MIKE’s music carries age beyond his years. Born in New Jersey, MIKE moved to London with his mother before settling in The Bronx for the remainder of his teenage years. Both regions have had an audible influence on the young rapper’s music – in London he was immersed in grime and the music of King Krule, and in the Bronx he was turned on to Earl Sweatshirt and MF Doom. Through his mixtapes Winter New York, Longest Day, Shortest Night, May God Bless Your Hustle and his EP By The Water, he has made a definitive statement on the current state of youth in New York. The releases turned heads outside of MIKE’s immediate community in the city, earning praise from The Fader, the New Yorker, and being selected as Best New Music by Pitchfork. MIKE raps over characteristically lo-fi, and soulfully hazy, self-produced beats. Themes about the depression and anxiety that accompany being young and African American abound throughout his music, but a muted sense of hopefulness and certainty that he is moving towards ultimate triumph is the motor quietly propelling things forward. In New York, he discovered several artists with a similar ear and style, and formed his collective [sLUms]. Consisting of sixpress, dj ???, King Carter, Jazz Jodi, and DJ Mason, the group is a diverse range of producers and rappers who each make music about the tribulations of coming of age and being black in New York.
