By Dylan Deprey
“Blue Hearts” is available on all streaming and music downloading platforms. (Photo courtesy MT Twins)
Before the Marshall Twins were hanging from a sunroof in an SUV with their faces plastered across the side, they were flying down the basketball court finishing up their senior year.
Before fans were following them around the Walmart on Capitol, they were following their passion to pursue music. They had one shot to prove that they weren’t just “some basketball guys making music.”
Before they turned 20-years-old, they had amassed millions of views on YouTube along with rapper, Lil Chicken, and filmmaker, TeeGlazedIt. With songs like “Stay Down,” “All Stars,” and “Tell Me,” they showcased a Northside flow with drill inspired hooks and a touch of R&B. They helped create a platform for local rappers to showcase their music.
The MT Twins have the harmonizing, choreography and sex drive of a 90’s R&B group, and the swagger and delivery of their new school contemporaries. The thing that sets them apart is their Northside love.
The MT Twins, Donno and Dexxx, made some noise throughout 2016 and 2017, but have been quiet for most of this year. With the release of their newest project, “Blue Hearts,” they are ready to release more.
“When we were picking beats for ‘Blue Hearts,’ we were looking for beats we could talk on and people could feel our pain on it,” Donno said.
The MT Twins. (Photo courtesy MT Twins)
Unlike their physical and online mixtapes, that leaned more towards the rap side, “Blue Hearts” was a more R&B focused album. It features Wayne‘Livin,’ Lil G and Tajh Virgil.
“’Blue Hearts’ to us, means understanding with love,” Dexxx said.
Songs like “Over You” and “My Pain” dive into relationships struggles that were influenced by recent situations.
“We feel like if you can’t make anybody feel your music, then you’re not doing a good job,” Dexxx said.
Meech, MT Twins’ manager and in-house producer, has seen the two grow from prospects to artists, and from teens to young men.
“At first, they were like every other artist walking through the door, except they kept coming back,” Meech said. “They had talent, swag and they were twins. There weren’t any twins in the industry and they were taking this serious.”
He noticed how different they were and encouraged them to be themselves in their music and their videos. Whether the MT Twins were in the middle of Martin Luther King Ave. or Bradford Beach, their videos had something unlike most Milwaukee rappers, choreographed dancing.
“We started singing, and it was like let’s keep doing something different,” Dexxx said. “So, we started dancing.”
For their first video with dancing, they took two professional classes with a local dancer, but the moves did not fit the song. So, they winged it.
“The day of the video we’re sitting in the middle of 29th and Brown coming up with the dances,” Donno said. “It was just us being us.”
Though the duo has been somewhat quiet this year, they said they have been working and have around five projects worth of material. They pride themselves on quality over quantity.
“We’re always working, so we have to set deadlines or nothing will ever come out,” Donno said.
“The version y’all hear, we still don’t like it,” Dexxx said. “It’s as good as we could do it.”
The MT Twins said they will continue to drop music, freestyles and videos every week for “MT Twins Monday.” Unlike their recent release with “Blue Hearts,” they plan on working on new music with more of a pop feel.
“Everything we do, we try to be different with it,” Donno said. “Who do you see riding around with their face on their car?”
Check out the MT Twins at https://www.facebook.com/TheMarshallTwins/