We were lucky to catch up with Mikey Rotten recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mikey , appreciate you joining us today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

Ever sense I was young I was outcasted by my community. Finding refuge in the street culture I fell in love with art and music. Starting out as a young visual artist I was drawn to the allude of infamous street artist in the graffiti scene. I found my self pushing my style and attitude further toward obscurity. Through the graffiti scene I got into djing that eventually lead me to production. When I moved to LA I still found being accepted in the realm of normal life difficult so I made the decision to just keep doing me and keep pushing what moved my emotions. It seems I’ve found more acceptance in the obscure than in the norm. It’s f I could give any advice to up and coming musicians and artist it would be “Dare to be different” “the only person you have to make happy is your self, so do what moves you”

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I got into the music realm through djing and turntablism. I grew up going to hard core shows and was always attracted to the urban hip hop culture and found my self somewhere in between the two. Inspired by artist and musicians before me who had given me the motivation to thrive for greatness. I decided I wanted to give the same inspiration and escape from the hardships of life through the art we share with others. The goal with my music and art is to inspire, liberate, and to provide emotional refuge for those who have gone or are going through similar hardships.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

One thing I wish I knew on my come up is that you don’t need to know it all to make good art. You just need to know enough and feel what you are creating. You get better through time and there no better time then now.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I’d say I find the most value to my art when others come to me with story’s of how it helped them through a hard time or free’d them from the mental or emotional shackles they have been bound by.

Contact Info:

• Website: Mikeyrotten.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/Mikeyrotten
• Facebook: Facebook.com/mikeyrotten
• Twitter: @Akamikeyrotten
• Youtube: YouTube.com/mikeyrotten
• Other: TikTok.com/mikeyrotten