Talking about the resurgence of Chicago’s Hip-Hop scene would be pretty redundant at this point, because even less-informed people know that names like Kanye West, and Common are homegrown products directly from the city of Chi.

Most recently the two Chicagoans made the Forbes List of 'Hip-Hop Cash Kings' in 2008 with Kanye West grabbing the number four spot at 30 Million Dollars earned, and his G.O.O.D. Music employee in a tie in twelfth place with Eminem by quieting racking in about 12 Million Dollars (if you can even consider 12 Million Dollars a quiet amount).

Nonetheless these achievements just bring more attention to a region that isn’t defined by a coast, but by their quest and desire to be heard. Although hipsters like the Cool Kids might be performing on a smaller scale than their musical (older) brethren, they’re still attracting a cult-like following that even Jerry Garcia from the Grateful Dead would be proud of.
 
But for all of those that get the chance to be heard, there’s always a lot more that fall under the radar, unless you’re dealing with a word-of-mouth atmosphere. For nearly ten years, the proverbial word coming from the streets of Chicago is that their best MC doesn’t wear over-the-top designer duds and throw hissy-fits at award shows, nor does he sport a baldy wi th a full-grown beard to compliment it. To those looking on the outside, the name of the person dubbed that title by the general consensus would go unnoticed if someone where to mention it in a broad discussion, however for the people on the inside, the name Mikkey Halsted is all too familiar to them.
 
Originally from the Wild 100’s Section of Chicago, he was able to reap the early production benefits by then-young Kanye West, as they both were in search of that elusive record contract. The two Midwesterners would get their chance by aligning themselves with Cash Money Records, but the deal quickly went sour when Mikkey soon realized all that glitter talk didn’t amass into gold results. From there, he was stuck on Virgin as if he was stranded on an island (no pun intended) when another believer of his talents in Jermaine Dupri left Virgin Records due to creative difference with the higher-ups.

Through it all he remained un-phased and poised while still collaborating with artists like fellow Chicago MC Rhymefest and producer No ID. Now with a rejuvenated spirit, the man who has gained respect from everybody in his city, sets forth to prove just why he belongs on the same page with the rest of Chicago’s biggest Hip-Hop stars, instead of being an honorable mention.
 
 
Sixshot.com: When did you first get into Hip-Hop?
 
Mikkey: I was in college on a basketball scholarship, and that was really my dream, to play basketball. Then my sister started working with Kanye [West], and I used to go over there and just check up on her. At that time I was freestyling all the time, and I was pretty dope as far as freestying goes. So one day they were over there freestyling, and I just started rapping, and then Kanye [West] was like, “Man, you’re ill!” “Your sister told me told me you can rap, and I hope you’re taking it seriously” “Here’s some beats, man.”
 
It just went off from there, he did the first song I ever recorded, and it was called ‘Foolish Game,’ and the response I got back was so crazy, and that just inspired me to keep writing. It kind of just came natural to me, because I guess writing is a progression of freestyling anyway. After that, I just went with the flow, and he [Kanye West] kept putting compliments in, so I just went with it.
 
Sixshot.com: You refer to your music as “militant-street-wisdom.” What exactly do you mean by that?
 
Mikkey: Those are the three components that really make up who “Mikkey Halsted” is. When you hear my music, you definitely get the picture that the Malcolm X’s, and the Black Panther Movement influence me, and all of that is a huge part of me. I found out who I was as a black man in America and how it related to the world by studying Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and Toussaint Louverture. That’s what made me want to stay in school, just studying off their wisdom. I try to be as well rounded as I can, so I try to drop jewels of knowledge and wisdom, and that’s the spiritual side of me. My music is just a sub-total of who I am, so militant street wisdom is “Mikkey Halsted,” and militant street wisdom is my music.
 
Sixshot.com: But by taking that approach, do you ever feel like the message will be lost in translation?
 
Mikkey: I do think it might go over the heads of some people, but I use this analogy: If you have a dog, and you try to give him some medicine, he’s going to fight you tooth and nail because he doesn’t want a pill going down his throat. But if you chop that medicine into small pieces and put it in his food, then he’s going to eat it and get well. That’s why I don’t want to come off preachy to that extent, like I’m trying to shove food down a sick dog’s throat—I’m trying to chop it into small pieces. So on the surface it might seem like it’s going over people’s heads, but once they get drawn into the music, the messages start coming out and coming to life. I believe that once the fans of “Mikkey Halsted” start digesting the music, you can’t help but start learning from it. 

It’s the same way we learned from early Hip-Hop; we learned from the Rakim’s, the Poor Righteous Teacher’s, the Big Daddy Kane’s, and the KRS-One’s. I’m just putting that back into music, but is was never like Big Daddy Kane came off as preaching, neither did Ice Cube. It’s just that the wisdom and jewels were packaged as street music. Also, street music doesn’t have to be unintelligent music, that’s the goofiness that’s going on right now. The music that’s considered “street” is unintelligent, and it doesn’t have any thought or depth. Real street music has depth to it, because real street people have depth to them. So that’s something I don’t worry about too much about, because I know they can relate to me. I could go deeper a lot of times, but I choose not to, because I want to keep it chopped up in dog food.
 
Sixshot.com: I also know that you did a quick stint over at Cash Money Records, any reason why that situation didn’t last long?
 
Mikkey: Man, that didn’t work out because it wasn’t the right fit. The parameters of the deal was that they were going to allow Kanye [West] and I to expand on our demo, but what we had brought to them was going to be the album. Once they changed that, it all went down the tubes, and then they tried to rape me financially by offering me $10,000.00 for fifty percent of my publishing, and just all kinds of asinine things like that. Baby and I weren’t seeing eye-to-eye, and it was to the point where we were getting into it and almost coming to blows. It was like that month after month and week after week, and they weren’t paying me. 

I wasn’t getting any money from publishing and writing all the songs. I realized after a certain point and time that I wasn’t coming out with an album, and they weren’t going to put me out. He was basically just trying to suck me dry for inspiration because he wanted to be a rapper. So once I understood that Baby wanted to be a rapper, he was just trying to suck up my energy. That’s why I had to get away from that situation.
 
Sixshot.com: How about your situation with Jermaine Dupri? I remember you hooking up with him too. What happened there?
 
Mikkey: That was a great thing, and wished that would’ve worked out. After I got out of the Cash Money situation I got back with No ID, and him and JD are good friends. Also, I had already met JD because I been in the studio with him ever since my Cash Money days. So with that being said, he heard the new music and I was about to do a deal over at another label. Then we told him that, and he was like, “Let me hear the music, I always liked Mikk.” So he heard the music, and he jammed to it and he doubled our offer. It just so happened that he didn’t get alone with the guy that was over him. So when they weren’t seeing eye-to-eye for whatever reason, he decided to leave, and that was a personal decision. 

I couldn’t expect him to stay just because of me, and the way the deal was; I was tied to Virgin. So I couldn’t leave when he left, and I couldn’t leave with him, so I had to get out of the deal on my own. It was a bad situation, but he was giving No ID and I the freedom to do what we needed to do and everything. It was really a beautiful situation, and I just wished it had come to fruition. If he stayed then the album would’ve came out, and it would’ve done tremendous, but we’re going to have to it elsewhere.
 
SixShot.com: What keeps you focused enough to continue on doing what you do when you’ve dealt with so much red tape in your career so far?
 
Mikkey: Because now, the game has come back to the people, and the Internet has opened it up the point where you don’t really need a label. You can be a viable artist, and people have downloaded 12,000 copies of my mixtape in two weeks. If I was selling my CD’s and I sold 12,000 and kept all the money, I could eat. So I can easily go on the Internet and sell 30,000 CD’s. We wanted to build an organic buzz where we can do something on the grassroots level, and the industry has kind of came back to me. 

Now the labels can’t dictate when the people hear me anymore, I’m still in negotiations with several labels now, but the Internet has opened the game up to where I can get the music to the people and build relationships with the people. I’m taking things into my own hands, and I shot the video for ‘Liquor Store’ out of my own pocket. I don’t have to wait anymore, and it’s just a beautiful feeling to be free.
 
Sixshot.com: Speaking of mixtapes, right now you have the Uncrowned King Mixtape out. Was there anything in particular you wanted to accomplish with the project? [Listen to the Uncrowned KIng Mixtape]
 
Mikkey: It was basically to re-introduce myself to the world, and put out that brand of militant street wisdom as only I can. I think I did put a good representation of me on there. 
 
Sixshot.com: As for yourself, is that how you personally feel? Like you’re an uncrowned king, or that you’ve been overlooked?
 
Mikkey: Yeah, I feel like [Pauses] a lot of people call me the best they never heard. I feel kike the people that are in the know, they know; like the Jadakiss’ of the world, the Lil Wayne’s, and the Kanye’s. All these people know that I’m at the upper echelon, and I’m at the top level of the game. But there are still a lot of people that don’t know. As far as Chicago artists go, I’ve been heralded as the best one here for a long time—that’s been going on for about eight years now. So many people know, and so many still don’t know, but it’s not anyone’s fault so I’m not mad at anybody. 

When I make a statement as being the uncrowned king, that’s the spot that I’m going after, and that’s where I belong. It’s just like when T.I. named himself the "King of the South" after putting out an album that didn’t do so well; but he still knew and the people and the ‘hood knew. But the rest of the world was like, “King of the South?!” “There are plenty of other artists who went platinum and sold this…” But he still knew, and that’s where he projected himself, and that’s where I project myself. I can go line for line and bar for bar with anybody, period. I’m not hurting [Laughing] I’m just as versatile as anyone in the game, especially where I’m from. 
 
Sixshot.com: I remember hearing you on Rhymefest’s Blue Collar album where you and Bump J were featured on ‘Chicago-Rillas.’ How’s the vibe when it comes to MC’s from Chicago? Are you guys all a closed-nit group?
 
Mikkey: Yeah, there’s more unity in Chi then there’s ever been. To be honest, a lot of the hot people have come out of Kanye’s camp. Rhymefest started in Kanye’s mother’s house in the bedroom just like me—that’s where we met, along with Shawnna.

I’m close with Lupe [Fiasco], and Chilly that’s locked up right now who runs 1st & 5th Entertainment, he’s like a big brother to me. We’re really connecting the dots; I talk to Bump J all the time, and everybody that’s somebody—from the Cool Kids to Sly Polaroid. 

Right now in Chicago we’re coming together whether they’re labeled as a “hipster” or “gangsta rap.” Whatever the label is, I’ve connected with all of them. I’ve never had any beef with anybody here on the rap scene. It’s a good thing right now. Chicago is trying to push the envelope, and keep Hip-Hop fresh. New York has to love us to a certain extent, because we’re keeping it alive. It’s not like we’re trying to be the birthplace of it, because we love what started in New York, and we love the essence of it.
 
Sixshot.com: What can people expect to hear from your official project, Chicago: The Photo Album?
 
Mikkey: With Chicago: The Photo Album, I’m just painting pictures and showing people Chicago through my lens. It’s going to be crazy, I have a song called ‘Liquor Store’ and I have a song called ‘Church,’ another one called ‘Ms. America’ and another one called ‘My Dead Homies Talk Through Me.’ I’m going to be painting so many pictures, and conceptually, it’s going to be one of the dopest albums out. It’s going to be up there with the classic albums. I’m actually dropping an album before that one, and it’s going to be called The Last Shall Be First. It’s not going to be a mixtape, it’s going to be all original music, and I’m going to give it to the people so they can have a little appetizer before the Chicago: The Photo Album comes out.
 
Sixshot.com: Would you say you learned anything by working with producers like Kanye West and No ID?
 
Mikkey: I learned so much from them, and plus I worked with Mannie Fresh too and he’s dope. I worked with [Lil] Wayne and for example: A XXL Magazine article came out, and people were saying how Lil Wayne talked about me inspiring him, and that I made him step his game up. That’s not a secret to a lot of people, but all my relationships and the people that I’ve worked with have influenced me at certain times, and that made me a well-rounded person. So when people say that I’ve been having bad luck, I tell them that this whole thing has been preparing me.
 
No ID has taught me so much, and Kanye [West] has taught me so much on how to create songs and a lot of other things. Kanye [West] was the first person to ever record me. No ID and I talk everyday, and he’s executive producer of my album, so every beat has to come through him. I’ve been blessed to be around a lot of people, even Baby and Slim. They are two CEO’s of a multi-million dollar company. So you have to learn even from the bad situations, and that’s what I’ve been able to do.
 
Sixshot.com: With the success and influx of Chicago MC’s as of late, do you think it’s gotten easier for lesser-known MC’s to get discovered?
 
Mikkey: It’s a lot easier… All of the first Chicago people that first got deals were like guinea pigs, it was hard and nothing was given to us. Roc-A-Fella didn’t even want to put out Kanye’s album. He had to take his own money and shoot his own video, and after that, they picked up on it. The same thing happened with Lupe [Fiasco], Atlantic was sitting on his project, and he had to go into his own pocket and shoot his own video. After you do it, then people want to get behind it, and that’s the same thing Rhymefest is going through.
 
We all played the guinea pig roles for the industry in Chicago for the people who are coming after us. Right now with Kanye [West] constantly killing them, Lupe [Fiasco] killing them, Common killing them, and with Twista still doing his thing everybody is getting notoriety and it’s making it easier. Now the people who are sitting behind the desks really see that and they’re saying, “Damn, Chicago really has something to say” “Who’s next?” Every region has its turn, and it’s about time for Chicago to have a mass influx. That’s why you see so much unity, because that’s what it’s about, to really put on for your city.