Exposed Vocals Interviews Mikey Clips

Mikey Clips: well i grew up in Little Rock Arkansas , around alot of gangs and alot of violence occurs daily. Hearing the sounds of ambulances and cop cars are a daily sound just the birds of a annoying ass barking dog next door. I think it all started for me as a way of expressing how i felt and describing lyrically my daily comings and goings, kinda like a hood new reporter lol. You see early in life i was kinda fucked from the get go (excuse my language but thats just how it was) my mother was murdered in a hit and run in southwest Little Rock (which the never found the killer/driver) which lead my father to attempt suicide and lose custody of all his kids (me my little brother and two sisters). After that my moms side of the family took our two sisters and me and my lil brother were left to grow up in Little Rock. If it weren’t for our grandmother im not even sure we’d be here today. Fast forward about 9 years still in tha same hood on 65th st, i began to transition from a scared lil kid to fighting everyday, involved in gang activity.Learning from the older guys in my neighborhood i became hardened and grew cold to everyone outside of my family. Pops wa a crackhead so he wasn’t around so really the only role models i had was the thugs and gang members i hung out with. My grandma did her best but she couldn’t be every where at once you feel me and if it wast for her i wouldn’t have any good in me at all went to a orphanage /foster care and all that but she instilled values and respect i still hold on to today. My skin tone  caused alot of racial conflict in my life from bein racially profiled to not fitting in anywhere accept church and the hood. Me being half Native American, with some french, irish,german and puerto rican people aint know wtf i was, the hood called me light skin, white people called me mexican and my own people called me white but ill be damn if i dint get all the girls tho wooh lol. So really all of that factored into my music which actually started out as poetry and freestyling on the bus to and from school. Then soon i was downloading beats from lime wire or whatever it was called and turned that poetry into songs.It wasnt till later when i started producing and making my own beats.

Mikey Clips: well people knew me as Mikey but when i started rapping i liked the name eclipse because it kinda described how i had felt even on the sunniest and nicest day something in my life would always fuck it up and over shadow everything. I once saw a guy get popped in the head at close range as a kid, that left a mark on me for a while, and really that was the first time i experienced death besides my mom. But wether it was family issues, my dad coming around all high and fucked up or going to school in some buddies and getting made fun of, i swear it was always something. But getting back to my name i eventually changed it cause i was seeing it being used more and more often and i wanted to be original. So i changed it to Mikey Clips and by that time i was runnin around with a 8 milli taurus pistol so i came up with Mikey Clips. It was unique and authentic to me cause everyone else was a young this or a lil that and i wanted to be different.

Mikey Clips: I mean i share music for free all the time. I feel like it keeps my fans entertained whether it be a short song i just whipped up on a youtube beat or a quick freestyle. Just something to tide them over til i drop a full length song on itunes , spotify etc. But other then that i feel illegal music sharing/downloading is killing most major artist but im still small enough that you cant really find my shit anywhere except where i put it or if a blog posted it.

Mikey Clips: Im by far not a expert on the matter, i can just tell you what has been working for me. Keep the content coming, keep the music flowing and keep the listeners atttention because once you lose it , its not easy to get back and you lose alot of steam trying to get your content back in front of fans. Do shows , alot of shows, give free cd out at them until you have a nice fanbase and fans that are continually coming to shows or posting about you then hit them with the album for 10$ or something. I dont feel like anyone would buy your music if they have never heard it before. its like buying a car before you even know if it runs.

Mikey Clips: I usually go alot off memories of situations past or present, good or bad it doesnt matter. The only thing that matters is how it made me feel at the time. Like my song “Hunnid” that was purely off people saying how genuine i am , how i always keep it a hunnid with you , no sugar coating, no tryna be something im not. i express my views and opinions not all the time but when i do im not gonna change it just because its trending now or try to shoot you a fantasy. No im going to be real with you because i found out the more fake you are the faster its gonna catch up to you. But if you express how you really feel and dont try to bullshit someone theyll respect you more for it trust me. As for the process itself i keep the finest and most potent dro around to let me express in writing how i feel on the inside. I got to set the mood and vibe with the beat before i even come up with the content itself. Couple grams in  backwood  always does it.

Mikey Clips:I have music on all types of platforms such as soundcloud, youtube, bandcamp , even on Itunes, google play or amazon for digital downloads or streaming services like spotify , iheart radio . The list goes on and on, anywhere you find music imma be there with dope content to share.

Mikey Clips: Man thats a tough one but first id say i would clear all my debt like medical bills oh and pay the state back haha they do not play bout them legal fees lol lets see and  familys debt. I would then prolly invest in some companies to try and get some residual income because its like that saying, give a man some fish and he can eat for a few days but teach him how to catch and cook them and he’ll never go hungry again. I would then invest in my career and push myself to make it in the music industry. Other than that i honestly wouldnt know because im not the type to blow it all on nice cars , jewelry and all the material things that dont mean nothing if you broke rockn diamonds in a lambo, you just gonna make yourself look stupid and become a mark and prolly get robbed tryna stunt .

Mikey Clips: Right now its just word of mouth and socail media but i have hired different pr firms to get some extra buzz in places i havent been yet. I find that doing shows, interviews, keeping up with the music blogs and keep the content flowing is the best marketing i could do right now at this point while im still in a building period in the industry.

Mikey Clips: I have a mixtape entitled “The Connect” and a full album enititled “Belushi Boy” coming later this year. Both i have been working on for the past couple years. Only thing is as i grow as a artist i see my music changing from d-boy rapping to a more conscience type of music. Working with a Mississippi artist/ SOS member Yung Bangkok he really brought out alot of my music because hes from the south too and after hearing his struggle and how it sounded, real and authentic struggles of everyday i was like yep this what i need to do so people can relate to issues and problems i go through. So thats really how theses two projects came about i just started looking at music in a different way.

Mikey Clips: Honestly i have no idea, music keep me occupied alot of the time. I mean if it wasnt for that id prolly be sitting in prison next to the people i associate myself with. Actually homie just got out of the federal penitentiary on a attempted murder change, which i could of easliy been right there with him, shout my cuddy Young Stuey co founder of my label Sink Or Swim Music , og of the whole sos movement.  Music and my girl shout out Ana Campos for holdn me down through all my legal trouble and keeping me grounded with my head on straight. Sometimes you need a shoulder to lean on and i gurantee you if you dont have that you wont make if very far, because somewhere along the way you gonna get some yes men around that just be around to ride to fame with you not caring what you do or how it may affect your career or really life in general. Thats why i keep a small circle i dont trust alot of people i been burnt too many times and the ones i do trust are like family a1’s from day one you feel me. Im naturally a social introvert with some bi polar tendency’s with anxiety to top it off. So having those few real ones around me tp push and keep my grounded helps my music tremendously and in life in general. So again theses no telling what i would be doing or where id be at if I didnt have music to focus on. Music tunnel vision prolly saved my life

Mikey Clips: Im not gonna lie to you it get hard sometimes especially being in a relationship, when you got all the females tryna get at you just cause you got alil buzz lol But i manage it pretty well. Theres a time and a place for everything you just got to be smart enough to guide those situations to your benefit and not let it get in the way progress and success.

Mikey Clips: Alot of new music for one, several upcoming shows shout out Lashawn Stuart of Lifeline Entertainment and Gaz Station entfor the shows and upcoming tour we working on and now that i have teamed up with French Film co alot more high quality music videos. Those guys are top knotch professionals and easy people to work with. They are actually the ones who did my latest music video “Hunnid” .Other then that stay tuned in to my twitter @mikeyclips or tap in to my facebook page to stay up to date with the latest shows and newly released music