Uncrowned King, Mikkey Halsted Steps Into the Light with the Release of Long Awaited Dark Room

By Senyo Ador
Photo by James Cox

On November 24, 2010 H.A.S. Magazine, got a brief but very vivid glimpse into Mikkey Halsted’s vision at a private listening party celebrating his first commercial release entitled, Dark Room. He was gracious enough to sit down with us to give the H.A.S. Magazine readership an exclusive on what to expect from his upcoming release, Dark Room.

H.A.S.: Honestly, the first time I heard about your work was through Juice, the emcee. He was talking about this young cat Mikkey Halsted, that was spitting all crazy and how he was planning to form a 4 hoursemen style group with him and a few others. Can you speak on that briefly?

Mikkey Halsted: Well yeah. It's me, it's Juice, it's Twone Gabz and it's Rhymefest. I mean to be a fly on the wall in those sessions, it was like, “MAN!”

H.A.S.: Definitely.

M.H.: First of all, I want to say Juice is one of the most talented people I’ve ever encountered in my life. In high school, we used to be like “Man, Juice is the best freestyler in the world.”

H.A.S.: I’ve actually heard that more than once.

M.H.: It used to be Juice and Rhymefest. I can say those were two guys we looked up to when we were coming up.

H.A.S.: With the nod of approval from such elder statesmen like Rhymefest and Juice the emcee, what do you feel like your chances are of succeeding in this newly evolved hip-hop scene

M.H.: I feel great. I’ve seen it come around. I was young, and I mean crazy young when I started with Kanye [West]. I’ve seen the game evolve and being able to still be young, fresh and relevant today is just great.

H.A.S.: Word.

M.H.: Getting the nod of approval from No I.D. and even from people from outside of Chicago like DJ Clark Kent, DJ Premiere, and DJ Jazzy Jeff. These are the true legends of hip-hop who have heard me freestyle and given me their nod of approval. It feels good man.

H.A.S.: I’d say that adds some more validation to your efforts

M.H.: The fact that Phife Dawg (from A Tribe Called Quest) can call me and say “Hey, can you jump on stage. I need you to fill in Q-Tip’s verse?”... That fact he even knows who I am means a lot to me.

H.A.S.: With the shift of a large part of the industry’s commerce coming from on-line sales, how are you preparing to meet the challenges of moving your music in today’s climate?

M.H.: It’s all about monetizing your talents.

H.A.S.: Sure-

M.H.: The thing about the internet is we give away so much for free. And we don’t sell anything.

I feel like I’m putting this project together and distributing it for the people that really love hip-hop. I mean those people that are willing to go out and buy good records and show that they love hip-hop. If you’re tired of the bullshit on the radio, this is your alternative.

H.A.S.: Yep.

M.H.: If you want to change the paradigm you have to support the real shit.

H.A.S.: True.

M.H.: I went out and supported Tribe. I went out and supported Nas. And it was the people like us that showed them yes Vanilla Ice sells records, but they could come out and sell records and have viable careers as well.

M.H.: No I.D. just won 2 Grammys with Jay-z for a record that was super hip-hop. I come from an era where Hammer was walking away with all the Grammys, so I consider that a big win for hip hop.

M.H.: I can agree there

M.H.: We started supporting the DMX’s and the Jay’s and the Nas’ and now the Lupe’s and the Kanye’s. And as a result they’re taking home the Grammys.

H.A.S.: Do you feel like those successes speak to a more balanced representation of who we are?

M.H.: You gotta show balance. I mean you turn on the radio and its obvious there’s no balance, but the people have to decide to make the establishment show balance. To include MTV, BET, Clear Channel...I think it’s time to put the onus on the people to demand that balance.

H.A.S.: No doubt

M.H.: And I think they are. I think the people are going to step up. They support me. They support my brother Curren$y. They support my brother Wiz Khalifa. They support a lot of artists that do the same thing I’m doing, building heavy grassroots movements. I salute the new regime. I’m glad to be part of it.

H.A.S.: Well I’m glad we touched on having as many representations of people’s experiences as possible. To take it one step further, how do you feel that Dark Room provides that wide spectrum and balance to hip-hop fans?

M.H.: Dark Room is for people who love hip-hop. It's for the people that miss ’95, ’96. It’s for the people that’s like, 'Where is the new Gangstarr at? Where is the new Jeru the Damager? Where is the new Only Built for Cuban Links.' Do I gotta go play the old shit to get that feeling. If you looked in my disc changer all you would see is the old shit, you’d think I was back in ’97 (laughs)

H.A.S.: (laughs)

M.H.: Other than that we still buying Jay and we still buying Nas. I really don't want to hear the new shit. Those guys came out in '94 and '95 and are still holding it down. It’s like where is the new blood that of that pedigree? And that’s Mikkey Halsted and that's Dark Room.

Enough said.

Visit MikkeyHalsted.com for info on the upcoming release of Mikkey Halsted’s highly anticipated, Dark Room

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