Today we’d like to introduce you to Mikail Syed.
Mikail, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was moving states, from Iowa City to Fairfax, Virginia. Iowa is actually a pretty small town, so everyone knew each other. The same can’t be said in Fairfax, where people are making friends well into their 40s-50s. I was in college in Blacksburg, Virginia, and struggled to make friends for a long time, so I explored some hobbies to pass time. I ended up taking on music production, which I enjoyed so much I realized I saw it as a career choice. The idea of building songs for both myself and others felt truly satisfying and a great way to live life, so I found my entire world revolving around it soon enough.
It took years, but eventually after some time of passively uploading beats and posting them online, I decided to also rap as an artist, and that really helped my brand materialize. It helped my sales, book clients, and introduce what I had to offer to a broader audience.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I will say a lot of the obstacles have been mental. Music production and artistry isn’t like a typical 9-5 where you can get a degree and expect a job to fall into your lap. Learning to make music really exposed my mentality towards work — I had a very “fake it till you make it” attitude. It’s easy to get away with not learning in school, actually. You can memorize facts and details and still not know what you’re doing. Music production exposes that. You can know all the theory, but if you can’t apply it, it’s useless.
Not to mention, everyone wants to be doing what I do, and so if you don’t accept that, there’s no room for you. I consider myself very privileged to even earn a penny from what I do. There are many nights where I simply couldn’t plan out my future, I felt like giving up, I felt like I was cursed for having this as a passion.
What I’m aware of, though, is that all of this is helping me grow as a person. It’s an act of courage to show up every day, knowing you may or may not take a step forward. It’s an act of courage to market what you’ve made to friends and family who’d laugh at you for doing so. It’s fighting your fear, your doubts, anything that could come your way. It’s all a mental game, and each track I finish makes me more indestructible than ever.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My stage name is Imperious Mike, and I’m primarily a music producer, but I rap as well. As of this writing, I have two singles out, one of them being “SUDDEN DRIFTS”, which I’d performed live. I love to work with up and coming artists local to my area, and bring in their full vision for their track as much as possible and have retained a positive client satisfaction. I also create sound packs and plugins, as well as beats I sell online on BeatStars, which you can find on my website.
I think what I’m most proud of is that I fully commit myself to my own vision of artistry, and I’m oftentimes praised for my unique approach to hip hop music, which is electronic and rife with my own style (such as my tendency to switch from a normal voice to a deeper voice). This approach, along with my stylistic methodology, has drawn in clients looking for a producer to work with.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
I think this is actually a very important question, but I believe being happy is prioritizing time spent doing what you love, and spending time with people you love. A lot of people might mention money, and I do believe money is important and having wealth opens doors, but ultimately I’m a lot more concerned about enjoying what I do have. If I wanted money and money only, I could be a neurosurgeon, but I’d likely not enjoy that money unless I was passionate about my line of work. My point being, I don’t mind being paid less so long as I enjoy my profession, which is why pursuing music is so important to me. And most of all, spending time with a partner, friends and family is important too, and we do need down time to recharge and enjoy the small moments with others.
The main thing is, I am living my life exactly as my best self would’ve wanted me to live (I’m not working a job I hate to impress people), and I think living in alignment with who you are is what ultimately makes you happy.
Pricing:
- Production Collab – $50 per song
- Consulting/Feedback – $5 per song
- Beat on BeatStars – $20 <-> $200
Contact Info:
- Website: https://imperiousmikesite.vercel.app/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imperiousmike/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikail-syed-b215331b5/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ImperiousMike
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/pbimperious
