Showbiz!
Showbiz! Album ∙ Hip-Hop/Rap ∙ 2025 MIKE By sheer force of will, MIKE has become a leading voice in New York’s underground rap renaissance. He drops one or two albums a year, each expanding his lyrical scope, laidback delivery, and excellent ear for beats. His crew runs deep, and 2024’s Pinball with producer Tony Seltzer featured many of his closest collaborators, like Earl Sweatshirt and Tony Shhnow. His 2025 effort, Showbiz! , is similar in the sense that it’s a deeply immersive effort, but the guest list is limited. MIKE’s world is nevertheless unmistakable, filled with weed smoke, knotty lyrics, and beats that continue to help forge a new golden age in New York. “Then we could be free” takes an old soul sample and highlights the bassline, giving MIKE’s unrelenting delivery a funky underbelly. “Lucky” features drums that explode like fireworks and synths that dance around MIKE’s voice, approximating his slippery flow without ever tying it down to a consistent rhythm...