Mikkey returns to tell tales of sweet songs called survival with “Another Day In The Ghetto,” equipped with production by Tha Bizness and a mean Biggie sample. Read the rest of this entry »

Nearly a month to the day after dropping their Chicago summer inspired lullaby, Mikkey Halsted and Twista double up with the liberation of the video prescription to “Linen.” The two Chi-Town Blackhawks tour the city with enough eye candy to produce cavities as they explain the fruits of the Windy City’s much beloved sights when there isn’t 30 feet of snow on the ground. Read the rest of this entry »

Summertime Chi

As life would have it, I was only able to spend a few months as a Chicago resident. At least it was during the summer though. The city was alive with culture, food, history, sports and the best mild sauce man could ever ask for. Not to mention, the Ralph Lauren store on Michigan Avenue still brings a lone tear to my eye. Had I still paid been paying my taxes in the Chi, Mikkey Halsted’s summertime ready “Linen” would find itself as apart of my daily routine. Read the rest of this entry »

Inspired by their “Brain Candy” series and most likely plenty of wild, drunken nights, Naledge and Double O have embarked on another international adventure in between projects. Semester Abroad highlights the Kidz’ fantastic G.P.A. over the past few months and few of the classmates (Curren$y, Smoke DZA, tabi Bonney, The Kid Daytona, etc.) helping them cheat through language arts class. Read the rest of this entry »

“Look, Satan, I cast you out of Hip-Hop, in the name of Yahshua, Be healed, be restored to the days you were pure…”

Halsted’s Dark Room managed to slip under most radars, which is kind of disappointing but to be expected to a certain extent. Rapping with a sense of accountability to others outside of your immediate circle doesn’t always gain the same traction as rapping about b*tches and blunts. Read the rest of this entry »

“Pay attention to what’s hid in the books, They throw the books at us and slap the wrists of white collar crooks.”

More new music from SMKA’s upcoming, third installment of The 808 Experiment and it’s quite triumphant, the charge led by Donny, Bobby & Mikkey. Read the rest of this entry »

Fresh off rubbing elbows with us at SXSW, Agacee gets back to the grind with this party posse track. A minimalist cut at its core, “Check Your Status,” offers no fancy production gimmickry or avant garde lyricism. Instead, it’s the rock-solid vocals and punchy rhymes of Agacee and cohorts Mikkey Halsted and Nicholaus Kane that carry the weight. Read the rest of this entry »

Words by C. Paicely

“We go to the Arabs for our liquor. Mexicans cut our grass. The Indians sell us doughnuts. The Jews loan us cash. The Egyptians do our hair. Chinese do our nails. The government gives us dope, then Whitey throws us in jail.”

Mikkey Halsted is a name some of us have heard floating around since there was a Cash Money Records to speak of. If you know him, it is as a skilled lyricist, social commentator, and impressive storyteller. Read the rest of this entry »

Words by C. Paicely

Dark alleys, seedy women and sweltering nightclubs all fit into Mikkey Halsted and N2ition’s vision of ‘20s Chicago, not to mention the most dapper version of gritty Gibbs we’ve seen. As always, Mikkey preys on originality, this time by giving us a violent, sepia-colored glimpse into the Windy’s shady past, scored by Yeezy’s top comrade, No I.D. Read the rest of this entry »

Mik’s The Dark Room releases next Tuesday but for this Tuesday, he’s letting loose one hell of a warning shot with “Runnin’ My City,” a monstrous track full of emcees who all happen to be ten toes down in their respective towns. Read the rest of this entry »

Words by C. Paicely

Last week Mikkey got all poetic and passionate, spitting an a cappella social analysis with a cadence all his own. This time the lyrics are more pointed, directed at an era of Hip Hop in which the most gifted scribes bypass the constructive for the commercial. Mikkey sure as hell isn’t curbing our eagerness to enter The Dark Room, when he drops insightful gems like these back-to-back. Read the rest of this entry »

G.O.O.D. Friday has been an epic occurrence in Hip-Hop lore. For the last few weeks, we’ve been exposed to classic records that have set the internet on fire every weekend. All but one of the tracks have come with a slew of guest appearances from artists that understand the importance of the music and have contributed some of the best verses of their careers. Read the rest of this entry »

Words by C. Paicely

We all remember Def Poetry and the spoken-word geniuses that graced its dimly lit stage. Assonance experts like Black Ice and zealous storytellers like Lemon invigorated us, infusing purpose into every bit of spittle to leave their lips. Occasionally a rapper would appear on the show and raise our hopes of seeing them delve into a different craft, only to simply rattle off an a cappella verse from their album. There’s a fundamental difference between writing a passionate spoken-word poem and recycling a verse Read the rest of this entry »

Has Mikkey given up the chase to be great and reverting back to corner tactics? Is he leaving positivity and lyricism, redirecting his content to include peddling and pushing? Flagrantly using the word “swag” even though it’s empty at this point? Read the rest of this entry »

“Too many locked up and gone for me to lie in a poem, or try to perpetrate a fraud when I’m writing a song.”

Hip-Hop current landscape with more than its share of devilishness centered around pimpin’ hoes and slammin’ Cadillac doors. Mikkey’s a mic apostle who would be touted had he emerged during a different era. Read the rest of this entry »