New York City. Although the city still swells with the sounds of ghosts past, the music landscape has drastically changed. Now more than ever, Leo finds himself longing for the days that were.   

For the past decade, Leo has steadily evolved his sound, spending hours both in the studio and in writing rooms, culminating in Row Me Away—his upcoming fourth album, and the first to be released under his own name. (His first three were recorded under the name The Chordaes.)  The new record was produced by Grammy-winning producer Marc Swersky.

Prior to the pandemic, Leo recorded a string of anthems that seem to foreshadow life as we experienced it over the last year. Questioning whether the dystopian future we’ve all been fearing has arrived, the songs chronicle the vastly changing world, a society teetering on the edge, and the transformative power of hindsight. “It's about letting go of the past to carve out a new future,” says Leo.

Like many artists, Leo uses his music and songwriting as his primary way to connect with the world. Since very young, Leo was described as having Non-Verbal Learning Disability. But because it has not yet been included in the DSM and presents in various ways, it is often overlooked and misunderstood. In Leo’s case, it affects his ability to receive and interpret non-verbal forms of communication. “I have always had trouble paying attention to people’s non-verbal signals. I understand them as well as anyone, but my thoughts are very scattered so I often miss them.” By the age of 5, he was getting into trouble at school. This was eventually tamed by medications, but they had a numbing effect on his mood and ability to connect with peers.  At age 9, Leo picked up a guitar and by 12 he was immersed in workshops and music camps,where he found that songcraft came naturally. It’s proven to be his greatest strength and has become the catalyst for living his life off medication. 

“Music has always been my secret weapon to combat this. It brings me to a place outside of all of my problems, and the dream I have is that when other people listen to it they will be brought to that same place. In that space we all share, none of our differences matter and understanding one another is as effortless as the sound of the music traveling through the air. My goal in life is to bring as many people to that place as possible.”

With the release of Row Me Away Leo hopes to bring comfort and consolation to listeners as we all witness the unfolding of a new world.

Maximal Music Sync is absolutely thrilled to share that iconic singer/songwriter Joan Osborne has joined our roster!

Seven-time Grammy nominee and multi-platinum selling recording artist Joan Osborne has navigated a varied and exceptional life in music for over 30 years.  The KY-born singer/songwriter/producer began her career by accident when, while studying filmmaking at New York University, she stumbled upon the open-mic night that introduced her to the vibrant, funky roots music scene of 1980’s NYC.  Since then she has released 10 albums, toured the globe many times over, and performed with icons such as Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Patti Smith, the Dead, Emmylou Harris, and Luciano Pavarotti.  Her music has appeared in films like Austin Powers and Vanilla Sky, and in TV shows Sex and the City, The Sopranos, Joan of Arcadia and The Good Wife.   Osborne’s performance in the Oscar-nominated film Standing in the Shadows of Motown brought her rave reviews and a legion of new fans.  In 2020 she released Trouble and Strife, an album that is both potently political and unabashedly joyous.  She lives in NY with her daughter and partner.

We’re over the moon to announce that indie singer-songwriter Freddy Hall is now part of the Maximal Music Sync roster!

Deemed "a true artist of the human condition" by Performer Magazine, indie/folk/pop darling Freddy Hall fuses compelling lyrics with anthemic melodies and groove-based music. Freddy has shared the stage with such musical icons as Carole King, Duncan Sheik and Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong. He has played for many Tony Award winning Broadway shows, and has had his musicianship featured on Disney+, podcasts like This American Life, and independent movies. 

Earlier this year Freddy teamed up with producer Anthony "Rocky" Gallo (John Legend, Cigarettes After Sex) to record his third studio album Dazy. Due out this fall, Dazy is a journey of self-discovery through loss, and is offered as a beacon of hope, especially to the most fragile among us.

Maximal Music Sync is thrilled to welcome L.A.-based rapper, singer, and producer Voli Contra to our roster!

Voli Contra is an alternative rapper, singer, and producer based in Los Angeles by way of New Jersey. Influenced by the golden era of hip hop and pop, the artist sonically blends old school New York 90’s rap, alternative hip hop, and thought-provoking subject matter. Having worked with the likes of rapper J.Cole, pop artist Bebe Rexha, rapper Rapsody, legendary mixing engineer Young Guru, and producer 9th Wonder, Voli travels a wide spectrum of sonic and lyrical exploration. Voli elaborates, “I’ve always wanted to speak for every man, woman, and child through different genres but also through their experiences.” 

Maximal Music Sync is over-the-moon to welcome Scottish indie songstress Rachel Sermanni to our roster!

From the Scottish highlands, Rachel Sermanni is a dynamic singer and songwriter, whose performance and lyrics draw from a deep well of mysticism, dreams, nature and the simple-complex experience of being human. A contemporary folk musician, influenced by a wealth of genres including jazz, rock, old-time and traditional. Rachel’s most recent album, So it Turns, was inspired by her time studying & volunteering at a buddhist monastery, and was released in August 2019, having been recorded in Berlin.

Most of Rachel’s astrological being resides in the 5th house; The House Of Fun. Whether or not you adhere to horoscopic notions, this works as a succinct way to explain that, for her, Creation equals existence and Creative Expression equals Joy.

Rachel Sermanni has toured the globe, played alongside artists such as Mumford & Sons, Fink, Ron Sexsmith, John Grant, The Staves, Karine Polwart, The Maes and many more.

Maximal Music Sync is elated to welcome Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Emily McNally to our roster!

Emily McNally is creating the soundtrack for the lovelorn and anxious generation of young people with her genre-fluid, DIY bedroom pop music.  With vulnerable lyricism, Emily confronts their own naivete and yearning in layers of lush vocals.  She hopes to share a time capsule of the emotional whirlwind of queer adolescence in order to ease the sense of loneliness in others (and herself).  A graduate of NYU and a current Brooklyn resident, Emily has spent the past few years gigging around the New York area, from famed venues like Rockwood Music Hall and The Bitter End, to local coffee shops and bars.  They have written and released two solo EPs, with a third one on the way in 2021, as well as collaborating with young up-and-coming producers.  She signed to Corkscrew Records in 2020, an upstart indie label dedicated to uplifting young artists from minority communities, and is so excited to join the Maximal family.

Maximal Music Sync is psyched to welcome Brooklyn indie darlings Daisy the Great to our roster of artists!

Daisy the Great​ is the Brooklyn-based indie pop ensemble fronted by Kelley Nicole Dugan and Mina Walker. The dynamic duo is “joining a larger chorus of female pop musicians that are leaning into anarchy and melancholia” (according to Refinery 29) with their intimate, tactile lyrical observations, sung through beautiful, heartfelt harmonies. Kelley and Mina create an inviting, playful sound by combining the heavenly harmonies of First Aid Kit​, the vulnerable plucking of ​Kimya Dawson​, and the robust sincerity of ​Lucy Dacus​.

Mina and Kelley started writing music together in 2016. The band’s debut EP, 2018’s ​I’ve Got a Few Friends and I Wish They Were Mine​, reached success when the single “The Record Player Song” struck TikTok audiences in 2019, since amassing over five million streams. Following the release of their first album, ​I’m Not Getting Any Taller​, in 2019, Kelley and Mina wrote & recorded their 2020 EP soft songs while quarantined apart from each other. Over the last couple of years, the pair has supported acts like Indigo Girls, Sidney Gish, and Samia. They are currently working on their next record, which will be full of bops. After releasing a handful of mid-2020 singles, Daisy the Great returns with two new songs, “Persephone” and a cover of the Simon & Garfunkel classic “Scarborough Fair.”

We’re over the moon to welcome L.A.-based singer-songwriter Juliette Irons to the Maximal Music Sync roster!

Juliette Irons is a Canadian singer-songwriter and choreographer that now lives in Los Angeles and spends her days traveling the world pursuing dance and music. She released her first single, ”Lighthouse,“ last year and it has already garnered over 250,000 streams on Spotify. The self-directed music video was shot by an Icelandic cinematographer in his home country and was featured on DCWS and When The Horn Blows. Additionally, Juliette has been featured in articles by VoyageLA and LeFutureWave. She is heavily influenced by artists like Bon Iver and Taylor Swift, but shows a raw intimacy that tethers her audience to her in a deep connection through the unfiltered emotion she releases not only through her songs, but through her stories. Her debut EP “Out of the Blue” was released summer of 2020, but a lucky few have been able to preview these songs at her live shows around Los Angeles including the historic Hotel Cafe. Juliette has also recently released a music video for her single “Satellite” filmed in Death valley, and now has full length album on the way. Juliette has a unique edge with a goal to create a new kind of brand in emotional dance music and is likely to be a breakthrough artist in the coming year.