WRITTEN BY @CONNERDOCHERTY
On the 6th of May, Mic Righteous dropped the much anticipated mixtape Mic Wasn’t Thinkin’. The mixtape is 24 tracks long – including ten skits – and has a wide range of subject matter.
Voicemails from various highly respected names in the music industry, including Charlie Sloth and Jamal Edwards, make up some of the skits, with a message from Charlie opening the mixtape: Charlie Sloth Skit Part 1 features the radio DJ expressing his concern for Mic after hearing his mixtape. Skibba D’s Skit is similar, with Skibba describing the mixtape as mental institute music. G Frsh also has a comparable opinion as he says the mixtape is “mad”.
The other skits are Mic being praised by of his peers; Jamal SBTV Skit features SBTV founder and entrepeneur Jamal Edwards telling Mic that the mixtape is a “madness” and DJ Semtex of Radio 1Xtra tells Mic that he is “one of the realist MC’s in the country” and if he’s going to go commercial that he still needs to keep his edge and rawness.
Now onto the music side of the mixtape…
You Live On is the real introduction to the mixtape and Mic gives us an insight into how he feels about his fans:
This is free, this is for you, to show my appreciation.
He goes on to state “without you there’s no me, without me there’s no this” suggesting that without his fans Mic doesn’t think he would have got this far with music. He drops a line that suggests he is surprised by his progress in the music industry:
It’s kinda hard to believe, when you think of what me made with the bars and the beats.
Cold Zone is Mic’s steam-of-consciousness describing the zone he gets into when he’s rapping – i.e. the cold zone. Belly is the deepest track on the mixtape as Mic speaks of the build up to his son being born. He tells listeners of how he felt he needed to wisen and strengthen up before his son was born, and also offers a darker side to the situation as he sometimes felt like he wasn’t ready to be a dad at the young age of 20.
Vicious Game lives up to its title as Mic expresses his opinion on the rap game and that it is a vicious circle of emotions:
First joy, then pain, then hate, friends say you’re not the same.
In my eyes, Punish me is a reply to the people hating on him:
They said ive lost the plot and ive lost respect, but when you’ve lost everything whats respect.
Mic clerarly rises above negative opinions that people have of him and he’s going to carry on doing his thing regardless. The reply to the haters is mainly in the line “don’t punish me for tryin to turn my dreams into reality, don’t punish me for tryna feed my family”. A struggling artist, all Mic is trying to do is make something of himself and it seems he’s being pushed to the edge at people going against him when he’s following his dream.
Mic Wasn’t Thinkin’ has got to be in my the top three mixtapes released so far in 2013. I can only suggest that you have a listen to the mixtape and hear the talent for yourself. I guarantee you will not be let down and you will be listening to more of Mic after you’ve had a listen to this sick mixtape.
Download Mic Wasn’t Thinkin’ here.