McKinley Dixon | Artist

McKinley Dixon is an American singer born 1995 in Annapolis, Maryland. With his laid back beats and jazzy instrumentation, with poetic literary references, Dixon has rapidly become one of the the most consistently creative conscious hip hop artists on the scene today. Dixon attended Virginia Commonwealth University, during which time he released two studio albums, his debut Who Taught You to Hate Yourself? and his second, The Importance of Self Belief. In May 2021, he released his third studio album, For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her, which was met with critical acclaim. Lucy Shanker from Consequence gave the album an "A" rating calling the album "a work of art. It encompasses numerous genres; it's a jazz piece, it’s a marching band showcase, it's a spoken word performance, it's a rap album. It's a stunning exploration of the Black experience." Kyle Kohner, writing for Exclaim! said the album is "compellingly verbose and, at times, boastful rapping style, but he also wields an impressive level of lyrical complexity. The emcee operates with a film director's eye, one that places himself in the actor's shoes" Then in 2022, Dixon appeared in Soul Glo's track "Spiritual Level of Gang Shit" on their acclaimed studio album Diaspora Problems. In June 2023, Dixon released the album Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? which, again attracted widespread critical acclaim. Robin Murray of Clash noted that the album title is derived "from a phrase used by the novelist Toni Morrison", and identified the choice of title as a nod to the "literary flair" of Dixon's output. June 2025 saw the release of Dixon's fifth studio album, Magic, Alive!, which was released on the City Slang label and featured support from Quelle Chris and Anjimile. In her article for The Line of Best Fit, interviewer Emmeline Armitage noted that "Music comes to McKinley Dixon in episodic bursts, in little vignettes and visual details that link together like a paper chain.. During the course of an animated hour (with Dixon), he stops occasionally, as if to switch between breathing and transporting himself to the world of his new album, eyes-closed and scene-hopping, reciting straight from the heart". In addition to a catalogue of excellent Singles, Dixon's standout albums include Who Taught You to Hate Yourself (2016), For My Mama And Anyone Who Look Like Her (2021), Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? (2023), and his latest 2025 release Magic, Alive!. The fact that Dixon (who often gets labelled a ‘poet’) also studied English is not in the least bit surprising. Magic, Alive! is graced with a litany of voices and artful references, a practice that has been developing throughout his musical journey – for example, Beloved! Paradise! Jazz?!, takes both name and inspiration from the great works of Toni Morrison. The tradition continued with the single “Recitatif”, featuring Teller Bank$, which unravels as a kind of triptych with three sections of different tempos and intensities. Its title refers fittingly to a musical style that sits between speech and song, but also to another Morrison story that uses three different timeframes to relate widespread racial tension in the US. In his spare time Dixon likes to collect unusual objects. One interviewer noted "the artist’s apartment is full of quirky things — his words, not mine. While we’re talking on Zoom he holds a bat skeleton encased in glass up to the webcam, followed by a figurine from McDonalds’ Yugi-Oh collection and a mold of his own teeth from when he got fitted for a grill. Also in his collection of “gadgets and gizmos” is a mammoth tooth from Dave’s Rock Shop in Evanston."

Artist Website: mckinleydixon.com

Featured Albums: McKinley Dixon

Related Artists: Soul Glo