Livingston, New Jersey emcee MIKE ending the first month of 2025 with his 7th studio LP. Breaking out a decade ago off his debut mixtape Winter New York, he would continue to make a name for himself by churning out 4 more tapes as well as his previous 6 albums & 8 EPs full of amongst the finest abstract hip hop that you’ll hear within the last decade. Standouts include May God Bless Your Hustle, War in My Pen & even the Faith is a Rock collab effort with Wiki entirely produced by The Alchemist. Burning Desire has become his best work yet & 10 months after Pinball, he’s back in Showbiz!.
“Bear Trap” strips the drums with some jazzy & abstract elements thrown in to get us started talking about his future being in the music industry whereas “Clown of the Class (Work Harder)” works in some heavily sampling to break down him still hustling during a new day. “Then we could be free..” turns the jazz rap influences up again explaining there’s shit you can’t replace for the cheese like a bracelet just before “Watered down” soulfully talks about those reducing the force or effectiveness of their styles.
As for “man in the mirror”, we have MIKE going for a peppier vibe instrumentally to discuss his adaptability leading into “Artist of the Century” hooks up a prominent flute so he can talk about putting his life on the fact that he’s the best making music in the 21st century. “What U Bouta Do? (A Star was Born)” featuring 454 sees the pair coming together suggesting that being in their shoes is a scary route, but then the calming “Belly 1” produced by Harrison talks about shit being cruel & never deter.
“Da Roc” kinda has this glitch hop/trap vibe throughout admitting to feeling like JAY-Z at times & that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s rockin’ with y’all while “The Weight (2K20)” takes the drumless jazz rap route taking about struggling with the shade & the passive abusiveness. “Lost Scribe” smoothly cautions a war going every time he’s scribing wanting his respect when he’s throwing the dice while “You’re the Only One Watching” gets on the drumless, chipmunk soup tip thanking God whilst talking to the sky.
To get the other half of Showbiz! started, “Lucky” hops over these crooning background vocals making his mission clear that he’s out for every bag as he can possibly take while the woozy “#82” assures that he can piece a broken heart together. After the “Too Hot” interlude, “Pieces of a Dream” experiments with some dub undertones throughout the jazz rap lead single acknowledging the rain ain’t done while the groovy “Strange Feeling” talks about tryin’ to skip the jump rope of life & puttin’ his life into this shit since it’s only 1 go.
“Zombie 2” entrancingly picks up right where the Burning Desire highlight left off conceptually reflecting on when he was once blind not seeing shit & leaving it up to the God’s since he’s tired of achieving while “Burning House” goes for a soulful, psychedelic 2-parter talking about learning how to be a part of something rather than the whole thing. The drumless title track warning that people know better than going against him while “Spun Out” suggesting having too much heart for this shit & possibly running out.
The song “Miss U” officially reaches the final moments of Showbiz! with MIKE taking a backseat vocally allowing duendita to demonstrate her singing chops for a minute & a half R&B joint serving as a bridge to the track “When It Rains” apologizes for his lyrics getting dark wondering if it’s bad the feelings he once had for this woman departed me since he hardly hits her line anymore. “Diamond Dancing (Broke)” closes the album hoping to stay close before he feels a certain way & there being no better way to cope once going separate ways.
Considered as a spiritual successor to Disco!, Showbiz! lifts the curtain on the everyday realities of life on tour absorbs an era of influence with MIKE’s use of lounge music records whether it be pitching up neglected soul singles & ultimately creating his own style as opposed to the predecessor moving to the rhythm of carefree dancefloors. The sounds of drumless, experimental hip hop, jazz rap, trap & dub pair up with MIKE’s abstract lyricism to make his point that he’s more than an artist.
Score: 9/10
