(Photo:  Bleu Magazine, August 2014)

Tristan Paul Mack Wilds first stole our hearts as Michael Lee in The Wire and now the 25-year-old is doing it again as the cover star for Bleu magazine's Young & Fly August issue. In it, our beloved Mack is all grown up and looking stylish in a variety of casual ensembles and polished suits. The actor also opened up about his career, getting his hip hop music ready for the public, and why he has no reason to try and be anybody else.
On transitioning from acting to making music:

"Of course it's been a transition. People have been talking to the music in a great way, it hasn't been too much of a battle. There are things that I like to pop my head into.…"
On being nominated for a Grammy Award this year:

"It means so much. It's a huge accolade just to be recognized by the Recording Academy. It means people are actually listening to my music, and that they actually like it…I haven't really been out there yet to fully understand what it means to be 'Grammy-nominated artist.' It's quite apparent that the impact is there though."
On his album's closing track, 'Duck Sauce':

"That came about because of me and Salaam [Remi] arguing… I wanted to do a track of just rapping."
On his Grammy-nominated debut album, New York: A Love Story:

"I was trying to recreate Wu Tang Clans 'Ain't Nothing to F--k With,' but adding in elements to give it more of a theatrical tone."
On his future:

"Everyone's trying to be Denzel or Will Smith or Jay Z, I just wanna be Mack Wilds. This is only the beginning."
And with that attitude, the young singer-actor's star is sure to keep rising.
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