MaKenzie is a dynamic force. The 25-year-old Kentucky-born, L.A.-based singer-songwriter singularlywields her voice, confidently placing her raw, yet refined abilities and learned dexterity on full display.While R&B is the underlying foundation of MaKenzie’s sound, she frolics in the open spaces betweenpop, progressive soul, alternative rock, and funk, never settling too long in one particular category. Onher new project,A Pretty Fucking Cool EP, MaKenzie distills her musical influences-from singing in achurch band with her dad’s side of the family to discovering R&B divas like Mariah Carey, Brandy andToni Braxton-and bottles them into an evocative record that brims with reminiscence. “This EP and thesound on it is very much nostalgic,” she says. “I feel like each song pulls from a lot of the different erasand genres of music that I love but justam not hearing in a lot of the music released these days.”“I love singing, and I’ve put in a lot of hours to be as good at it as I am,” MaKenzie says. “But ultimately, Iwant to be known in the music industry for my vocal production, my arranging, and mywriting. I don’tnecessarily want to be a singer my whole life. I’m trying to go with the flow of things, but I don’t need allthe accolades or the attention per se. As long as music is at the core, I’m happy.”