Chicago, a new hot bed for music talent, has once again given birth to another great MC. Up steps Mikkey Halsted, a product of Southside Chicago's notorious Wild 100's section. Mikkey is not new to the industry. Mikkey got his start with Kanye West. Kanye produced Mikkey's first demo which landed him a deal with Cash Money Records, but it ended up being a short stint. Mikkey came back home to his old stomping grounds and reconnected with Chicago hip hop pioneer and super producer NO I.D, who is handling the production in bulk and executive producing Mikkey’s "Chicago: The Photo Album" which should shake up the entire industry when it is released..

Mikkey's style of Classic Hip-Hop lyricism mixed with a street wise perspective should make Hip Hop heads go wild, all while his "Wild 100's" imagery is enough to keep the block locked down. It's been a while since an artist has shown lyrical integrity, depth, and street savvy such as Mikkey has.

Def Sounds: First and foremost, let everyone know where you’re from. Where you’re representing.

Mikkey Halsted: I’m from the Southside of Chicago man, Illinois, The Wild 100’s section , an area called rag-town, off 116^th and Morgan. That’s the inspiration of most, the whole Southside even all the way out to Country Club Hills, where my mom lives at now. The whole Southside, the whole Chicago experience is what I’m birthed out of so, that’s what’s partly responsible for Mikkey Halsted and my style

Def Sounds: When where you first introduced to hip hop?

Mikkey Halsted: I would have to say really as a lil’ kid with Run DMC. That was my first introduction to hip hop. I’m not quite old enough for the Afrika Bambata's or the Kool Herc’s. That’s not my era, but as a shorty, I remember Run DMC and then really I got into the 88 era real heavy with Rakim and KRS-One. As a kid I had a lot of older cousins that was really of age, so they used to put me on to the Big Daddy Kane’s, Rakim’s, Krs One’s and that’s really when hip hop started to flood my mind and I started freestyling. I won my first rap contest when I was I’d probably have to be in 5^th grade. It was at one of my buddies parties, one of my best friends. He’s locked up now, shit, he got damn near life, but yeah we would have rap contests and I won 1^st place, but I saw how the people were going crazy over the rap and I was like damn, it’s so crazy. I think I stole one of my cousins raps (laughs). That got me into it and so in High School I became a beast in freestyling.

Def Sounds: After you started rapping you hooked up with Kanye and signed to his label “Kon Man Productions”. How did that come about?

Mikkey Halsted: My sister had started with Kanye first, but I was over at his house one day and she used to tell him “My brother could rap”. It was still towards the end of high school and I was over there. Cap 1 was over there and a couple other people where there. Niggas was freestyling, so I just started freestyling and dudes was like oh man, you raw, lets get on some beats. That’s when I started working with Kanye from that point on.

Def Sounds: So is that when you officially got signed to Kanye’s label?

Mikkey Halsted: First we did some songs and they started coming out great and I got handed the belt as the best rapper in the city at that point. That’s when we put out the World Record Holders album. After that I signed with him. I was the first person to actually sign the paperwork and all of that. The crazy thing about it was I just told Drew (Fake Shore Drive) that I think I’m still signed to him. He just didn’t know it and I just recently thought about it. Thing that happened was when I signed to Cash Money, the guy had told me he was going to get a release that I had to sign off on for Kanye and I told him to get the fuck outta my face with that. I never signed no release. So I don’t know what the hell(laughs).

Def Sounds: Now I wanted to talk to you about being signed to Cash Money. Can you tell me what went down over there?

Mikkey Halsted: It was just hell, literally man. It was like 3 years of hell. Me and Baby didn’t see eye to eye. We did in the beginning, because I really thought he was gonna put my stuff out, but then he wouldn’t let Kanye be part of my project anymore. Then it went downhill. He was trying to holla at my sister and he promised me that was something he wouldn’t do. You can underline all kind of homo games that where being played and I just couldn’t tolerate it. That’s just not the cloth I’m cut from. Although some of the best people I ever met where from New Orleans. I still talk to Mannie Fresh, actually just talked to him today. I got love for Mannie Fresh, I got love for Lil’ Wayne, I got love for people even today for people in Baby’s family. I still even got love for him (Baby). Just the money wasn’t right. They wanted to give $10,000 for 50% of my publishing. They wanted to manage me. I was like how can you manage me if I got a problem with the label. With you as the label, who’s gonna argue for me. It’s just a conflict of interest. Their whole way of doing shit is wrong. I mean they wanted to be the management company, the production company. They wanted your publishing and they just want to administrate everything and give you what they think you deserve. They don’t want to give an account in to shit. It was just a ghetto ass business man. It was gonna make me kill somebody, I couldn’t do it. I ended up getting into it and beating one of the dudes unconscious. He like the 3^rd or 4^th in charge, “Greg Green” He was the send off guy. When my money was wrong they be like talk to Greg. They kept sending me to Greg. Greg ended up getting a pumpkin head. It’s just like it wasn’t conducive to me.

I had to send my sister home, before I came home. I was like fuck it. She had signed the same time that I had signed. They gave her the same deal that they gave me. With the turmoil that was going on in my family we where about to lose the house. My momma and daddy going through whatever they where going through and cousins and aunties. Everybody starving, I was the only hope for my family. After that Kanye decided not to go that way, which was really a good decision. I was just stretching a bind with so much pressure with my family on my back. I couldn’t really make the best logical decision, so I signed the deal and as soon as I signed on the dotted line everything changes. Now they don’t wanna pay Kanye for no beats. To the point I had to threaten them. If y’all don’t wanna pay Kanye for none of the beats and give him no money off this shit, then fuck it y’all signed me I’ll quit. I said I’ll just do some other shit, fuck it. So they cut Kanye a check for probably a little over $20,000 for the front end of a few beats and that’s what really facilitated Kanye’s move to New York to go fuck with Roc-A-Fella full time.

Me and Kanye remained on good terms through all of that. When I would go to New York, I would go see him. I’d hit him up, like where you at? We’d kick it. Go get some jerk chicken or hit the studio. Kanye’s my guy. That’s like my friend, he was my buddy. So over the years this strained the relationship and shit would come out like at the end of Kanye’s 1^st CD “College Drop Out” the track Last Call, he was talking about me. And I was a part of his everyday life so I really didn’t understand where that came from. Then I get the vibe that he’s salty over me leaving. I know I probably left him in dire, well it didn’t leave him in dire straits, because he’s so talented, he’s a genius. But I think he felt like he lost his artist and over the last few years we haven’t been able to maintain and be as close as I would like be. Just ever, just as friendship, fuck the music, life is bigger then music. I lost my father this year, he lost his mother. We used to double date with my girl and his girl. It was bigger then that music it was real life. I just want to make sure he’s straight now. He’s got so many people pulling on him when you get to that kind of status that he’s at now, that it’s rough. Eventually we’ll get it back together and make sure everything is touched up and everything’s correct. I root for him like I root for my brother.

So all that’s really the Cash Money shit. After I whooped dude in Atlanta, I came home, because they where breaching the contract in so many different ways with their sloppy ass business, but I finally got a release and thank God I got a release. I went through hell. You pay for bad decisions. That was a bad decision and I paid for it, but thank God I didn’t pay for it with my career. I didn’t put out an album. It really wasn’t leaked and that would have been my 1^st look to the world and you don’t get a second chance to do that. To me it was like, really God still saved me and guided me and told me don’t put the shit out. I’m glad Cash Money didn’t put the shit out, because the look I’m gonna give the world now is what’s really gonna be what’s poppin’. This is really how I want to be presented to the world.

Def Sounds: After you got out of the deal with Cash Money and came back home to Chicago you re-connected with NO I.D. How did that come about?

Mikkey Halsted: NO I.D was in Atlanta and I used to be in Atlanta a lot. When I was with Kanye he introduced me to him. Kanye was like NO I.D wants to manage you. He heard your record. NO I.D told Kanye “he dope, he raw and he want to manage you” . I was like oh shit, ok (laughs). To think about it if I would have stayed with Kanye and had NO I.D managing me it would have been a lot better thing for me, but right after that the Cash Money thing really took off. So me and NO I.D didn’t really have a chance to consummate our business relationship, but we had a rapport. We just kind of kept that rapport. We kept in touch and I’d go see him. Once Cash Money didn’t work out I got back up with him, but he was kind of disgruntled with the rap shit and he was working with an R&B artist that he had signed to Def Jam. I was like man, but he would give me a couple tracks and we just started getting that fire back. Next thing you know we have like 20 records done real quick and next thing we had a couple labels bidding over the project and I’m like "Oh shit!". It’s back on again that quick and I ended up choosing Virgin, really over some better labels, because of the good relationship that NO I.D and myself had with Jermaine Dupri, but what it was they weren’t giving him the leeway on what he wanted to do over at Virgin so he left. After JD left, the project got stuck up on the shelf, because JD’s the one who signed me and they didn’t have the urban department and then the label got swallowed up by Capitol. I had to figure out how to get out of that situation and really just a few months ago I got all the way out of the situation, but this time I was able to keep all my songs. I lost a lot of songs over at Cash Money

Def Sounds: So you’re never going to see the records that you recorded at Cash Money again?

Mikkey Halsted: When I blow up, they're gonna put the shit out like it’s an album and try to make some money off of it (laughs)

Def Sounds: Can you tell me about your forthcoming projects. The Uncrowned King mixtape and your LP Chicago: The Photo Album?

Mikkey Halsted: On the mixtape Uncrowned King, I’m working with a few DJ’s. Papa Smurf is doing one mix of it. Papa Smurf he’s out of Miami he is the DJ for Rick Ross, Poe Boys and Flo-rida, all of them. Then at the same time I’m doing one with a similar selection of songs with V-Dub and DJ Kid Scratch from the Chi. I’m gonna put so many out there I can almost do it on a regional basis. On that one it will have the track that leaked out on the net with Common and Kanye, The Corners remix. Other then that I’m just featuring artists that’s our on our label Uncrowned City Entertainment. We have some real dope artists coming. I got Famous, my sister Miss Criss, we got a group called the G and The Rock , we got Alert Man and we got an artist named KT, so it’s just those people, but it’s mostly just me. It’s like my re-introduction, so that’s what it is. I wanted it to be me. I want the people to start reconnecting with me. So they can see what angle I’m coming from, how I’m coming. That’s what’s up. So it’s really me, it's Mikkey.

Then we got Chicago: The Photo Album. We are in negotiations with different labels right now, so we trying to get it right.

Def Sounds: Is there any label you’re leaning towards?

Mikkey Halsted: Well, I’m leaning towards. We’ll I don’t wanna say, because I don’t wanna jeopardize anything , but I have a couple labels that I’m really liking what they’re talking right now, so I really don’t wanna give one leverage over the other. You will be hearing who I go with. I got this single with The Dream that I’m down here(Atlanta) that I’m really trying to work on and if it comes out right its gonna kill the radio. That’s one thing that I haven’t really did was focus on any radio records, because my project is really organic, but you know in this day and time you really need a money record, so I got a money record. It’s just a way to stock up, because the industry is fucked up because it’s going by on who gets the radio spins is who gets the deals and who doesn’t. To me, they give radio to much power. That’s why I love what you guys at Def Sounds are doing on the internet. The internet is kind of taking away the power and evening the scale a little bit. Giving the people back some power, because the radio is just bullshit and its like who decides what’s hot and what’s not, what’s #1 and who’s #2 . It’s just people you’ll never know and never meet, but are making these decisions and are influencing so many people. It’s crazy but one thing is the DJ’s still have a little power, so if you can get the DJ’s behind you without having to pay a whole lot of money (laughs) But what you guys are doing and the blogger community and the digital shit is tipping the scale back to make it a little fairer for the artists. That’s why I appreciate sites like Def Sounds.

Def Sounds: We over here are all about artist promotion. Helping the game and then an artist with so much skill and talent comes around only once in a great while and we do what we can to help by spotlighting artist like you.

Mikkey Halsted: I really appreciate that and for y’all to let the world see me and now it’s my time to open the flood gates. Y’all been waiting, y’all heard of me and now let me show you that I’m the best at this shit. That’s how I feel. Right now my swag is just on auto-pilot, because I feel like I’m coming to make a statement that I don’t feel like there’s any artist that can fuck with me, line for line, bar for bar, concept for concept . I don’t feel like mixtapes, albums whatever, however you want to do it. I don’t feel like there are no artists across the country that can fuck with me. That’s the point of view I’m coming from. Everybody who’s in the #1 spot the Kanye’s, Wayne’s, I coming for that shit like it’s rightfully mine. And I’m starting with y’all and thank God for y’all. The people (are) liking the music enough it’s starting to buzz , you know what I’m saying and people keep asking for more and I’m a hard worker so, I’m not gonna let anyone out work me. You’re gonna hear all types of material, because I never stop working. I just stopped being affiliated with certain labels, because you don’t wanna do all this work for someone that don’t want you. Then they going to let you go. Then all of a sudden you get hot and they don’t want to let you go now, you know all of a sudden.

Def Sounds: Who you working with on the new album?

Mikkey Halsted: I’m working with of course NO I.D. He’s doing the bulk of production. Put it this way I don’t believe in the new favorite way where these people got 2 songs from him, 3 songs from him, 1 song from him, this record from him and so on. I don’t believe in that. The best albums don’t come together like that . That’s why nobody can fuck with Kanye’s album game right now, because their shit to scattered. He’s doing everything and what he’s not doing he’s over seeing what people do for him, so it’s all cohesive. On my album NO I.D’s running the production and he did 11 tracks for me, so I got some shit to fuck with. 1120 has some tracks on the album. NO I.D hooked me up with Prolyfic and Boogz. Any track that comes in has to get past him 1^st and then he’ll give them to me, so he might have 70% of the album and the other 30% is people and beats he thought we needed. Even over saw those so the project is cohesive. I’m giving a lot of Chicago producers a chance to get on the album, because I think they’re the best producers in the game right now. Soundtrack, Prolyfic, 1120’, SC he’s a monster, Co-Sign he’s a new guy he’s a monster so all these up and coming Chicago producers. There are so many its to hard to name, but NO I.D is handling all that.

Defsounds: Anyone outside the Chicago circle?

Mikkey Halsted: I talked to Polow Da Don the other day, we got some shit man and I do wanna work with him. I do want to get a track from Mannie Fresh and those are really the 2 outside of the circle that I want on the album, but NO I.D is really the one who hooked me up with Polow anyway, so it’s still gonna come through him.

Def Sounds: Do You See Kanye jumping on at anytime?

Mikkey Halsted: I would love to, but he’s not the easiest person to reach now. I try to reach out to him every now and then and when we see each other its love, but when it comes down to work....There’s always scheduling conflicts and he’s also very competitive and he knows what I’m coming for. I’m coming for his spot (laughs), but I’d love to get back working with him again anyway I could.

Def Sounds: What do you think you can do to show the world how Chicago is seen?

Mikkey Halsted:I don’t feel like the picture has ever been painted accurately, because a Southsider is gangster, intelligent got some depth to him. There’s so much really out there. Twista really told the story for us on the West Side and Common did it on Resurrection it was just so long ago that it’s a new story now . Even then there was some people in the hood that really didn’t get that. I thought they should have got it. People used to be able to learn from hip hop. It used to be dope, fresh, about style and charisma. It’s all of that still but you would learn something. Nowadays nobody aint teaching you shit no more. I’m coming to bring that element back in a dope, non preachy way . Where subconsciously you’re learning some shit while you’re rocking to some shit. It’s like we gotta stop dumbing down what we're doing and we gotta stop going above the people. There is a medium you have to reach. Look what Tupac could do and to reach the masses of people that really need it most. You gotta be dope enough where the heads really get it, the intellects of the hip hop community get and they don’t feel like its dumbed down, because its not. It’s what I would call in laments terms I would say it’s for the people that need it most can get it and it can move them. That’s the medium I’m trying to reach. Like right now Kanye is the best artist out to me, but there is still a certain target of people he aint grabbed yet and I’m gonna grab them. I feel like there’s some loose change left on the pavement. There’s a lane for me and I’m gonna go get that. I gotta have that, I am that like Ice Cube had that in his prime. Like Rakim and Kane they where street nobody ever perceived nothing soft about them period. They were street but at the same time you can learn something they where preaching, teaching knowledge worth of understanding , so its like a medium that can be reached and I really don’t think people are standing on that button yet and I think I can stand on that button and I can get there. Right now we getting there we all around the target, but nobody has hit the target yet. We getting close. Like in Chicago we’re carrying the torch for hip hop right now and that’s the thing, like New York is the Mecca and the home and it will always be the home, but they have to appreciate Chi’s movement, because we’re keeping the essence of the shit that they started alive. We sticking to the script , we got the Common’s, the Lupe’s, the Kanye’s, the Rhymefest’s . We got all of these artists that are kind of out and they are damn near the leaders of that school of hip hop. Now you got Mikkey Halsted, and all of the artists that are coming behind me that are on the same page as me. You know the Mick Luters, Count, and still got Bump J and Sly Polaroid who’s coming out. We have a lot of people trying to tell a story that’s never been told, so it’s an exciting time for Chicago.

Def Sounds: I have personally witnessed people who have never heard your music before. I get all positive responses, saying your flow is on point, and that you can ride any beat. So how do you plan on getting the commercial fame and made a household name?

Mikkey Halsted: I plan on doing me to the fullest and getting a smart marketer. It’s like when you have the talent, you need the business behind the talent, so now I’m putting the business with the talent. I’m starting the Grass Roots campaign and let the people absorb and to start feeling who I am. The next phase of it is just to tear the streets up. We’re about to put the vans out wrapped with the logos, my picture and we just gonna go hard. We gonna hit Chicago, and all the sub markets of Chicago that nobody hits like Racine Wisconsin, Rockford Il, East St. Louis. All of these places nobody ever has tapped and all these places are dying for hip hop. They got hoods just like our hoods and all these people just neglected. In the south they don’t neglect nobody. Their touching every city in Georgia, they out there with the people in every city in Alabama, every city in-between. When you hit New Orleans they get everybody, they in Layfayette, Baton Rouge. I saw how it happened. In Chi we don’t even connect with Gary (Indiana), Detroit, Indianapolis like that. Why we disconnected in the Midwest? The South isn’t disconnected. Chicago is on an island. Nobody connect the dots, I’m about to connect the dots. You gotta be a special person to do it. You gotta be able to flow over any beat, you gotta be able to touch many different topics and you gotta be able to do all of that and I can do that. God has blessed me with that. That is one of the reasons I’m put here is to reach the people and be a voice of the voiceless. God has blessed me with meeting the right people and being out there with Cash Money where I met so many important people and learned so many things on just how to gorilla market and get out here to touch the people and how to connect the dots. I’m going to put all that to work and believe me I’m gonna be at the top of this game.

Def Sounds: Do you have any shows coming up any time soon ?

Mikkey Halsted: I’m going to be re-introducing myself and going to be starting the shows back up. I have an upcoming show at Subterranean in Chicago on July 20th . It should be posted up everywhere pretty soon. To add if there is anyone that want to book me get up at me at Mikkeymusic@gmail.com . I’m ready to get it out and get it poppin’ and be back on the scene. When I hit the road and start getting these mixtapes out my whole thing is to start connecting with the people in different cities and make it happen from there. That’s my goal. That’s what I’m on period.

Def Sounds: Mikkey, I really want to thank you for taking the time out to get it up with me, I really appreciate it. Before we leave, is there anything else you’d like to say to your fans and the Def Sounds community?

Mikkey Halsted: I want to say to all the people in the Def Sounds community please stay tuned and join the Mikkey Halsted movement. If you’re behind real music, from a real artist that comes from the heart with his music, that’s trying to give the people medicine as well as something to dance to just fuck with me man and become part of the movement. You can hit me on my email, go to my Myspace and hit me up and join the movement man and find out as much information you can so you’ll know more about me. Come look into my real life, my real hear and see what Mikkey Halsted and this movement is all about. Get in where you fit in and be a part of it. Get on some Obama shit . He uses the new model. I feel like if God has blessed me with the charisma, swag and intelligence to do what I do and put this music out. It’s to the point where it’s not a hard tedious process. It’s easy to me like riding a bike, so it’s just getting the track and murdering it. All of you can let me know; give me opinions if you like a song, if you don’t like a song. If you like this style, if you don’t like that style. If you hear someone you want me to collab with. I’m open. I want this to be a movement of the people, so I love for the people to give me their input

Mikkey Halsted - Rebel To America (Produced By NO I.D)

Mikkey Halsted - Liquor Store (produced By 1120)

Mikkey Halsted - Love Song

Mikkey Halsted Ft Miss Criss - Mikkey Is Back

Mikkey Halsted - Shook Ones Freestyle