MIKE kicks off tour with soulful music and wide smiles.
written + photographed by hunter astrid
I won’t lie, I honestly did not know what to expect from these three sets when going into it. I had known of MIKE and 454, but had never had the opportunity to sit down and listen to their music. I knew that I was in for a night of great experimental hip hop and soulful music. I definitely walked away with a new found appreciate and love for all three musicians.
MIKE -
Michael Jordan Bonema, known professionally as MIKE, was the main event of the night. He’s a rapper, songwriter and record producer based in New York City but grew up in London, Essex, Livingston, Philadelphia and NYC. All of those places influence his diverse and experimental music. One of his main music influences from a young age was British Grime artist Skepta. MIKE’s first critically reviewed mixtape was titled Winter New York. He launched his professional career via Bandcamp at age 17 back in 2015. Yet, back in 2013 he started to email journalists within the industry to start to directly communicate with record executives.
MIKE’s first ever project was a six track EP titled Belgium Butter and was released back in 2015. During this time he was also looking for his own independence and stability and decided to to co-found an underground hip-hop group that was called the Slums. Since then, he’s released multiple albums, singles and EPs and has made a name for himself in the industry. He has been branded as one of the ‘most important figures in contemporary hip-hop’ by Pitchfork, The Fader and The New Yorker and I can definitely see why.
MIKE has said that music is the most important part of his life and the stage is one of the only places that he feels comfortable. Making and performing music is one of the best ways for him to be able to communicate his feelings. Although his heart still lies with Bandcamp, he has started to release some projects on SoundCloud, Spotify, and Apple Music.
MIKE’s performance was, in a sense, intoxicating. His use of lo-fi drum beats with distorted jazz loops had a way of pulling me in. He had a unique vocal delivery that did come off as monotone and a little bit muffled, but the emotion and energy was not lost within that. The whole entire crowd absolutely adored him and you could tell he didn’t take one second on stage for granted. He isn’t one of those artists that you will see jumping from side to side, hyping up the whole crowd by fast and physical movements. The feelings, his voice and the emotions that came from his music amped up everyone perfectly.
It was the first night of the Ipari Park Tour and he already entered the stage with a massive smile on his face. He started off his set by thanking everyone that had come to see him as well as the crew that stood with him and helped him put together the tour. He even saw me in the front photographing the show and went out of his way to walk over and shake my hand. MIKE is an extremely talented, unique and kind artist whose music you can tell is filled with soulful intention and strong emotions. He is a natural-born storyteller and easily pulls in many people who want to hear his stories. His control over a room is powerful and his music will only get more influential as time goes on.
MY FAVORITE SONG: As 4 Me off of Beware of the Monkey (2022)
454 -
Willie Wilson, stage name 454, is an Orlando born artist who is currently based in Manhattan, New York. Aside from making his own music, he has produced tracks for Smokepurp, Playboi Carti and XXXTENTACION. He started to make music at age 12 and went under the alias Squills with his sister PigTheGemini. He has cited that moving to New York helped him delve deeper into music. Seeing the difference between Florida and New York helped him establish his sound.
454's music style is something that's unique and newer to the hip-hop scene. His main style seems like a combination of the y2k-era style and the glitchy, post trap wave that was brought into the spotlight by Lil Uzi Vert. Although his sound is influenced by these styles, his music has no boundaries and stands out as unique. He had an amazing feature on the song “Sanjuro” off of Denzel Curry's 2022 album Melt My Eyes See Your Future and has performed alongside Kenny Beats. Eventually, due to his networking in the vast creative communities in New York City, he crossed paths with Frank Ocean.
His debut album dropped in March of 2021 and is titled 4 REAL where songs like “Andretti” and “Late Night” are featured. Recording for that project coincided with the start of the pandemic, so everything was shut down. it gave time for isolation to fully work on the project. It wasn't easy, and he's still trying to expand his craft and focus on his mixing skills, but it definitely helped him form his sound. He doesn't only focus on music, but skating has been a big part of his life. Tony Hawk being one of the big figures for him. He's also focusing on fashion and clothing design with Frank Ocean.
His show on Thursday was extremely lively and filled with intense energy. His sound gives an ethereal and hypnotic sound due to its fast paced beat and dreamy nature. His lighting for his set also matched very well into the ethereal state; most of his show involved blue and green lights, giving the audience an other-worldly feeling. His energy and overall vibe was very infectious. The audience clearly willingly fed off of the energy. His music is very enticing and if you decide to see him live you will not go home disappointed.
MY FAVORITE SONG: either his feature on "Sanjuro" or "Stitch+ Lilo" off of FAST TRAX 3 (2022)
Niontay -
Niontay was the first artist to take the stage that night, and he was a perfect opener. He really helped set the vibe for the rest of the night. Since he is more of an up and coming artist, there isn't much about him online. Luckily I had the opportunity to talk to him briefly about his music and his process as an artist.
Niontay is from Kissimmee, Florida and has been making music for about three years now. He can't really pin-point an exact reason in his life that got him into music exactly, but growing up he often found himself in trouble and always found himself reading and writing to pass the time. When it comes to making music, Niontay doesn't have a specific formula that he follows. He just needs to be in the right mood to make a beat. When it comes to the lyrics over the beat, it truly just depends on the people he surrounds himself with when rapping over his beats.
He shared that he doesn't have distinct plans for the future music wise, and he's just seeing where it takes him. He just wants to help out his family and make sure they're stable. He even plans to help put his sister through school. He also mentioned how he would like to branch out from just rap and into other genres, maybe going the route of an electronic artist.
Niontay is a new up and coming artist and is definitely going places. His set was extremely fun and he already seems comfortable on a stage. I'm excited to see him grow as an artist and see how his style develops over time. He was a perfect opener for both 454 and MIKE and really helped bring the crowd together for the rest of the night. I'm looking forward to seeing where he is in a few years.
MY FAVORITE SONG: "Runaway" off of Blood Diamond (2021), an EP made with SUIQE
