User:MikelWJ/sandbox

Michael Wilson Jones (born August 16th 1994), better known by his stage name "MikelWJ", is an American independent rapper. Mikel began his music career at the age of 15 through the release of his first free mixtape "Coup D'etat". He soon gained minor popularity on YouTube for the mixtape's most popular song "You're Not Alone". After the release of his first EP in 2012, Mikel quickly gained popularity in the online music and youtube world and is significant for his emotional lyrics, often recounting his own life's struggles. His song "Dear Diary" has achieved over 170,000 hits since it's release in late 2011.

Mikel cites his main influences in music to be rapper Atmosphere and Eminem.

Career
Mikel began rapping in December of 2009 after the split of his failed acoustic project, Hello To Hearts, ended. In January of 2010 he organized a collaboration with producer and rapper Xavery Williams, who soon became his mentor in music. He didn't begin recording his music until late February of 2010, when he released his first song, a remix of "Like Toy Soldiers" by Eminem, onto his YouTube page. The song gained minor attention and was soon removed from the page after other, original, songs were uploaded. Soon, Mikel teamed up with his friend Cody Powers to create his first ever music video, to his song "Not Another Word". The video was later removed from YouTube as well, along with most of his old content.

Coup D'etat
In Mid-July of 2010, Mikel released his first free Mix tape, titled Coup D'etat. The Mix tape contained 15 songs, and featured a good amount of other artists that performed along side Mikel in the songs. The most popular song on the Mix tape, which also gave Mikel his first bit of popularity online, was titled "You're Not Alone". The song covered the ideas of teen suicide, by telling the stories of two of Mikel's friends who killed themselves.

Soon after the release of the music video, in mid-June, Mikel attempted suicide himself and was hospitalized. The story of his thoughts and feelings during all of this is told in the song Mea Culpa.

A few months after the release of the Mix tape, the download link was removed, and it was taken offline. Mikel says that it is because he didn't feel that the music on that Mix tape properly reflected his current style and sound. This was around the same time that all of the old songs (expect for You're Not Alone) were removed from his official YouTube page.

Carpe Diem
In November of 2010, Mikel made his sophomore release with his Mix tape "Carpe Diem" (Latin for Seize The Day). The Mix tape contained 15 tracks just like his previous release, but boasted higher quality sound and more on point lyrics and presentation. The Mix tape contained many songs that helped gain some attention in the online music community, mainly "The Music Box (Ft. Low Key)", "Remember You", and his remix of Drake's popular song "Fireworks".

As of January 1st 2011, the Mix tape has received over 300 digital downloads, proving to be Mikel's most successful Mix tape to date.

The First Year
Mikel's third Mix tape, "The First Year" was released in February of 2011, as a gift to those who had supported him for his first full year of recording and releasing music. The Mix tape contained twelve official songs, as well as seven "bonus tracks" and one hidden track at the end of the twelfth song.

The Mix tape received no major praise, but did contain the popular songs "Jenny" and "That's War".

The Bright Side Of A Shadow
In July of 2011, "The Bright Side Of A Shadow" was released for free download, making it Mikel's fourth free Mix tape. It is considered to be one of his most well made Mix tapes, containing a more professional sound then previous releases, a more relaxed style, and on point lyrics.

The most notable songs on the Mix tape would be "Dear Jenny", "PS I Love You", and "You Were My Everything"

After this release, Mikel took a short brake from releasing any form of Mix tapes, in order to focus on his upcoming EP, as well as taking time out for his own personal life and the summer.

Machinima and Till We Have Faces
In December of 2011, Mikel was contacted by the Machinima Entertainment Network to join their Network on YouTube. After two days of discussion, a 2 year contract was signed, and Mikel was officially a party of the Machinima Entertainment Network on YouTube.

In February of 2012, Mikel released his debut EP on iTunes and AmazonMP3, titled "Till We Have Faces". The EP featured the songs "Dear Diary" and "Life" which gained attention on YouTube, along with five other songs. The name for the EP was based of the book of the same title by C.S. Lewis.

It Goes On
In the months that followed "Till We Have Faces" Mikel prepared a new release. The songs that were on the release were comprised of remixes, unreleased songs, and a few original, pre-released songs. The mixtape came to be known as "It Goes On" and was released in early April for free download, becoming Mikel's fifth free Mix tape.

FATE
Shortly after the release of "Till We Have Faces", Mikel announced that he would be releasing a full length album on iTunes and Amazon later in the Summer.

A few weeks after announcing the album, he announced the title would be "FATE" via his facebook page, also revealing the cover artwork for the album. It was also announced that FATE stood for "Foolish Apologies Towards Extinction", hinting at an overall dark theme for the album, to match most of his other work.

On June 9th, Mikel announced that the album would be released at some point in early to mid July. No exact date has been announced yet, and it is expected to have around 14 tracks on it.

Other Ventures

 * Before going by the stage name "MikelWJ", Mikel was part of an acoustic group called Hello To Hearts. After a short period of time together, the group separated and Mikel got into solo work.


 * Mikel started Word Jockey Entertainment as a name to release his music under, but soon switched over to Street Muzik Entertainment. Currently he is not with any form of a label.


 * Mikel formed a rap group comprised of fellow independent rappers Lil Drift, Low Key, Kle Shay, Young Cam Da Don, CJ Gillum, and Young Dizzy. The group was titled Equilibrium, and after the creation of a few songs, disband.


 * In 2012, Mikel formed a group called Hearts Across with singer and rapper Mental Martian. The group has created four songs together, and then went on a temporary hiatus. They currently have an EP planned titled "4th Dimension".


 * Mikel releases vlog type videos, as well as his music, on a second YouTube channel.


 * Mikel has some experience acting. He act's in most of the short films done by Cody Powers Films.

Personal Life
Mikel was born on August 16th, 1994 in San Diego, California. He is currently going into his freshman year in college at a local community college in Escondido, California. Politically Mikel has made it known he is a liberal and a big advocate for Gay Rights and Women's Rights, as well as the pro-choice movement. Religiously Mikel is a Deist, which shows in his song "Life".

Mixtapes

 * Coup D'etat (2010)
 * Carpe Diem (2010)
 * The First Year (2011)
 * The Bright Side Of A Shadow (2011)
 * It Goes On (2012)

Albums

 * Till We Have Faces (2012)
 * FATE (2012)