“Black Tux,” the first single off Memphis native Marco Pavé’s new EP Perception, is a soulful banger that captures and interweaves both personal and political frustrations. Produced by long-time collaborator and artist Kenny Wayne, the song features Wayne’s signature twist on classic 70s soul, sampling Curtis Mayfield’s “We Who Are Darker Than Blue.” On it, the struggles of the artist to live out his dream run parallel to the collective frustration of communities of color, and black communities in particular, over inequality. “Black Tux” gets philosophical, pondering over how the recent spate of high profile murders of black people by police makes clear how little value black lives have in our society—even less than the cloth of a garment, Pavé argues. The hook declares, “please understand the basics/this black tux costs cheaper at Macy’s/put us in the basement deeper than Anne Frank/seek to keep us down but this crown no erasing.” The last line of the hook lets know that there is hope as long as we keep striving for our goals, personal and political.

Buy on iTunes

Black Tux Prod. by Kenny Wayne

Memphis native Marco Pavé is a gifted storyteller and musician whose love for black folks, Memphis, and the South drives his genius. Essentially, Marco Pavé is Project Pat meets KRS-One, spitting an urban country consciousness with a confidence that could only emerge from coming of age as a Muslim millennial in North Memphis. 

In spring of 2012, he released his first series of freestyle rap videos directed by Nina Stakz, and began performing on the local hip hop scene. After the success of his video “Cool,” Pavé opened for Memphis rapper Skewby at Hi Tone, solidifying his position as a popular hip hop artist in his hometown area. 

In May of 2013, Pavé hosted his first benefit concert called “Books on Beale” to promote literacy among blacks in Memphis. The concert raised over $20,000 in resources and 500 books that they donated to StoryBooth at Crosstown Arts, a contemporary arts organization dedicated to further cultivating the creative community in Memphis. That same month, Pavé also opened for Waka Flocka at the historical Minglewood Hall in Memphis.

In 2014, Pavé founded Radio Rahim Music, an independent record label and artist development entity that sits at the intersection of hip-hop, arts communities, technology, and activism. Through Radio Rahim Music, Marco has consistently employed a network of Memphis artists, standing in the gap where (white) arts organizations have failed to ensure the survival of black art, black artists, and black communities.

Pavé has become a sought-after public speaker in community and university contexts, he lectures on hip-hop and conducts workshops on hip-hop and social justice. In 2015, Marco delivered a Ted Talk on Arts Entrepreneurship  for the inaugural Tedx Memphis. Marco Pavé has opened for Mobb Deep, Waka Focka Flame, and Young Dolph, worked with GRAMMY Award-winning producers, and his most recent EP not only hit #2 on the CMJ charts, but the lead single from the project, "Black Tux," was also featured on Beats 1 Radio with Ebro Darden, and the video premiered on mtvU. 

Marco Pavé is the winner of an Addy award, with Carlos Broady and Trust Marketing, for an anti-gun violence campaign, he was named 20 under 30 by the Memphis Flyer, and recently finished a libretto for Opera Memphis based on his debut album Welcome to Grc Lnd. The Opera, Welcome to Grc Lnd: 2030 had two showings, April 7th and April 14th in Memphis, both were sold out and had rave reviews.