“I think me being from LA county and the West Coast in general contributes to my sound as being heavily West Coast influenced,” Mike Crook said in a recent interview. “Mustard and Hit-Boy are part of the reason I’m even making beats. I’m heavily influenced by them with my sound. Mustard influenced me to make radio uptempo type beats — since I always loved his beats. What I took from [Mustard] is simplicity. Simplicity is key when making radio songs.”
“As for Hit-Boy, I looked up to him for versatility,” Mike Crook continued.
His journey on how he got started is an interesting one. Mike said in a recent interview that started off making beats in high school and has been making beats since 2014. While Crook was still in high school, he didn’t have much time and would make beats after football practice in his free time. He claimed that he was so bad at making beats at first that he returned his equipment after a few months.
“As I was practicing, I fell in love with music even though I wasn’t good,” he said. “I was bad at producing. I returned my equipment a few months later. Then six months later, I got back into it, because the regular job/school thing wasn’t for me, and I figured I’d give it another shot.”
However, his investment ended up paying off, as he’s truly perfected his craft now, and is working with and producing some of the hottest artists in the industry. He most recently collaborated with Saweetie for her studio album, Pretty B*tch Music. His production appears on the track “Backseat,” featuring Lourdiz. The album released on April 9th and of course features fan-favorite “Best Friend,” featuring Doja Cat.
Mike has also worked with fellow “Best Friend” rapper Doja Cat on one of her hit songs,” Like That,” featuring Gucci Mane, from her latest album Hot Pink. Mike’s production on that track was responsible for it peaking at #9 on the Billboard chart. He has also had the privilege of working with Los Angeles music legends YG and Ty Dolla $ign on their latest albums, My Life 4Hunnid, and Featuring Ty Dolla $ign. Producing YG’s notorious “Blood Walk” featuring Lil Wayne and fellow 400-Degrees signee D3, as well as TY$ “Nothing Like Your Exes.”
Crooks has had an impressive last couple of years and has made music that has touched millions of people. Even amid a pandemic, Mike has had a flourishing career producing for some of hip hop’s favorite artists, and will continue to heat up the summer with his work.
As far as the message that he hopes people take away from his music, Mike Crook wants people to “forget about their problems, dance, and have great memories for themselves.”
Make sure to keep up with him on IG @Mikecrook_!
