Artist Profile - Mikkey Halsted

Not new to the industry, Mikkey got his start with super-producer Kanye West, who produced his first demo that landed him a deal with Cash Money Records. The CMR chapter turned out to be a 3 year layover and a fruitful period musically and professionally. Mikkey went on to feature on 7 Cash Money releases that were certified platinum or gold and performed on several major tours throughout the country. During his tenure with the New Orleans based powerhouse, Mikkey had the opportunity to expose millions of fans to his brand of music he coins as “militant-street-wisdom” and rub shoulders with the industry’s elite including R. Kelly, Jay-Z, producer Mannie Fresh and Lil Wayne, who recently cited Mikkey as one of the inspirations that made him step his word play up and develop into the mega-star he is today (XXL magazine September ’08). Grammy award winning producer NO ID, (Jay-Z, Common, Kanye West, Rhiana, Jamie Foxx, G-Unit, John Legend) who is executive producing Mikkey’s upcoming LP had this to say when asked where Mikkey Halsted fits in the evolving story of Chicago and hip-hop, “the perspective of Mikkey Halsted is as crucial a piece to the Chicago hip-hop puzzle as some of the successful artists I help to break including Kanye West and Common”. Producer NO ID went on to say “The Chicago story will never be told in its entirety unless Mikkey gets a chance to speak his peace.”