Five Takeaways From My Conversation with Mike McFly + eu-IV

After a few months of figuring out the timing to meet, I was able to finally meet the South Carolina emcee (who recently relocated to Maryland), Mike McFly, for the first time. Mike's previous project, the King M I D A S EP (Apple Music | SoundCloud), released in 2016, caught my eye; we connected on Twitter via Candice of #BINACT and we've been cool since. We met up in one of my favorite spots in Baltimore: a record store called The Sound Garden, known for its amazing music selections. We chatted for over two hours before eu-IV popped in for another hour of our conversation. eu-IV is a Baltimore based producer that I've known since his early rise via SoundCloud and has released two EPs since, including his recent project, Supernova, from 2017. Our conversation covered Top 5 conversations (which none of us could name five comfortably), previous and current work, music recommendations, hopes for the future, and more in the middle. I walked away from the interaction with the emcee and producer inspired and excited for the music and work to come. 

Here are a few takeaways from our conversation that I wanted to share:

From left to right: producer eu-IV, Transcending Sound's amirahrashidah, and emcee Mike McFly at Baltimore's The Sound Garden in March 2018. Photo courtesy of Mike McFly.

Social media is fine for initial conversations, but face to face interactions are imperative.

Remember how you felt when you last saw an old family member or friend that you haven’t seen for the longest time that you were really cool with? That genuine happiness, that calming feeling and amazing energy that continues for hours — or even days — after connecting with them? You can pick up on some of those vibes online, but, like Mike McFly told me, the face to face interactions are even better. That feeling is how you know if the connection is real. Mike and I's interaction felt just like that. It was as if I reunited with one of my brothers and we picked up right where we left off. After not seeing eu-IV for almost a year, it felt the same way.

Music is a healer.

Our conversations around music were organic and genuine. We confirmed that Kendrick Lamar, Lupe Fiasco, and Erykah Badu are all aliens, that Marvin Gaye’s music in untouchable (in many ways), and that hip-hop is far from dead. We talked about the potential of Baltimore’s hip-hop scene and how we need more support behind it, as well as how we appreciate TDE and want to see them win…and, for eu-IV and I, even collaborate with them one day. Speaking of Kendrick Lamar and Lupe Fiasco, we admire both artists -- even though eu-IV didn't have a great experience networking with Lupe -- and both of their sophomore efforts (To Pimp A Butterfly and The Cool). We also vibe with Kendrick’s To Pimp A Butterfly more than DAMN. because of its healing properties: not only in its sociopolitical aspect, but because of Kendrick's humanity in being vulnerable in his work. The passion for and healing properties of listening to and creating music, even when we're not feeling the creative process, shined a lot in our conversation.

Mike McFly (left) and eu-IV (right) in conversation. Photo taken by Amirah Muhammad (@amirahrashidah).

You never know who is keeping track of your work and rooting you on.

Both Mike McFly and eu-IV remembered my Twitter interaction with Punch and praised me on the (occasional) vocals that I share on Instagram. We were aware of each other’s successes and gains, and we applauded each other for them. I didn’t know that we pay attention to each other as much as we do. The mutual respect was there and it fueled the fire to keep the progress going.

Perfectionism is an enemy of progress, creativity, and time.

I’m a perfectionist; eu-IV isn’t. I don’t like releasing all of what I create if I don't feel it's 100%; eu-IV will make a beat and share it with us to hear on one of his SoundCloud accounts that exact same day. Both eu-IV and Mike put some pressure on me to step out of my comfort zone and share more, and, with that, have less doubt. I was reminded to roll with what I’m feeling and/or creating. Usually, what we release as creatives will vibe with the people it needs to vibe with. Even though we should like what we release, it’s for others to consume and enjoy.

Both artists have new projects dropping.

I was asked not to share the release dates of either project by both artists, but I can say that both artists are dropping new projects. Sto (who I've mentioned in a previous post) shared the title of McFly's new project on DeadEndHipHop in his review of McFly's recent single, 'Jett Jackson,' here. eu-IV, however, isn't sharing anything right now: it'll be a surprise.

Find each artist and their work on any major streaming platform.

Follow McFly on Twitter and Instagram at @580McFly, and follow eu-IV on Twitter at @euivmusic and Instagram at @euivphotos.