We are patiently waiting for Mikkey Halsted to drop his new mixtape, Money Makin’ Mikkey Season, the new project he’s been working on out in L.A. with The Legendary Traxster, No I.D., Don Cannon, and Young Chop. Good music takes time, and while originally the mixtape was slated to drop in May, Mikkey is still putting the final pieces together. Halsted relocated to L.A. earlier this year to really focus on music. He has a few projects worth of material as well as a few label offers on the table. While we wait for an official label announcement and the release of MMM Season, I spoke to Mikkey to get his thoughts on Chicago’s new crop of artists including Chief Keef, Lil Durk, Lil’ Reese, and Young Chop.
Because of Mikkey’s background in education, as well as his commitment to what many see as “true Hip Hop”, many have questioned Mikkey to get his thoughts on Keef and company. Many have expected him to not be very impressed with the young kids, or speak out against their lyrics and subject matter. That’s not the case though as Mikkey explained to me.
“It’s so crazy because people know my place in Chicago Hip Hop. That’s not really disputed,” he said. “When the Chief Keef, Young Chop, Lil’ Reese, Lil’ Durk phenomenon was taking off people kept hitting me, ‘I want to know what Mikkey Halsted thinks about Chief Keef.’ They’re on twitter on my timeline like wanting me to combat that wave. I’m not there to do that. Why would I combat 16 year-old kids that have a chance to better their situation that really are living in hell?
“The thing about that movement is that it’s representative of a real segment of our population. If you live in Chicago, you see Chief Keef’s all over the corner. Drive down the street and they’ll blow your brains out too. It’s not fabricated. It’s not like they’re making some corny dance music. They’re making music and they’re telling their story. They’re expressing themselves. If you want to say, ‘here’s a picture of what’s going on in this segment in the ghetto of Chicago with the youth,’ Chief Keef, Lil’ Reese, Lil’ Durk, Young Chop, they embody that movement,” Mikkey continued. “It’s like, I understand what people say. It is negative, it’s negativity. Those are children, those are kids that are growing up fast, like now they’re not kids anymore. Read the book “There Are No Children Here” and you’ll understand. You’ll understand the dynamic and it’s deeper than just what people think. I applaud them for doing something that can change their life. They’re not thinking about if this is real Hip Hop or if this is real or I’m trying to be the best rapper in the world. They are telling their story and how could I hate them for telling their story? I love them for telling their story. I love the fact that they got a chance to tell their story.”
Money Makin’ Mikkey Season coming soon.