 Mike-E
Location: Detroit, Michigan
Genre(s): Hip Hop
Booking: Click Here
Born in Ethiopia, Mike Ellis is an emerging artist of profound
measure. The now Detroit-based rapper, actor, and poet often merge Hip-hop with elements of Ethiopian music, employing a raspy delivery that straddles rhythmic cadence
and casual conversation. "I ain't out here tryin' to find street credibility / Cause the streets need hope more than I need
credibility," he declares on a song entitled "Watch Me."
After leaving Ethiopia at a young age, Mike moved to Northern
Virginia, while spending summers with extended family in Queens, New York - a stark contrast to the quiet, slow paced town where he grew up in a single parent
home with his brother and sister. When his Queens-bred cousins introduced him to Hip-hop culture Mike
gravitated to the microphone, although he admits it took years to define his style and find his voice. His
road to rap was not paved with ever-popular street tales and crack sales, but rather education –
something his family deeply valued – a series of jobs and self-employment. In "They Don't Like U" he explains:
My Momma grew up in the projects / Me graduating from college only honors all her progress / My
Grandpops picked cotton, my Grandmomma shoveled coal / Out of potholes in the street for the stove to make heat … my family went to hell and back so I wouldn't have to sell crack …
After graduating from the University of Virginia, Mike moved to Detroit where he worked for a sports
management firm that represented professional athletes. While he valued the experience of what many
would consider a dream job, it left him in a creative coma. He regained his artistic breath studying acting
at the Detroit Reparatory Theatre and performing at Café Mahogany, a once prevalent open mic spot in
Downtown Detroit. He financed studio sessions with poetry gigs, various acting jobs, commercial voice
over work, and a handful of advertising clients that sought his creative consultation.
After recording with several Detroit-based production crews Mike-E struck out on his own. Within the
past year he has crisscrossed the U.S. and touched down in Germany, France, Belgium, and Ethiopia, where he currently owns one of the country's most popular songs "Ethiopia (Everything Will Be All
Right)." He's currently featured on HBO's Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry, having previously appeared on the popular program in its 3rd season, and is pictured in a multitude of urban apparel
ads that span THE SOURCE, VIBE, XXL, SLAM, KING, COMPLEX, and ROLLING OUT magazines, as well as numerous in-store displays.
A journalist for Detroit's
METRO TIMES muses, "He looks like a model, talks like an activist … he's the type
of cat folks get mad at just for having the whole package. But dude's too focused to pay attention."
Mike's acting credits include the stage classic A Soldier's Play, several other theater productions, TV
commercials, an appearance in and voice work for the motion picture "Standing in the Shadows of Motown," countless radio ads and numerous national concert tours. Equally comfortable riding beats and
bass lines or delivering poetic punch lines without musical accompaniment before content driven spoken word audiences, he helped the
Detroit Slam Team claim the city's only National Slam Poetry Championship in 2002.
The versatile performer also spearheads an orphan sponsorship program for the
Ethiopian North American Health Professionals Association (ENAHPA), a non-profit organization
headquartered in Metro Detroit that works to improve healthcare standards, access, and delivery in Ethiopia.
Mike-E will release his debut Hip-hop CD at the end of this year.
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