RMC Mike is one of the hardest rappers to come out of Flint, Michigan, and he’s ready to take over the rap game once and for all. Getting his start creating music that consisted of straight s###-talking, the rising star is the definition of a spitter, equipped with aggressive bars, witty punchlines, and nothing but the real in all his rhymes.
In describing himself, he states, “RMC Mike is a real humble, laidback dude from Flint, Michigan, who started a whole trend of music out here: which is s###-talking. I’m just a young man trying to make my way in this world.”
If you’re an RMC Mike fan, you immediately recognize that raspy voice the second you hear it. Having been named one of the top rappers to come out of Flint by Spotify’s Rap Caviar platform, Mike is here to inspire and motivate, giving fans the hope they need that they too can make their wildest dreams come true.
Fast forward to today, Mike unleashes his highly-anticipated album titled Junior Season, the follow up to his previous project titled Rookie Season. The 14-track project features all-star features from Lil Yachty, Peezy, Louie Ray, and Rio Da Yung OG — a fellow Flint native that he actually has a whole tape with. And while Mike still stays in Flint, he doesn’t plan on being there much longer.
AllHipHop: What was it like growing up in Flint, Michigan?
RMC Mike: Being from Flint, I can say it was challenging. I had a real challenging childhood. Flint’s just small, we don’t have a lot of opportunities. I really was trying to find my way, trying to find something to do. There’s really nothing to do for real back home. You damn near gotta make something to do to stay out of trouble.
AllHipHop: When did you fall in love with music?
RMC Mike: I’ve always been a music head honestly. My mom and them were big on music. Her favorite rapper was Mystikal, that should say a lot. I listened to a lot of Cash Money, Tupac, and all of that when we were younger, from my mama. You see my pops, he was a lil older so he’s old school. I have an old soul from him though, because I listen to a lot of old school music too. Like Earth Wind & Fire, Isley Brothers, all them. I’ve been a fan of music my whole life.
AllHipHop: Did you always have that same voice?
RMC Mike: Nope! [laughs] That’s a real common question. I really don’t know, I just woke up one day and it was like this.
AllHipHop: Forreal? It wasn’t always raspy?
RMC Mike: Nah, not at all. I got some music on SoundCloud prolly from 4 to 5 years back where I sound like a little kid for real. It just came one day.
AllHipHop: How would you describe your sound?
RMC Mike: Unique, raw. I call it blunt rap, basically just tell it like it is. We don’t have no filter.
AllHipHop: When was the moment you realized you could do music for a living?
RMC Mike: Honestly when I got my first rap check, I knew there was a possibility I could make a living off of it. Which it wasn’t much, but that was a lot of motivation for me. My first rap check was only $800. We had dropped a CD, me and Rio had dropped a CD. My manager Will just called me one day like “Y’all got some money.” I’m like “what?” He’s like “yeah, y’all got paid from Distrokid.”
AllHipHop: $800? That’s a nice lil check!
RMC Mike: It wasn’t a lot, but it was still motivational. S###, all I gotta do is rap? And I’ll make some more money? Hell yeah.
AllHipHop: Talk about your relationship with Rio Da Yung OG, obviously he’s one of the biggest out of Flint.
RMC Mike: I didn’t meet Rio until damn near freshman year of high school. That’s when we got close, I knew of him because we grew up in the same hood. I used to see him around the same neighborhood, but we didn’t get close until around 9th or 10th grade. It was one of those relationships where you know how you can just meet somebody, and y’all just click off the dribble like that? We clicked and he’s been my brother ever since. I’m talking everyday together, forreal forreal. Wake up, he’s damn near the first person I call. Me and Rio, we’ve been tied in since the first time we met forreal.
AllHipHop: He’s independent too right?
RMC Mike: Yeah, I mean we got a distribution deal together through EMPIRE. This what it is: we signed to Ghetto Boyz and we have a distribution deal through EMPIRE. What I like about it is that they damn near give us our freedom like we’re independent. At the end of the day, we still are independent because we’re not signed to no major.
AllHipHop: Have you had label offers? Is that something you want to do?
RMC Mike: We’ve done had a couple offers, but it wasn’t making sense right now. I’ll put it like this, I really come from nothing. So if they offer something that’s life-changing, then why wouldn’t we? That’s the whole point, is to get up out the hood. If they could offer something to change my whole life, why wouldn’t I? But that’s not really what I’m looking for. If the opportunity presents itself, I don’t know I might sign. That ain’t really the goal, I’m a be Ghetto Boyz for life. As soon as I get bigger, I’m a start my own label.
AllHipHop: How did you get your name “RMC Mike?”
RMC Mike: I really got it from my brother Reese. Before I started rapping, my brother Reese was the rapper. He ended up going to prison so I took it and ran with it forreal. Put the RMC in front of my name and it took off. That’s my brother though, he came up with the whole Real Money Counter theme. I was obligated to hold it down, so that’s what I did.
AllHipHop: Junior Season out now, how are you feeling?
RMC Mike: Yes sir, I’m feeling good. I peaked at #35 on the Top 200 list and that’s a blessing for me. I’m happy about it, just to be on the chart period! It’s a million artists out here, it’s a lot of people that drop that don’t make the charts. The fact that I’m on there, and I charted Top 50!? That’s big for me. Especially with me being an underground artist still, that’s a blessing.
AllHipHop: Why is it Junior Season?
RMC Mike: I started with a series. My first solo mixtape/album, whatever you want to call it, was called Rookie Season. I’m going about it like levels of life. I’d look at it like when you’re in school, you start off as a freshman, sophomore, junior, senior? I went with that, I thought it was a good idea.
AllHipHop: Did you used to hoop?
RMC Mike: I actually did. I never played on an organized team, but I used to play all the time in the hood. I played for a summer league called Flint Affiliation Flint (an AAU team,) I used to hoop everyday. I played football too. I played football even before high school.