He joined FNC through their global audition in Sydney. He attended the audition in exchange for pocket money from his mother, who thought he would make a good celebrity.[4]
Prior to becoming a kpop trainee, he was planning on becoming an electrician.[5]
He lived in Busan, his mother's hometown, for about seven years as a young child. As a result, he can speak Busan satoori.[6]
Due to his high degree of fluency in both English and Korean, Mackiah served as the main translator between the Korean- and English-speaking factions of the group in their early days.[2][7]
