The first time many of us heard about MIKE, we were listening to Earl Sweatshirt’s Some Rap Songs in 2018. On “Nowhere2go,” Earl raps, “I be with MIKE and Med, nowadays I be with Sage and sixpress?” ...

I vividly recall my heart pounding as I stood in the famous Big Pink basement and watched him slowly descend the staircase and soak in a room he hadn’t occupied in nearly five decades.