mike.

One Liner:  Ex-baseball player stud, previously called Mike Stud, doing mediocre Post Malone cosplay

Wikipedia Genre: Hip hop, frat rap, country, pop

Home: Rhode Island (although I doubt that now)

Poster Position: Late Addition
Both Weekends
Sunday at 6:25.

Honda Stage.

Thoughts:  I am annoyed to no end by this name and punctuation.  It is not as bad as Panic! At The Disco, but is up there with Portugal. The Man.  I was hoping this was that rapper, who was Open Mike Eagle and then I thought was just going by Mike, but apparently not.  This is a completely confusing dude who looks in his Spotify photo like he is going to sing Florida Georgia Line songs with some contrived accent, and then kicks in with more of a G Eazy rapper vibe.  "BRIDE AT A BAR" has a little of that vibrato/whiney Post Malone sound.

Wikipedia says that MIKE (musician) is Michael Jordan Bonema, a black rapper from New York City, who was previously part of the group sLUms.  That is not this guy.  Apparently this is the MIKE. who used to go by Mike Stud, which is just an awful name.  Wikipedia says he is Michael Francis Seander, who was 2006's Gatorade Player of the Year for Rhode Island, which landed him an athletic scholarship to Duke University.  He played baseball there with Marcus Stroman, who later appeared on one of his terrible raps.  After Tommy John surgery and missing an entire season to recover from that surgery, he started making some music to pass the time and releasing it for his teammates as a joke.  He ended up transferring to Georgetown University, where he received a graduate degree in sports management.  In 2016, the Esquire Network made a TV show called This is Mike Stud that followed him while on tour.  I refuse, on principle, to watch that dreck.  You cannot make me do it.

He has a TON of music.  Loads of loose singles, and then albums/mixtapes listed in 2013, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021 (with freaking 23 tracks), 2022, and 2024 (with 35 freaking songs).  So much.  "someone make it stop" sounds like he is copying both Drake and Posty at different parts of the track.  I'd also guess he self produces these tracks as there's nothing interesting here.  The top track is significantly larger than the rest - I'm guessing it is a hit on TikTok.  "These Days" has 327.8 million streams.

Mike Stud, featuring Marcus Stroman!  Appears that he is just starring in the video, but who knows, maybe he is saying some of those terrible bars as well.  Mike sort of looks like Rob McElhaney at times.  I am guessing that the little piece about "chill drink smoke fuck" is the nugget that has been used on TikTok a million times by the children and caused this guy some modicum of fame.  I'll admit that I like the beat to it.  Definitely better than anything on his most recent two albums.  Here is one of those, his next-most-streamed - "life got crazy" - with 88.9 million streams and from the 2021 disc the highs.

It also annoys me that he is stealing the tune from Youngbloodz's rap track "85" because I love that song and I don't want to hear this guy stealing their bit.  Oh, there he is with Posty.  Of course.  Look, good for him - glad he turned his high school mastery of sports into the ability to party with huge stars and get turnt up on stage.  I just don't plan to ever listen to any of thise again.

But, I guess this was the only guy who was brave enough to go up against Chappell Roan at her new Sunday night set time.  San Holo got his set moved up to 6pm, Dominic Fike just entirely dropped out of the Festival, and this dude got added in to go up against her.  Pretty amazing ability in Roan to just NUKE an entire hour of the Festival.  Never seen anything like it before.