{"id":17,"date":"2024-03-25T15:14:48","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fredstories.com\/nystateofrhyme\/?p=17"},"modified":"2024-03-31T02:23:20","modified_gmt":"2024-03-31T02:23:20","slug":"mike-black-excellence-in-flying-colors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fredstories.com\/nystateofrhyme\/mike-black-excellence-in-flying-colors\/","title":{"rendered":"MIKE \u2014\u00a0Black Excellence in Flying Colors"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
\"\"\r\n
Lauren Davis<\/mark><\/a><\/sub><\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In 2018, Earl Sweatshirt released an album titled Some Rap Songs<\/a> <\/em>which split his fanbase and imprinted on the world a more jazz influenced, experimental style of hip-hop that scratched an itch in my brain I was formerly unaware of. It left me wondering where else I could find music in this same vein of hip-hop, so I took the hint left on \u201cThe Mint\u201d where he raps \u201cEvidently it was written like Nas, I was in the kitchen with that n**** Mike.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

So, after going through at least three eurobeat and pop artists named Mike on Soundcloud, I found a 50 minute song called MAY GOD BLESS YOUR HUSTLE<\/a><\/em> by MIKE. It was a sixteen track album that admittedly moved me to tears within 5 minutes. Over a soulful blend of haunting, gritty, and uplifting beats, he wore his heart on his sleeve with deeply introspective bars and clever wordplay to weave together a masterpiece of an album at the age of 18.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I could instantly feel I\u2019d been missing out on something special happening in the NY rap scene, and I began to explore the work of his contemporaries and collaborators. He was a member of the rap collective \u201csLUms\u201d including other talented NYC producers and rappers like Ad\u00e9 Hakim and King Carter. These were some of the experimental artists who influenced Earl\u2019s style on Some Rap Songs<\/em> as well as his music since.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Nevertheless, even among this crowd, MIKE\u2019s sound is unmistakable. There\u2019s a hospitable intimacy in his music which creates an aura of warmth even in his bleakest tracks. His fervorously monotone delivery in tandem with his tendency to spend an entire verse in the same rhyme scheme can quickly leave you spellbound with your guard down. Even after six years, I experience this disarming feeling just as I do when I eat comfort food like black rice & beans.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Witnessing MIKE\u2019s growth as an artist over the past six years has felt almost like watching a protagonist\u2019s character development. He\u2019s used music as a means of processing grief, anxiety, romance, joy, and everything else under the sun, but in his more recent work it has been genuinely inspiring to hear the palpable weight that\u2019s been lifted off of his shoulders.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

He\u2019s always been gifted in transcribing his emotions into music, hence why songs like \u201cscarred lungs vol. 1 & 2\u201d sound exactly how depression feels. This is also why you can tell on a more recent song like \u201cTHEY DON\u2019T STOP IN THE RAIN\u201d that the spirit fueling his music is no longer a languished one. MIKE has served as living proof that one cannot reach their full artistic potential without first taking the steps to confront their trauma.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

While naturally sharpening his pen through the consistency of his craft, his ear has matured and evolved his already high creative capacity for music production, which I personally find to be the most impressive dimension of his growth. He\u2019s never had a hard time making a soulful beat to hypnotize you into bopping your head, but the timbre of his music now is authentically MIKE in a way that can only be achieved through the boundless consistency he has exhibited.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This brings us to his most recent album Burning Desire<\/a><\/em>, which many\u2014myself included\u2014consider to be his magnum opus as it stands. At 24 tracks and a 50 minute runtime, this project now reminds me a lot of the Yayoi Kusama art exhibit \u201cInfinity Mirrors.\u201d It’s an art piece created with the purpose of immersing you in an out-of-body experience within an infinite world, making you feel like the artist herself.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In this same way, Burning Desire<\/em> is an expansive world that is thoroughly and unapologetically MIKE. Despite tackling some of the same issues he\u2019s faced throughout his career, his confidence and often ebullient energy are infectious. The production, which he did the vast majority of himself, is both dense and relaxed, sobering and entrancing. I still often find myself realizing I never allowed myself to register all the lyrics to some songs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The subject matter of this album isn\u2019t meant to be felt and wholly understood by every listener. On track 1, Intro with Klein<\/em>, singer Klein describes the album as \u201ca dark, romantic horror with a comedic twist! It tells the tale of a fire so deeply rooted in revenge, and devastation that was masked with an intricate beauty.\u201d Nonetheless, after exposing this album to numerous friends from different continents and backgrounds and receiving exclusively overwhelmingly positive reviews, I can safely say that if you\u2019re a fan of art in any form, this is worth a listen.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Admittedly, recommending MIKE to even friends has often felt like a leap of faith. He\u2019s probably not someone you\u2019ll listen to in your free time if you don\u2019t have a place in your heart for hip-hop and\/or jazz. But if you\u2019ve read this far, that place in your heart exists whether you know it or not.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/a>\r\n
Nuvany David<\/mark><\/sub><\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2018, Earl Sweatshirt released an album titled Some Rap Songs which split his fanbase and imprinted on the world a more jazz influenced, experimental style of hip-hop that scratched an itch in my brain I was formerly unaware of. It left me wondering where else I could find music in this same vein of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":76,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[9,11,12],"class_list":["post-17","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hip-hop","tag-brooklyn","tag-hip-hop","tag-underground-rap"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t