Take the good looks of any A-list star and combine with the talent of Harry Connick Jr. and you get the one and only MikeMRF! The chart-topping musician dropped his new album, Mob Music 2, today. Here’s a little more about what he’s accomplished prior to his latest release.
MikeMRF (real name Mike Flanagan) won the Lennon Award (Hip-Hop) in the 2017 John Lennon Songwriting Contest for the title track of his Mob Music album. He also took home Humanitarian Songwriter of the Year in the 2014 OUTmusic Awards for his LGBT youth anthem on that same album called “Be Strong”. He was also named one of Instinct Magazine‘s Bears You Should Know in 2018.
The first three singles off Mob Music 2 were featured in 30 The Series, a show that chronicles the love and lives of three queer women of color living in Houston, Texas: “Tip Jar”, an ode to performing musicians everywhere and instructional guide for audiences on how to reward said musicians, “Clean House” a sassy breakup story of firing your significant other, and “I Can’t Make You Love Me”. MikeMRF wrote a string arrangement to support the vocals of his front persons Lisa Bello and Justin Waithe on the Bonnie Raitt classic.
Other songs from the album include “Wedding Day” (a celebration of you, no matter how the day turns out) “Me Completes” (Reggaeton track in Spanish featuring Puerto Rican artist Iisma) and “End This Sentence” (the album closer and a cathartic take on current state of the U.S. featuring the words of D.Ruff and bars of Shawn Caliber, whose verse on Mob Music helped take home the Lennon Award).
“I produced the last album, Mob Music, all on my own and it’s an acoustic record,” Mike told us exclusively last month. “For this album, I recruited my favorite drummer to produce the record with me so this project has a much more pop-mainstream vibe. I’m excited for everyone to hear it.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3vtkIopVw2/
Mob Music 2 was co-produced by Vancil Cooper (Hamilton Tour, Jidenna) and mixed by James Zaner (Kat Deluna, New Kids on the Block, Lil Kim) and is a far more Urban Contemporary collection geared towards Pop versus the original Mob Music album which topped the iTunes Jazz Albums Charts. Other contributors on the album include Jon Evans (Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos) and Jeff Ramsey (Al Jarreau, Lalah Hathaway).
Learn more about MikeMRF by going to his page here.