By Kristopher Rivera
Aubrey Mikel is an R&B artist, producer and songwriter with strong intentions of sharing his music with the world. His voice and the music he composes combined will have anyone sold on the idea that he can very well pull it off with his talent.
Mikel has already made some impressive progress towards his goal. Mikel has one track featuring Grammy award winning rapper and producer David Banner titled, “All Around.”
“David Banner heard the track and he immediately said, ‘Hey, I’m getting on that track, I’ll get back at you when I get it done and finished,’” Mikel said.
“Ever since then he got it done, it was done not too long ago, we released it and now everybody’s nodding and banging to it.”
This was made possible after he reached out to record producer and rapper, Nitti via Twitter.
Nitti is credited working with artists such as Yung Joc, Gucci Mane, Bow Wow, Boyz n da Hood, and many more.
“He was very aggressive about me hearing his music, so I took a gamble,” Nitti said. “He is the type of artist who thinks big and he is very into the art of music.”
Impressed by his talent, Nitti signed Mikel to his label, Nitti Beatz Digital.
“Right now, me and Aubrey have been brain storming for the past year. We plan on hitting the studio to record new music,” Nitti said. “He is a star as far as I am concerned. He going to the top and that’s my goal for Aubrey.”
Mikel has had help coming from supporters with the same strong ambitions.
The force behind ProFresh promotions have seemingly been one of his solid foundations for his career. Just recently, Mikel has been collaborating with the crew at the Proper Printshop to create very well done music videos for tracks “All I Need,” “Hit it from the Back,” and “It’s Hot.”
“Aubrey Mikel will be a house hold name in 2013, that’s a promise,” said Ackerman, booking agent and promoter at ProFresh promotions . “He has great music, he’s a hard worker and most importantly we have the city of El Paso behind us 100 percent.”
While living in Fresno, CA young Mikel was encouraged to sing by his mother who sang in a church choir. Records from artists such as Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and other groups played frequently at his home.
Mikel is also shaped by classical and Jazz music, giving reference to Louis Armstrong. While watching “5 Heartbeats” (1991), a musical drama film, he began to connect the dots between all his musical exposures and decided he always wanted to be involved in music. At age 14 he began releasing
his own music.
“When everybody would go out partying and stuff, we would go in the studio, stay in the studio, record a fun track and say ‘Alright let’s take it to the party and go to that kegger and bump this,” Mikel said.
All the fun took a halt between the ages of 17 to 19. Mikel was homeless after his father lost his home unjustly and his brother was sentenced to three years in prison. His mother still lived in California. Mikel, with the aid from friends would eventually stabilize his life again.
“You got to be consistent, persistent and rely on yourself and you can’t rely on other people. You have to do it, you can’t wait for it. You can’t wait for anybody,” Mikel said. “You have to just go and you have to be strong and hungry and know that there are a lot of sharks out there.”
***
