Jermaine Anthony Preyan (born July 28, 1982), better known by his stage name Mack Maine, is an American record executive, songwriter, and rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. He was appointed as the president of hometown native Lil Wayne's record label Young Money Entertainment in 2009, having known the rapper since childhood. Preyan is also known as a co-writer on many of Wayne's singles, including "How to Love", "Got Money", "No Worries" and "It's Good", among others. Furthermore, he has co-written severally for other artists or Wayne's collaborators, often in tandem with record producer Ke'noe; his credits include "Dreams and Nightmares" by Meek Mill and "So Sophisticated" by Rick Ross.
As a recording artist, Preyan performed on Young Money's 2009 single "Every Girl" and its sister-entity Rich Gang's 2013 single "Tapout", which peaked at numbers ten and 44 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100. He released three compilation albums with both recording outfits: We Are Young Money (2009), Rich Gang (2013) and Young Money: Rise of an Empire (2014). He released his debut single, "Celebrate" (featuring Talib Kweli and Lil Wayne) in 2013, which failed to chart. His guest appearance on Wayne's 2018 song "Start This Shit Off Right" remains his sole entry on the chart as a solo act. He founded his own record label, Soothe Your Soul Records in 2008.[1]
In 2003, he placed 16th out of a thousand contestants in a freestyle battle hosted by MTV; this, combined with a backstage performance at the 2004 BET Awards with Cassidy, led him to becoming a founding member of Young Money Entertainment with Lil Wayne in 2005. In 2008, Mack Maine appeared on the official remix of Lil Wayne's third single from Tha Carter III, "Got Money," and performed the song with Wayne on Saturday Night Live on September 14.[1] At the 2008 Ozone Awards, he won the "Patiently Waiting: Louisiana" award.[2]
In 2009, he performed with Lil Wayne on his "I Am Music" tour, performing every night in his own set,[3] as well as mtvU's Spring Break 2009 concert.[4] He also released a mixtape presented by Don Cannon entitled This Is Just a Mixtape, featuring appearances from Lil Wayne, Mistah Fab, Gorilla Zoe, Pleasure P, Rick Ross, Mystikal, and Soulja Slim.[1][3] Mack Maine appears on the Young Money collaboration album, including the first single, "Every Girl".[5][6] Along with Birdman, Slim, Cortez Bryant, and other past and present Cash Money artists, he starred in Lil Wayne's Behind the Music episode, which premiered September 11, 2009.
In March 2010, Mack Maine appeared with Snoop Dogg on T-Pain's single, "Ghetto Commandments."[7] He also voiced one of Trap Jesus' gangsters in the Adult Swim special Freaknik: The Musical. Maine was also featured on the music video of Playaz Circle's Hit song with Lil Wayne, "Duffle Bag Boy". On March 17, 2013 Mack Maine released the music video for "Celebrate" featuring Lil Wayne and Talib Kweli.[8]
As of 2020, he’s executive produced Funeral and also is the booker for Wayne’s new show on Apple Music, Young Money Radio.[9]
Legal issues
Preyan performing in 2009
On September 16, 2013, Mack Maine was charged with sexual battery following an incident that occurred on August 22 during Lil Wayne's "Amerika's Most Wanted" tour. Allegedly Maine invited two women onto a tour bus and when they were on it, he put his hand down one woman's clothing, grabbing her breast without her consent. TMZ says the documents claim that when the women wanted to leave the bus, Maine reportedly held the door shut, and punched one of them in her face, breaking her jaw.[10] On September 20, 2013, Mack Maine voluntarily turned himself in to Oklahoma County police, and was released on $9,000 bond.[11]
In 2014, Mack expanded his role and joined Lil Wayne’s management team. With that move his goal was to immediately expand Wayne’s business portfolio. First deal he helped closed was Wayne’s partnership with Bumbu. The next deal he brought to the table was Wayne’s sports agency, Young Money APAA sports.[12]
In 2018, a settlement was finally reached in which Wayne would be able to release music accordingly.[13] Mack executive produced Tha Carter V and continued to add to the portfolio by securing an American Eagle collab and a partnership with cannibus brand GKUA.[citation needed]
The BET Awards were established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television (BET) network to celebrate African Americans and other minorities in music, acting, sports and other fields of entertainment. The awards are presented annually and broadcasts live on BET.[27]
