MIKE shares dj blackpower project Dr. Grabba

The official release of Burning Desire’s 11 instrumental bonus tracks adds to a wildly prolific season for the New York rapper-producer.

October 31, 2023
MIKE shares dj blackpower project <i>Dr. Grabba</i> dj blackpower (aka MIKE). Photo by Nuvany David.  

MIKE is never short on content, but this autumn has seen the New York hip-hop polymath reach unprecedented levels of output. Following his release of Faith Is A Rock — a collaborative LP with Wiki and The Alchemist — in September and his solo LP Burning Desire earlier this month, he’s shared a new project titled Dr. Grabba under his producer alias, dj blackpower.

ADVERTISEMENT

“New” may be a slight overstatement here: Dr. Grabba’s 11 instrumental songs were likely released as bonus tracks with the physical edition (CD) of Burning Desire. (In the absence of a hard copy of the two-disc release, the FADER has reached out to representatives of MIKE for confirmation.)

Previously released or not, the songs on Dr. Grabba are characteristically excellent. Highlights include the early-album cut “Three Gyra” and the record’s closing track — a chaotic flip of Tisakorean’s “Backseat” that predates Dr. Grabba by nearly 20 months.

ADVERTISEMENT

Listen to the full project below, and check out MIKE’s January conversation with Brandon Callender for The FADER Interview podcast.

ADVERTISEMENT
MIKE shares dj blackpower project Dr. Grabba