{"id":48836,"date":"2025-06-04T20:26:46","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T00:26:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=48836"},"modified":"2025-06-04T20:26:46","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T00:26:46","slug":"review-mike-paradise-rock-club-5-30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2025\/06\/04\/review-mike-paradise-rock-club-5-30\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: MIKE. @ Paradise Rock Club 5\/30"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo Credit: Ari Marcopoulos<\/span><\/p>\n

Review by James Klein<\/p>\n

On Friday, fans lined up outside Paradise Rock Club to see MIKE perform the penultimate show of his largest headlining tour. MIKE is a New York-based rapper known for his experimental and eclectic approach to hip-hop music, which attracts thousands of fans. In late January, MIKE released his ninth studio album, \u201cShowbiz!,\u201d a spiritual, avant-garde hip-hop record with introspective lyricism. Although he is touring \u201cShowbiz!,\u201d MIKE released a livelier stadium-rap record in early May, \u201cPinball II,\u201d a sequel to his 2024 release produced by Tony Seltzer. With 25 openers across 71 dates in the UK, Europe, and North America, the #aotc (Artist of the Century) tour promised an ambitious showcase. Fans in Boston filled the intimate venue, restlessly anticipating MIKE and his two openers, Mike Shabb and Navy Blue.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shabb took the stage at 8 p.m., joined by a DJ and rapper Trapmat Savoir. From Montreal, Shabb teased the crowd saying \u201cWe don\u2019t fuck with the Brus,\u201d and then playfully adding some more Boston sports references, asking \u201cWho fucks with Tom Brady?\u201d and \u201cWho fucks with Larry Bird?\u201d, eliciting crowd responses. \u201cThat’s all I know about Boston,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trapmat added ad-libs to Shabb\u2019s most energetic tracks and rapped alongside him on songs like \u201cHurry Up,\u201d getting the crowd to yell \u201cOne for the uh, two for the uh\u2026\u201d Through handwaving and call and response, Shabb was the perfect hype man for Navy Blue and MIKE. The highlight of his performance came as Trapmat waved a Haitian flag and Shabb led the crowd in \u201cFree Haiti,\u201d \u201cFree Palestine,\u201d and \u201cFree Congo\u201d chants, inspiring hope and empowerment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After Shabb amped up the crowd, Navy Blue shifted towards something more introspective. He delivered a profound and lyrically-driven set, methodically rapping with his eyes closed over somber samples and minimal percussion. Navy approached each song as a meditation, detailing deep convictions and personal experiences. He voiced his appreciation for the crowd, noting it was his first time performing in Boston. During \u201c1491,\u201d Navy got the crowd to yell \u201cFuck Christopher Columbus,\u201d in another protest against colonization.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Navy grew more reflective during \u201cTime Slips,\u201d stopping the track mid-song to remind the audience, \u201cNow is not the time to talk. Not while I’m spilling my heart.\u201d Navy shared some words about how \u201chuman beings are complex\u201d and encouraged the audience to \u201cshow up as your authentic self, the totality of who you are.\u201d Later, Navy added, \u201cRemembering your people is the most important part of the grieving process. That\u2019s how their spirit lives on.\u201d This led to a tribute to Ka, the legendary Brooklyn rapper who passed away on October 12, 2024. Navy performed their collaboration, \u201cIn Good Hands,\u201d playing the entirety of Ka\u2019s verse. Navy let Ka finish and added \u201cRest in peace to Ka. Without Ka, there is no Navy Blue.\u201d He mentioned that he cried after performing that song for the first time last night. Navy closed his nuanced and retrospective set with his hit, \u201cLa Noche,\u201d the audience singing the chorus, \u201cI hope you find peace of mind on your own,\u201d in a moment of group spirit.<\/span><\/p>\n

MIKE came out to his rhythmic \u201cBossy Nova (Ma Neck),\u201d dapping up audience members. He commanded the stage, asking the crowd to \u201cmake the most noise in the world\u201d by looking up, putting both arms up, and going \u201cAHHHH!\u201d He then had the audience sing \u201cBurning Desire,\u201d chanting the soulful sample, \u201cOh I, I\u2019m burning.\u201d MIKE was surrounded by fog as his baritone vocals floated over dreamlike beats. He emerged from the smoke often to dap up more fans and grab phones to take selfies and videos.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the show, he showed his appreciation, saying \u201cThank you so so so so much\u201d after almost every song. MIKE joked, \u201cWe\u2019re going to \u2018America\u2019s Got Talent\u2019 as the world\u2019s biggest dance group\u2026 but we need members.\u201d The crowd raved as dance circles opened for brave fans to show off their moves to the beat of \u201cman in the mirror,\u201d one of the most danceable tracks of \u201cShowbiz!\u201d He then showed off his dance moves, popping and locking before starting his verse.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He had the crowd making noise for everyone, from Mike Shabb to the security guards. During \u201cjbl music,\u201d he got off the stage and walked to the upstairs floor, rapping with the crowd from the mezzanine. He stayed up there for \u201cPrezzy,\u201d the lead single on \u201cPinball II.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

MIKE knew how to work the crowd, throwing his arms in the air to hype them up. During an instrumental interlude, Navy came back out to play with the soundboard with MIKE, spamming the \u201cDamn son where\u2019d you find this?\u201d sound effect. The whole crew came out to take a quick drink break. MIKE reiterated his appreciation, reflecting on how he was \u201ccrazy in love\u201d after 70 shows and reminiscing about the tour\u2019s first stop in Dublin: \u201cShout out my Irish!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

An emotional moment came when MIKE told the crowd that every show he\u2019s done has been dedicated to his mother, inviting the crowd, \u201cMake so much noise for my mama so she can hear y’all.\u201d He nodded as the applause continued for over a minute, treasuring her spirit in a touching tribute.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He closed his set with a three-song encore, taking requests and performing some of the most energetic cuts of the night. However, MIKE wasn\u2019t leaving yet, as he stayed on the stage to dance to \u201cOPM BABI\u201d and \u201cOLYMPIAN\u201d by Playboi Carti, adding \u201cDamn son where\u2019d you find this?\u201d sound effects throughout the trap songs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Boston stop of MIKE\u2019s \u201c#aotc\u201d tour was filled with energy, vulnerability, protest, and gratitude. Each artist brought authenticity, from Shabb\u2019s crowd work to Navy Blue\u2019s poetic introspection and MIKE\u2019s heartfelt celebration. Despite the massive scale of the tour, the show felt like a particularly intimate celebration of hip hop\u2019s legacy and community. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo Credit: Ari Marcopoulos Review by James Klein On Friday, fans lined up outside Paradise Rock Club to see MIKE perform the penultimate show of his largest headlining tour. MIKE is a New York-based rapper known for his experimental and eclectic approach to hip-hop music, which attracts thousands of fans. In late January, MIKE released […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22960,"featured_media":48837,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1525,1523,15],"tags":[33,1128,26,327,2428,117,210,2320,25],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48836"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22960"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48836"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48838,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48836\/revisions\/48838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}