If you liked the choppy, lo-fi sound of Earl Sweatshirt’s latest album, then you need to get up on MIKE.

Born in New Jersey and raised in London (and now living back in the Tri-State area), the 19-year-old rapper has quietly been carving out his own pocket in the New York underground rap scene alongside sLums and Standing on the Corner. Coincidentally, Earl has been something of mentor to MIKE over the last couple years, and if you listen to any of the dozen or so albums he’s released on Bandcamp, you’ll notice Earl was also listening closely while recording Some Rap Songs.

Forget a rival; MIKE influenced his idol.

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MIKE’s latest project War in My Pen dropped back in December, and it’s the perfect entry point into his deep discography. The 13-track tape is full of full of lo-fi, sample-chopping beats, stoned, nonchalant flows, and musings about navigating life and dancing with death, going hungry as a kid and dealing with the struggles of adulthood, and his relationships with friends and family (“Y’all say I look like my dad / To my mom that’s a problem ’cause I look like her past”). Through these intimate and insightful confessions, the album gives you pieces of MIKE the man. Word to Gil Scott.

Following up videos for “October Baby” and “Prayers,” which features Brooklyn’s Medhane, MIKE is back with a new video off War in My Pen for “Rottweiler.” The Matter Research-directed clip doesn’t feature any actual Rottweilers, but it does follow MIKE on a cab ride from the city out into the English countryside, where he finds a slither of peace amidst the war being waged through his pen.

Check out the “Rottweiler” video below, along with MIKE’s War in My Pen album.

War in My Pen is also available on Apple Music and Spotify.