His father is Malaysian. Malay grew up in Bellingham, Washington where he was introduced to classic rock at an early age by his father. Both
Jimi Hendrix and
Pink Floyd sparked his interest in music. While he wrestled in school and showed great potential, he eventually quit the sport to pursue his career in music. He began to teach himself guitar and piano while making money with a local band in Bellingham. During this period he would go on to build a recording studio in his home. He adopted the producer name 'Maylay' during the 1990s, derived from his best friend's native language's word for 'mountain'. Its spelling may have been changed to avoid confusion with another musical artist,
Young Maylay, with whom he bears no relation. In the mid-2000s, his skills were noticed and
Jake One, a hip-hop producer who recruited him to help with the productions on releases for
G-Unit. After working closely with Jake One, Malay moved to
New York City where he got a job producing for
MTV's
Making the Band. Afterwards, Malay moved once more to
Atlanta before ultimately settling in
Los Angeles in 2010. Malay has produced for a number of artists. He was producer for
John Legend's album
Evolver (2008), and
Frank Ocean's
channel ORANGE (2012); the latter won a number of accolades, including the
Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album, as well as
2013 Grammy Award nominations for
Album of the Year,
Best New Artist, and
Record of the Year for "Thinkin Bout You". He also co-produced
Zayn's debut album
Mind of Mine (2016). Malay co-founded Britannia Row Recordings in 2016, in partnership with
BMG. In 2018, the label signed
The Parlor Mob, a rock band based in
New Jersey. == Discography==