The first time I heard about MIKE, I was listening to Earl Sweatshirt.

It was one of those discoveries that seem to happen more regularly whenever I listen to rap and hip hop over any other music genre. I think it speaks to the collaborative nature of rap, one that feels like a community looking to bring others up with them, despite its history rooted in poverty, the proliferation of drugs, and gang violence. I started listening through MIKE’s back catalogue of music, which includes an impressive twelve solo albums and immediately, I was hooked on his diverse and experimental music style.

It is an interesting phenomenon seeing the rise of rap and hip hop around the world. With its origins dating back to the 1960s and 70s in the Bronx of New York, rap and hip hop culture are the products of African American, Afro-Caribbean and Latino inner-city communities, which for me as a white female Australian feel like something I shouldn’t be able to relate too. But while some of the subject matter seems worlds away, for me, at the core, rap represents a collective of people trying to make good out of a very shit situation, whether that is politically, racially, financially or demographically. I find myself listening to rap whenever I am particularly pissed off and it appears everyone else does too. It seems like basic math that its rise in popularity is reflective of the times.

MIKE is an artist that stands out because of everything he stands up for. In a period where the exploitative nature of the music industry has been revealed by every second artist, MIKE forged his own way with his label and collective 10k. He launched his own hip hop festival Young World, bringing together a vibrant community of like-minded souls for free one day festival in New York, a chance to give back to the people who gave so much to him. And he talks with so much passion and love for his art that it is hard not to appreciate it. Even if rap isn’t your thing, you can hear the labours of love that go into every track. Here’s our chat with the man himself following the release of his latest album Showbiz!

How was your trip out to Australia?

Amazing. It was so fun. I was surprised at how much fun I had.

Did you prefer Sydney or Melbourne? I know that's a heated question.

We didn't get to spend as much time in Melbourne as we did Sydney. I had a really good time in Sydney.

Oh, I'm glad. Cool. Well, the first question I wanted to ask you is, what do you think personally is the foundation of a good rap track?

Mmmm the foundation of a good rap song. For me personally, I feel like you always got to have good flow, like a catchy, nice flow. Not every song has too, but I’m a flow guy. It doesn’t have to be the most technical flow, but just like something that sounds fun, easy to listen to. And then, humour. I feel like you got to be a little bit funny. Yeah, then good production. That’s my top three, I think, yeah.

That’s a good top three. Now that you've put a number of albums out, do you find each one gets easier to produce and put out because of your experience or does it get harder because of the potential expectations?

I think it gets harder. I have this weird thing where every year I feel like I’m going to fall off. I think that works in my favour because it just makes me try a little bit harder.

Good mentality. And what is your take on rap at the moment? Is it in an exciting place? Just as a whole, what are your thoughts on it?

I feel like the industry sucks. Yeah. But I think rap music, like the actual music has been really good. I feel like we're getting a lot of different characters and different styles of music, which is interesting. To see people really going forward with doing it themselves too. I make most of my music at home, right next to my bed and it’s not usually like that. So, seeing people come through the wave of that, and being open to that is really exciting. So yeah, I think the music is in a good place.

I know you speak a lot about MF Doom and his influence on your music, particularly the world building that he does. How does it feel to now be considered a musician that somebody else would listen to and be influenced by?

I'm grateful. It blows my mind because like I've been saying, I've been feeling like I’m about to fall off every year, but then there's people that are like yo, this is a generational artist. That's the word I've been hearing a lot. A generational artist. It's fire. When I really sit back and think about it, I’m so grateful to be a part of this super huge lineage. I wouldn't be able to do this without the people that came before me. Also, nobody else is doing it after me as well. We all play a huge role in keeping the lifeline alive. You never realise when you are just trying to do your own thing, especially when you’re doing it just for you, but it really is a part of something bigger. Especially as I get older. I never got to meet Doom, but I got to meet some of the people he worked with and it’s so fire to see how it never stops happening. The people you look up to were once in your position too.

Yeah, I love that perspective. I listen to a lot of different music but whenever I am pissed off, I tend to gravitate towards rap which makes sense with the history and themes of anti-establishment the foundations of rap are based on… do you think there is a correlation between the popularity of rap and the circus of politics and war that seems to be getting worse?

Music in general is supposed to be super reflective of the times. Rap music especially is reflective of the times. That’s why rap is such a thing where you can hear certain raps and know what time it is from. Even if you don’t know who it is, you know what I mean? I think people that make rap music don't even realise for themselves how much the world is catered to rap music in a certain way. It’s crazy now being at restaurants and the stock music is just rap or drill beats.

Yeah the world is angry.

That’s it. But also that's why I say that the industry side of it kind of sucks sometimes because it's definitely a crazy tool. It’s a tool that I’ve used to change my life. Not to sound super conspiracy but when you get access to seeing what’s happening underneath, you know, like seeing how people have changed their lives, they attach themselves to it, especially they have the money to do so. Like managers coming in and attaching themselves to a rapper. Take TikTok for example. I know a lot of people who have found their stride on that and become famous and stable off of it, so then immediately every label is like yo, you need a TikTok man. It’s not even a second guess; you need to have it. But for me, hip hop is like magic. And whenever magic is exposed, people will try and convert the magic into a machine. And when you try and convert it into a machine it gets nasty. It’s a bigger analogy for what’s going on with life right now.

Did you end up having to get TikTok? I don't have TikTok, so I don’t know if you’re on it.

I have an account, but I don’t be posting.

Back to what you said about how the industry sucks. Is that motivation as to why you’ve gone out and done things on your own, like your own record label and starting your own festival?

Yeah. I’m grateful I’ve seen rappers like Wiki and Earl Sweatshirt do their thing in a different way to everybody else which gave me the confidence to do it too. As long as we stick to it, then people will eventually tag along, you know what I mean? That's just what we did. And it’s still going.

Yeah, I mean it’s very obvious that what you are doing is very authentic and you are just doing your thing and people appreciate it when that’s the case. You mentioned Wiki and Earl, what has been the importance of having guys like them in your corner as mentors and collaborators?

I think it's so important because I see the people doing the same thing as me, you know what I mean? For me I’m thinking about the longevity of this thing and how it is going to be in ten years from now. Because by then I’m not going to be able to be in the studio the same way, or crash on couches. So, by the time I’m 35 I gotta figure out how to not crash on couches (laughs), but it helps to see that it doesn’t just end. It keeps going how you want it to like it has for Earl and Wiki.

Yeah, totally. Speaking of crashing on couches, you have the most insane tour coming up. It’s like seventy stops in ninety days or something wild. How do you even do that?

Honestly, I think I love performing so much that after I do the first show, it's like a super adrenaline rush that keeps on going. Everybody else be tired as fuck but I wake up every morning on tour so excited.

Oh, that means you're doing your thing then right? Is there a particular track on the new album that you're excited for the rest of the world to hear? Obviously, the whole thing, but is there one track that stands out as particularly meaningful to you?

There are two tracks. The first one, I wasn’t sampling anything I just sort of built the track. I had a homie add saxophone and then another homie added additional bass. I’ve tried to build before, but this one feels like a more professional attempt. And then I have another track on there where I'm just singing. So I'm excited to see what people think about that.

Just touching on Young World as well. I've obviously never been, but I've read all the reviews and everyone just says it's insane. What was the why behind doing that? Because it seems like a big project.

Yeah, it's crazy. Every year is. It’s a lot of work for sure. But every year it happens there is always a moment that I’m super grateful for. I think there's always been my goal, besides the event bringing like-minded artists together. As I was talking about earlier, the magic that comes with sharing with people and trying to help people recognise that for themselves – that’s always been a big thing for me, and I feel like Young World has always had the ability to do that. The first one we did was with this community center called Abrons Art Center. Our friend Ali Rosa-Salas, who runs that spot, put on to the different ways we could create something that is community driven. So just sticking to those kind of morals, you know, that community, it’s done so much for us. It always feels like a big family reunion every time. We've been at the park for maybe like three, four years now and now the old heads from the neighbourhood pull up. The kids are able to meet their favourite artists, it just makes me really happy. This neighbourhood has done so much for me since I moved here so it feels blessed to be able to give back.

I hope I can go one day. Alright so you've got a crazy tour coming up, albums about to come out, is there anything else on the radar that we should know about?

Oh, I mean, I feel like there always is. I feel like you just got to keep on the look.