Breakout: "Happy Ending"

Also Check: "Critic" (World Premiere)

And: "Bottle It Up"

Name: Mike Stud

Age: Just turned 23

Reppin’: Cranston, RI

My style and/or skills have been compared to: Guys like Mac Miller and Drake have been the two comparisons I get the most…obviously I’ll accept those comparisons in the most humble manner…both are very established and elite artists, and I have a lot of work a head of me to even be mentioned in the same breath. Honestly, as much as it is cool to be compared to artists that are very successful, I really am aiming to create my own identity as an artist. I think once the new music that we have in the works is released, most listeners will agree with that, and see the direction we are headed.

My standout records and/or moments have been: My most well received record was the 2nd song I ever released called “In This Life.” It’s a track from my first mixtape, Toast of Tommy, which I recorded in my basement that reached #2 on U.S. iTunes Hip Hop/Rap Albums charts, and broke Billboard Top 100. “In This Life” basically tells a lot about my life, and how I got started with music. I was basically a normal Division 1 student-athlete, with a career in professional baseball ahead, when a career ending injury occurred. That injury, in turn, was the reason I began to make music. The song “In This Life” documents a lot about that time in my life, and it’s been so cool to see people vibe with that record…especially because it’s so personal to me.

This whole experience has been amazing. It’s really hard to pinpoint just one standout moment. But if I had to pick one aspect that has been the most special to me, I would definitely say getting to travel around the country and meet new people. It’s been such a surreal experience to go to places I’ve never been, and meet people that I’ve impacted through my music. This has definitely been an experience I am truly thankful for.

I’m gonna change the game by: Creating my own lane as an artist. What we are working on currently is putting together a ton of new music with all types of different sounds, vibes and content. Through the early phases of my career, many people have categorized me as only a party rapper or a White frat-rapper. But with the records we have on deck, I think we will surprise a lot of people who have followed my work thus far. Going forward, we plan on exploiting all of the different sub-genres within the hip-hop/pop sphere. Our aim is to become an artist that can succeed within all of them. With that plan in motion, we’re hoping we can change the game!

I’d Like to Work With: I just made a record with French Montana that I am really excited about. It is currently unreleased, but is a really dope record that I cant wait to share with everyone. Obviously this is a huge collaboration for me in my young career, and I’m just excited that it worked out.

With that being said, there are tons of people I’d like to work with on the largest scale such as Jay-Z or B.o.B., but I’ll go with Mike Posner due to the fact that I think its realistic for sometime in the near future. We both went to Duke and have a good relationship together, so I think a collaboration track is more than feasible. The dude is super, super talented, and I think our sounds would work nicely together. Hopefully we can make that happen.

My goal in hip-hop is: To remain true to who I am as a person and an artist. I come from a middle class family and have degrees from Duke and Georgetown. I think that what a lot of people like about me is that I haven’t tried to be something I’m not. Pretty much everything you hear in my songs has happened or is happening to me. I’ve never spoke on things that don’t apply to me, and don’t plan on ever doing so on any of my records, and it's really important to me that I stand by that. What has helped me be successful thus far is being honest through my music…and so far a lot of people have supported that.

I’m gonna be the next: I’m going to cheat on this one and not really fill in that blank. My goal is really to just continue growing as an artist. As I’ve matured, I have seen my popularity grow in hand. I will definitely be consistently making and releasing new music and music videos, along with releasing more complete projects (similar to A Toast to Tommy). But most importantly, I really think the music itself will just be better. The quality of the records I will be releasing going forward is improving and will continue to do so. I understand that I have tons of progress to make, and a lot to learn, so I’m really just an open book at this point. It’s really hard to try and predict things in life…my story is a perfect example of that. So I’ll avoid making any bold predictions about my future. It will be fun…I’ll leave it at that.

To check out more of my music go to: The mixtape hosting website is: atoasttotommy.com (it has a purchase link from iTunes and a free download link as well. Also you can find my music in places like: YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/MikeStudMusic), Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/MikeStudMusic) and Twitter (@Mike_Stud). And my tour dates are below.

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