This month is special for those music lovers who follow the
Christian belief system because it is the month in which the savior Yeshua aka
Jesus Christ was born. In honor of that, we chose to highlight a genius of a
gospel rapper who goes by the rap name Mike Body. A friend of ours sent us an email back in September of this
year and told us to check this guy out and we did. After listening, the team
decided to do a story on Mike and his music. Mike Body reminded us of classic
rap acts like Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth or newer acts like Kendrick Lamar and
J. Cole but do not be fooled that statement because Mike has a strong presence
of his own . His style is very unique and the message he delivers is not so
preachy that it turns the listener off to what he's saying. I believe any hip hop music lover could
fine themselves getting into Mike Body even if you're not a follower of the Christian faith. Mike
is from Baltimore Maryland and you can hear how the city must have molded and shaped his
music and his subject matter.
We hooked up with Mike to learn more about his music. We
asked Mike a series of question about his life and his music. First, Mike says:
He has had a great love for music as far back as he could remember. He said he
would listen to his mom as she would play music and dance around the house.
Mike says his mom would play lots of artists but Michael Jackson, Guy and Anita
Baker stayed in heavy rotation when his mom played music. Mike also credits his
love of music to his dad as well. He remembers his dad having a large vinyl
collection of records mostly from the 60's and 70's. I think most of us old
heads can relate to that? Mike said he heard lots of music coming up but for
him the song "Some Guys Have All the Luck" by the Persuaders was one
of Mike's favorites. We asked Mike which artist was he directly influenced by
and he said artists like 2pac, jay Z, and Nas but more so 2pac because he could
relate to the pain and realism depicted in some of Pac's lyrics.
Mike said there are some good friends and producers that he
grew up with that inspired him to rap also. Mike says he couldn't forget about
these guys. Men like Charles aka (600 Rush) a friend he grew up with and Devon
aka (Mayday) a producer he has worked with. Mike says Mayday is the first real
producer he ever worked with and both him and 600 Rush inspired him to become a
better rapper. Mike has other members of his family who are into Hip Hop also.
Mike says he has two cousins one named Asia a rapper and the other goes by
NAE, a rapper/producer. Mike told us hopefully next year we would be hearing
from NAE's untitled project which Mike plans to executive produce for his
cousin. It's a good thing when an artist has good people around them and even
better when those people are family and friends.
Mike Body has been making music for about 10 years but he
says he never took it seriously until he got with a group called the Nocklist.
After the group disbanded, Mike decided to retire and focus more on his life as
a Christian. Mike's retirement from music wouldn't last long and after a year
he was back at it, but with a better perspective. Mike's producers M. Bennett
and Kevin A. made Mike see that he needed to take the recording of music more
seriously. Mike says while making his first solo album, M. Bennett's input and
attention to detail was a big reason for that album's success. Mike Body says
he has tried his hand at composing music but he prefers to stick to the
songwriting aspects of making music for now. Mike says some of his most
inspiring moment in his career came when he recorded the "Obituary"
project. Mike says this was some of his best memories as an artist because the
creation of the music was so organic at the time. He says he will never forget
the reaction to that album because it was unplanned but at the same time, it
gave birth to a new audience of listeners. He says I'm blessed to have that
under my belt today.
Mike Body has some great works out there right now and we have listed a few for you to check out. One track is called "Gospel on Sunday" featuring a dynamic singer "Jarell Johnson". The song is
an uplifting track that is full of hope and inspiration it was a close runner up for this
stories feature song. Another track of Mike's we enjoyed is a track called
"Selection Process" featuring singer "Devin".The
song is about the choices we make in life and in love relationships. Also it’s about
how we fight against the temptations we face trying build a better relationship
God while attempting to maintain our love life. As we reviewed Mike's many great works the
consensus began to form around this month's feature song. The track is entitled
"The Restoration". It is a clever run down of our weaknesses as men
and women. The song speaks on our fight as humans beings trying to live up to the
standers of the "Most High". "The Restoration" is about
facing your inner demons and being true to yourself and God. We wanted to know
Mike thoughts on the song and he had
this to say: The
Restoration was about the imperfections we all have either in word deed and as human beings. I was talking about a restoration from a doctrinal perspective
and a relationship perspective. When I say "I ain't perfect I can't
lie" is because I'm aware true cleansing comes when I admit my
imperfections to God. If we say we have no sin we make him a liar and the truth
is not in us.
Mike continues by saying: Now,
everything ain't for everybody but with God, you have to be real with yourself
and especially with him in order for that relationship to have any
authenticity. I know of people that have fallen away because they were
repeatedly scorned by the church because of some faults they may have had. Like, people having a baby out of
wedlock or for having previous troubles with the law or because of their financial and
education level. Sadly, I know of some people that are knowingly and
unknowingly being taught a false doctrine. When I wrote the song I put myself in
their shoes to hopefully shed some light on the issues and to let them know I can relate on some
level, also to say that I care. The church is intended to be a spiritual hospital, not
a courtroom, not a corporate business but instead it should be a loving and supportive family environment. Mike
says: The song is my contribution to the black family. We need more of that in
music and life. I agree with Mike we do need more music like this and more
people willing to make it.
We asked Mike what we could expect going forward: Mike says
right now he has been busy promoting the new EP "Signs of Maturity".
He is also planning to shoot a new video for his song "Call Me King" soon.
Also, Mike is putting out the remix version he wants to get a special feature
for that project. Mike say just stay Tuned! We asked Mike what message he was
trying to get across to the people and Mike said if I could get a message
across with my music it would be to tell people don't let the circumstances in
life define who you are, keep living. We really enjoyed Mike Body's music and
talking with a man who wants to do more than just make music he wants to serve
God and give the highest praise. We wish Mike all the best and we also
encourage you to put your support behind Mike because artist like him are
few and far apart these days. We could sure use a good word and some awesome
sounds nowadays. Mike Body has that and more check him out at the links
below. And as always we ask that you support the artist and
support good music because the world could use some good music right now.
