At only 26, American rapper-producer MIKE has created a body of work that would rival most artists twice his age. And yet, as he prepares to release his tenth full-length, Showbiz!, the quality has never diminished. As the new record demonstrates, MIKE’s syrupy flow and introspective ruminations have only gathered steam with each project.
The album’s opening, ‘Bear Trap’, lays the groundwork for MIKE’s characteristic laid-back tone, a soulful vocal sample and shimmering piano floating unassumingly behind the track’s resonant bass. But at two minutes, the vibe shifts, picking up speed and rhythm, as if to introduce an entirely new point of view or to suggest a kind of levelling up. Instead though, we’re led into ‘Clown Of The Class (Work Harder)’, returning the timbre to the earlier serenity of MIKE’s nonchalant delivery. A similar effect occurs on ‘Artist Of The Century’, which switches up halfway, drifting away to nothing before the start of ‘What U Bouta Do? / A Star Was Born’. It has a hypnotic feel, as if you’re being teased in and then gently pushed out by MIKE’s lo-fi delivery.
The production throughout highlights an engrossing tapestry of samples and loops, the rapper under his dj blackpower alias showing off his ability to match funk, soul and more to his nimble flow. We see this on the sunny, brass-infused ‘Then We Could Be Free..’, as well as on ‘Watered Down’, which features pitched-up vocals reminiscent of 60s girl groups, and ‘Man In The Mirror’, with its shuffling keyboard melody. Elsewhere, there’s beauty in tracks like ‘When It Rains’ and the reflective ‘You’re The Only One Watching’, which includes an outro of words spoken by MIKE’s late mother, Anuoluwapo Sandra Akinboboye.
Lyrically, the rapper continues to lay down some hard truths and messages of empowerment, with memorable lines like, “The prize isn’t much, but the price is abundant” (on ‘Artist Of The Century’) and “This life get cold and wet, now I know that the rain ain’t done / God hopin’ that payday come, can’t afford to betray your trust” (on ‘Pieces Of A Dream’). Many of the tracks on Showbiz! are under two minutes, which has the effect of making the album feel like a collection of snapshots, MIKE’s muffled rapping taking on a stream-of-consciousness style that delivers an unexpected punch, as on ‘The Weight (2k20)’ and ‘#82’.
Showbiz! is significant not only for underlining MIKE’s continued evolution as a rapper and composer, but also as a producer and beat-maker. Across 24 tracks, he meditates on the journey that has got him to where he is now, but also succeeds in looking ahead to a hopeful future, pointing to various chapters of his creative development along the way.
