Mike is an intelligent artist who is very much focused on changing the mediocre standard of music coming out of Hip-Hop. He takes his lyrics and lifestyle seriously. Jay Baker-Johnson of Orange Lights introduced Troy of ByhandNYC to Mike a few weeks ago, and he has been intrigued by the artist since day one. Here is his story!
What inspires your lyrical content, you seem to have a lot of symbolism in your music?
-A lot of my lyrical content is inspired by the work of Common and Nas. The way they string words together to form coherent ideas is not only complex, but can still be appreciated decades later without becoming stale. Most of all, they rap about things that are relevant to their life experiences instead of writing about generic things that appeal to a broad spectrum of listeners. I want people to listen to my music because they get down with me as a person rather than my image. So whether its relationship troubles, acknowledging my faults, being a student, being in love, good food, or just kicking it with the homies, I try to spit about things that are relevant to my current position in life. I'm only 19 so I figure I've only lived through about 1/4 of the experiences that I'll be writing about in the future. Stay tuned.
When did creating music become a priority to you?
-I caught senioritis way too hard towards the end of my last year of high school. So I kind of just stopped paying attention in class and started writing rhymes. I recorded this 10 track mixtape in a few weeks and let some of my friends hear it. They told me it was raw and it was a done deal from there.
What do you want to contribute to the Hip Hop culture?
This is going to be a long answer I can feel it. I don't think I'd be exaggerating when I say 75% of the songs on hip-hop radio stations never get past the trivial subject matter. It's either about money, things you can buy with money, having sex, partying or how dope the artist is.
I am not saying I do not have those types of tracks as well because that's a part of the human experience, you know? What I am saying is that a lot of popular artists in hip-hop choose not to spit real lyrics from the soul and that really bothers me. I just want to engage listeners within the hip-hop culture by giving them material with substance. I want my music to challenge people instead of feeding them redundant lyrics that won't mean anything in a few years. Eventually I want my tracks to be timeless, and timeless material takes serious time and thought.
Artist you are currently listening to?
-I listen to a lot of different music all the time so this is going to be hard. I will keep the list short though:
Flying Lotus, J. Cole, Tech N9ne, Björk, Jay Electronica, Outkast and Moby.
You are rapping over very nice beats, any shout outs to people who helped on your mixtape?
-Oh of course! I'd like to thank Zach Jamieson for making my vocals sound extra crispy. Thanks to The Blazing Mantis for collaborating with me on the track "Space Walker". Thanks to The Blazing Mantis, RJD2, Pete Rock, J-Dilla and Kev Brown for producing these tracks. I'd also like to thank Nick Selis, Tony Sabater, Breanna Metcalf-Oshinsky, John Rice, Bradley Korman, The Blazing Mantis and Annie Dineen for encouraging me to keep grinding and getting my music out there.
Words of wisdom for the young?
Just do you. Do not ever let anyone tell you that you are not capable of doing something. That's for you to decide. Also, raw talent can only get you so far so be prepared to work as hard as you can as often as you can if you want to become successful.
Bandcamp: http://mikebraugher.bandcamp.com/
Twitter: @mikebraugher
Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mike-Braugher-Music/215207251837954
Also! Mike's album will be dropping on my Bandcamp page in the spring of 2012 with occasional mixtape releases in the meantime! Follow him on twitter (@mikebraugher) to receive the latest updates on my music.
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