Back With Another Q&A With Rising Buffalo, NY Hip Hop Artist Struggle Mike
Yo Struggle Mike!! Thanks for joining us again soon after your last Q&A we did back in May 2020. Your latest album “Da Wall” is a for sure standout project in our books for this 2020!. What have you been up to, and how has business been treating you lately?
Business has been good. Just keep working and working. I dropped an album a week after Da Wall called Nxt Up which is more local buffalo talent and more trap style rap then boombap.
Any new Buffalo, NY based artists you are working with?
As always working with the brick boys and BSF both crews are hungry and got heat all day. But there is a ton of artists coming out of buffalo like Spiderdagod, shade black, Waverly, flexx, youngworld, nephh, K bishop are really standing out.
Give us an update on this whole Corona Virus epidemic going on right now!? Seems like everyday New York is the mecca center for Covid-19.
The corona virus is crazy. I recently was in LA and NYC and it really impacting alot its wierd to see the chinese theatre area and times square empty. But NY is tuff we can conquer anything like Frank said if you can make it here you can make it anywhere.
What is the earliest hip hop memory you can recall?
Before i listened to hip hop i listen to rock, reggae and blue. Hearing music by artists like Bob marley and Miles Davis really got me away from rock and then I heard Eric B and Rakim microphone fiend. From there on out it was hip hop.
Just a few months ago, you put out the 2nd project “Da Wall”. What was the inspiration behind it? Also add some of the main differences between this project and your last project “The Great Escape”.
My CDs are based off my clothing line. So the great escape was growing up in low income area sometimes the only way to get away was pop in a tape “the great escape” Da Wall is the music moving forward from boombap and east coast to west coast thats why towards the middle of the album the beats kind of get away from east coast boom bap. The differences between the 2 is we tried aome new style beats along with adding another genre of music like on Sicario we bring in OGs Bukanas De Culican with there hook from a famous Narco Corridos track they have.
Is there anything you’re working on right now that we can expect soon?
Like I said I just dropped Nxt Up which is doing pretty good already and im working on a fourth album due out end of august called Progress which already features Boldy James, ETO, body bag ben, beanie sigel, stalley, rick hyde, smoke bulga, etc.
We have to ask, with all this social discourse and revolt, protesting and rioting, exposed police brutality toward blacks and BLM, how do you feel about this? We would love your perspective on the climate we are living in right now?
It’s all a way for the government to keep us down. Just like my clothing line. It shows how low income areas were designed to stay that way by the government and the only way to get pass this is to rehabilate and progress our areas our selfs. If you wait for the government it will be to late or the minute it doesnt adjust there bottom line they bounce out. That why we need to do it. Black, white, brown. Everyone in our areas need to work together to buy property and land and open business and garden local areas etc. Everything else has been set in place for centuries by the government to keep us down so we have to be less dependant on the systems set in place to keep us down and set our own standards.
Where can our BLOG audience find your music and follow you on social media?
Strugglemike716 on Instagram
Struggle mike on all streaming services
Lastly, do you have any advice for those who want to step their foot in as recording artists?
Go for it. Especially if you young. When your older its harder with kids, work etc. But if you young go hard for a few years you got nothing to lose. Keep your head down and out of trouble and keep working. If you worl hard enough and tske yourself seriously you will succeed. People will notice
