Brooklyn MC MIKE is carefully building a fantastic reputation for boundary-testing, thought-provoking hip hop / rap. Earlier this year he released a mixtape titled May God Bless Your Hustle and, having earned himself Earl Sweatshirt as a mentor at the tender age of 18, MIKE has just dropped another EP - By The Water. Released in one, eight-minute-long video, the EP cycles through its four tracks: ‘Gnats’, ‘Hurdles’, ‘Wait For Me’ and ‘God’s With Me’. Heavy with samples, sounds from the outside world, and thought provoking lyrics, the EP sees MIKE at his most experimental to date. Whilst the opening track ‘Gnats’ features direct vocals over warped beats, ‘Wait for Me’ sees the EP come to almost-standstill with a heavily reworked sample. The jewel in the crown however is the final track ‘God’s With Me’, which feels like you’ve stepped out of MIKE’s curated sound world and into the smoothest of jazz piano bars. Over lilting chords and a soft drum machine MIKE expresses: ‘I be destruction and discussion over Earl tea’. Keep one eye out for this talent, at the rate that he’s producing he’ll hit the big time any minute now. -HM