Over the years, MIKE has built a rock-solid catalog that, like the work of our best, has reflected the multidimensional truths of his life. He has chronicled the pain of losing his mother, he’s shown himself climbing out of a funk, and, in more recent history, he’s gotten more comfortable beating his chest about being a leader at the top of his food chain.

At just 26, his impact has ventured outside of his own music, platforming peers like Niontay, Sideshow and Jadasea through his 10K label and collective, and producing for the likes of Liv.e & KeiyaA as dj blackpower. He’s built one of the premiere events on New York’s musical calendar with his free Young World festival in Bed Stuy, which has brought together generational talents (Pete Rock, Earl Sweatshirt, Slick Rick, Noname) to celebrate his growing community with exclusively Black vendors and small businesses.

On MIKE’s newest album, Showbiz!, he sets out to strike the perfect balance between everything he’s done in his career thus far. He teeters more actively between moments of introspection, intoxicating self-confidence, and motivational conversations in his head, both thematically and sonically. There’s a seesaw effect, a clear sign that over the past few years of non-stop touring and ascending in his career, the rapper has felt a constant back-and-forth that he’s still trying to get a solid handle of.

“When I show up with my homies, show up at the show, show up to my family, it is all the same person but everything is definitely categorized in a certain way which, for myself, my goal is to bring all of those things into something more cohesive,” he says of the dilemma.