PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOE MAGLIOCCO

Sayreville hip-hop artists prep for show at Starland Ballroom

SAYREVILLE – Two hip-hop artists from Sayreville are preparing for their first show in their hometown.

Joe Magliocco, who goes by the stage name Yung Mag$, and Sam Meyer, who goes by the stage name Sammy $tacks, will make their debut at the Starland Ballroom, 570 Jernee Mill Road, Sayreville, as an opening act for for rapper Lil Mosey on March 29. Tickets can be purchased online for $25 at www.axs.com/events/365116/lil-mosey-tickets or in person for $30. Doors open at 7 p.m.

“This is our first hometown show and it’s going to be huge,” the artists said. “Concert Crave helped book us for this show and we can’t thank them enough for this opportunity. Mag$ and $tacks will be in the building with the highest energy levels as mosh pits will be opened and the crowd will be astonished with the energy we bring on stage.”

The show marks a continued musical partnership for Magliocco, a Jackson native who has lived in Sayreville for eight years, and Meyer, a lifelong resident of Sayreville, after they first performed on May 20, 2018.

“Our first performance was a Concert Crave showcase in Asbury Park and ever since that night, we just improved more and more with our performances,” Magliocco said. “Now it’s like we feed off each other’s energy. I started making music before Sam, but we both always had been heavily influenced by music for years. Sam eventually tagged along and ever since then it has been history.”

Magliocco cited his attendance at rock and metal shows as an influence for pursuing a musical career.

“I grew up going to a lot of rock and metal shows and then eventually went into the hip-hop/rap scene since that scene started showing a lot of traits that rock and metal have,” he said. “I was always fascinated by energy created from artists, whether it’s at a show or it’s just in the music which influenced me a lot. I knew one day I wanted to be on stage just like everyone I grew up listening to. We knew that one day, we were gonna do this somehow.”

The hip-hop artist finds that the music created by Yung Mag$ and Sammy $tacks is distinctive from the work of others.

“I’d describe our music as being different,” Magliocco said. “A lot of rap music sounds the same now and that’s a big problem artists have when trying to make it big. Unlike a lot of artists, we have a unique sound that we switch up from song to song, so listeners always get a taste of something new. Energy is also a big thing with our music. Our music is fast paced and has high levels of energy that want to get people moving around.”

Magliocco and Meyer’s music can be found online at SoundCloud.

“We stream all our music online,” Magliocco said. “SoundCloud is one the biggest websites for hip hop artists to make it big and that’s where you can find all of Mag$ and $tacks’ music. We are looking to put our music out on all streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music soon so that will come in the future.”

On New Year’s, the two artists released their debut mixtape, the “Mag$ and $tacks Mixtape” on SoundCloud.

“This tape consists of eight songs and each song has its own unique sound,” they said. “The tape can be streamed on SoundCloud on the Sammy $tacks page. This tape hopefully will get a lot of people to notice who we are and how much hard work we have been putting in to chase our dreams.”

Magliocco’s SoundCloud is soundcloud.com/user-665279185 and Meyer’s SoundCloud is soundcloud.com/sammy-stacks-34.