Genres R&B, pop Years active 2005 – Present Name Makio Mathews | Occupation(s) singer-songwriter Labels Surefire Music Group | |
Birth name Makio David Arungah Mathews Born December 6, 1986 (age 37) Nairobi, Kenya ( 1986-12-06 ) Origin Baltimore, Maryland, United States | ||
Makio is a Kenyan singer, songwriter and dancer based out of Boston, Massachusetts and Los Angeles, California.
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Biography
On December 6, 1986, Makio David Arungah Mathews was born in Nairobi, Kenya. Makio originally moved to Baltimore, Maryland, as a young boy but later settled in Boston, Massachusetts, with his family in the early 1990s. Makio grew up loving music and throughout his childhood, both in Africa and in The United States, found time to appreciate it and learn from it. His mother exposed him to a wide variety of arts as a child, and Makio grew up inspired by the likes of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Prince.
He began dancing at an early age taking tap, jazz and gymnastics classes before even learning the power of his voice. Honing his skills as a stage performer in production plays and state choirs, his dreams as an entertainer began to take shape.
During high school, Makio began work on his singing and fell in love with the art. Music became his dream and passion. The summer following High School he attended classes at Berklee College of Music, sharpening his writing skills and learning the technical aspects of creating music. While there he connected with some musicians and joined a four-part harmony group looking for a fifth member called Propheci, a modern-day Boyz II Men. The group was short-lived, though, and eventually disbanded, but Makio's drive was not swayed. Even more motivated by the learning experience with Propheci and taste of recording and performing music, Makio deferred his full scholarship to college for a year to focus solely on being an entertainer.
In 2007 Makio was one of the finalists on the Hit MTV show "Making the Band." For its fourth season the show was looking to create an RnB group; thousands of people auditioned but in the end only 20 were selected to be on the show and have a chance to work with Diddy. Makio was cut from the show, but not without making some friends and connections that he keeps to this day. The resulting group was Day26, and Donnie Klang was offered a solo contract from the show.
Makio continued to do solo work, though, and has yet to do his best work. He is constantly recording and working on his craft in an attempt to continue to entertain and make music that he can be proud of.