Nuvany David
Our guest on 2023’s first episode of The FADER Interview podcast is MIKE — the prolific, 25-year-old New York rapper/producer who’s already risen to the highest echelon of underground hip-hop. His new album, Beware of the Monkey, arrived on December 21, in de facto defiance of the end-of-year-list release schedule, but still turned plenty of heads this holiday season. In conversation with The FADER’s Brandon Callender, he talks about the ecstatic highs and exhausting lows of touring, channeling the spiritual through his beats and bars, New Year’s resolutions, and much more.
MIKE has been notoriously press shy in the past, but he opened himself up to interviews with select publications (including ours) this time around. During their discussion, Brandon asks him about his recent change of heart. “My homie from England, Malcolm, told me some good advice,” MIKE explains: “‘Bro, somebody’s interviewing you, just make the answers worth it. Even if they ask you bad questions, just make the answers worth it.’ That made me realize [I] could have control over what [I] want this thing to be. I can be selfish and be like, ‘Oh, millions of people already asked me this question, blah blah blah,’ but then, at the same time, you could ask me a simple question and I can just blow your mind right now.”
Listen to the full episode — linked here and embedded below — wherever you get your podcasts.
