If you've ever seen him rap in a battle, you might know Marv Won to be sharp, charismatic, and funny at the same time. For over 20 years, he has made a name for himself in the battle rap world while making time for his own music projects in between.
"Battle rap is for the crowd," Marv says. "Ultimately you just want to win the room over. With my music, I have a legit plan and I have tunnel vision when it comes to it. I know what I want, and I know what I want to deliver, and I'm steadfast on it — the music is for me."
He was introduced to rap as a little kid by his older cousin Chuck, who he says was one of his earliest influences and someone he loved to be around. By third or fourth grade, Marv Won began to write raps of his own, and by the time he got to high school he was recording in studios and battling at lunch.
Marv says he knew being a rapper was his life's purpose very early on. "I've never had as strong of a desire to do anything the way it is when I do music; it's a gift and a curse for sure," says Marv. "There are a lot of things that fucking fell by the wayside, there are a lot of things that I let die in pursuit of this, like relationships and school. I know people who fucking hate their lives, and by the grace of God I don't have to. I wake up everyday and do what I love to do."
In the early 2000s, Marv Won went from battling at lunchroom tables in high school to rapping his way around battles in the city. In 2002, the release of the movie 8 Mile not only thrust battle rapping into the spotlight, but the film's deleted scene with Marv Won battling Eminem would get him noticed, too.
"At that time, I was one of the people that you had to see, and this is before YouTube," says Marv. "I started battling because I felt it was free promotion to get my music heard. I started battling because if I did good in these battles, people would ask 'Who is this?' I never had the desire to ever want to be the best battle rapper."
Although Marv Won believed that battle rapping would be a fast track to getting his music heard, it didn't quite work out that way. He was offered a few record deals, both as a part of the group Fat Killahz and solo deals that just didn't work out.
"I did some shit with Interscope, I had won this contest and the prize was you got to fly out to L.A. and record with Interscope and have a meeting. At the time Hex [Murda] was my manager, and we went out there to take full advantage of this," Marv says. "We went to the meeting, played them the songs, and they were like, 'This is much more than we expected. We thought you would be happy just recording in a studio, but we don't have the time or budget for you.'"
Even though some major deals had fallen through for him, Marv Won still managed to work with a label. He was one of the early artists that helped jumpstart Iron Fist Records, the label founded by the late D12 rapper Proof. The Searching for Jerry Garcia rapper had been quite instrumental throughout Marv's career, including helping him land a spot in a rap battle hosted by MTV.
When asked about his relationship with Proof, the energy around Marv shifts. It's been nearly two decades since the D12 rapper's death, but Marv says it's an emptiness that hasn't been able to be filled.
"He was the bridge between where we wanted to go and where we were, because he was never too far away. You see him at the fucking VMAs on Monday, and on Wednesday he would be at the Lush rapping with us," says Marv. "The city as a whole has never recovered from that, and not just on some music shit, he was a great ambassador for the city. I legitimately miss my friend."
His new project is due out later this year, and although there isn't an official release date yet, Marv Won has already secured features from a few familiar rappers like Elzhi and Guilty Simpson. While he says there isn't a project that he's done that he's not proud of, he feels like this next project will be the one that people will really like.
"The current project that I'm working on is my best body of work, but that's because I feel like all of my projects are my children," says Marv. "I feel like this is the one where people are going to be like, 'This isn't a fluke, he's a consistently incredible artist.' I'm off the music and I still get excited to create."
From the 2023 new Detroit music issue.
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