We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michael Arnold a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Michael, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful projects for me are my projects yet to come. Not to take away from anything I’ve done in my past because the past projects tell stories of a rapper who’s ready and willing to battle and prove himself. The stories yet to come. I want them to be the most compelling musical cinematic adventure anyone has ever heard. I want there to be love betrayal violence s*x ACTION!! I want to tell the stories that the voiceless don’t know how to express but will represent us fully!

Michael, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Ninjamik3 (ninja mike) the name comes from what people in college called me because in the early 2000’s i had the jump on Naruto befor it made big waves in the states. Then I also know and taught martial arts. The love of music goes waaay back to wben I was a kid and for my dad got me the Tupac All Eyez on me album on cassette tape! That inspired me to write when I was a kid. I didn’t have much confidence in myself as a rapper then. I was still verymuch in to the idea of one day being an animated character. I wanted to be fighting evil and sparring alongside Goku and the Z warriors (safe to say I’m heavily influenced by anime!) I began to grow more and more confident in my abilities to mimic voices and get in to whatever character I could see in my head. This was a catalyst for me unknowingly perfecting my acting and voice acting abilities. Meanwhile i still was heavily influenced by hip hop artist such as Tupac Big L DMX Wayne and Eminem. So one day in high school I jumped in a battle rap. The prize was respect which i felt I was lacking in high school. But after that day. I found respect in myself as we as gained respect from my peers. I demolished anyone that dared to call themselves competition to me. I LIT A FIRE IN MYSELF! I just knew then as well as I know now. I’m destined for greatness!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In high school I was booed while on stage. Sing rapping.. didn’t matter I wasn’t that popular and they didn’t want to see me up there. I got booed off stage in front of Ray J and his mom! I wanted to give up and throw all my songs away! Ms. Sonja his mom told me that what I was saying on stage was worth hearing. So i worked harder. Eventually people loved seeing me on stage. I started performing seriously in Dallas in 2017. I did not know that this was a show for the popular adults. I didn’t receive the memo. I performed my heart out! Jumped off the stageand was HYPE! These folks looked at me like I had DOO DOO BETWIX MY TEETH!!! 1 person attemped to clap and his homoe told him “stop that we ain’t come here for that” i was FLABBERGASTED!!! I couldn’t believe it. I thought maybe I suck. But instead of giving up. I worked harder. I practiced my routine! I blocked out my set like a damn THEATRE PLAY!!! I worked until I was like that 1 Kanye song! CAN’T TELL ME NOTHIN!!! next time I went out and performed I dropped a bomb on the crowd like Hiroshima!!!! They went WILD!!! I knew from then I would never give up! I’m still perfecting my craft. Because even though people know me fkr putting on a good show… THEY AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET!!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The thing that drives me for success is the fact that I know that once the right person sees and hears me it will change my life. As well as my wife’s life. Once that change happens i can pass that blessing on to someone else. I want to help people and communities. I want to make a difference in the world. I want to be the blessing that God created me to be and be the vessel that helps the world see the miracles of God.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @ninjamik3
• Facebook: @ninjamik3
• Twitter: @ninjamik3
• Youtube: @ninjamik3
• Other: You can google Ninjamik3 and I’ll pop up across the board