Interview: Mick Boogie (11/17/09)

Mick Boogie is the Youngstown, Ohio native, responsible for the critically acclaimed mixtapes, Viva La Hova by Jay-z and 1988 by Adele.

Mick got his start in college radio and eventually became one of the most recognized names in the DJ world.

Part of this recognition comes from consistently co-signing quality emerging artists such as B.o.B., U-N-I, Donnis, Big Sean, and The Kid Daytona.

He oversees most projects with these artists, often creating the overall vision and building the team of emcees and producers.

HipHopAtLunch.com met up with Mick Boogie in his Brooklyn neighborhood, to hear about the process behind his projects, touch on the continued success of his Motivation clothing store, and his views on Twitter.

I agree with Mick Boogie that most of his projects would be more appropriately called conceptual albums instead of mixtapes.

His clothing store, Motivation, has a nice collection of clothes at reasonable prices, and I can see why there’s interest in a franchise movement.

The Peter, Bijorn, and John project spoken about in the interview, Re-Living Thing, is a full-album remix of the group’s latest album, Living Thing.  A lot of Mick’s time and effort went into this project, as he had to organize over 30 emcees and producers for his final vision of the “conceptual album.”

When approaching the project, he listened to the original album multiple times before asking a specific producer to remix each track.  After hearing what these producers created, he selected emcees that would fit each particular beat well.

“Stay This Way Remix”  is a sample of what the project has to offer, and features verses from Big Pooh, Chaundon & Phil Nash.

That track, remixed by Jazzy Jeff, is really catchy and has been stuck in my head since I started writing this article.  Also, that video does an incredible job of playing off the track’s childhood theme.

The other project mentioned in the interview, is Party Robot, Mick Boogie’s collaboration with Idle Warship.   In case you’re unfamiliar, Idle Warship is comprised of Talib Kweli, Res, and Graph Nobel.

Here’s Talib’s favorite track off the project and one of the first songs the group worked on, “Bedroom light.”

Kweli has stated that “Bedroom Light” is for the ladies.

Mick Boogie stays busy and, in this year alone, he’s DJ’d parties for Microsoft, Nike, Kim Kardashian, Giant Magazine, Lebron James, and Jay-z at venues all over the world.

If you want to keep up with this hip hop ambassador, tune into his Sirius Shade 45 radio show every Saturday night from 8pm to 10pm.

You should also visit his blog, pay attention to updates on his Twitter:@MickBoogie, and sign up for the Mick Boogie newsletter.  Unlike most newsletters, Mick keeps his interesting by giving a list of upcoming shows as well as a quick paragraph of what to expect at the big events!