04/22/2025
VARIETY | On a breezy Thursday night, Jaden Smith, a second-year graduate student at Howard’s School of Social Work, and his friends packed into the dark and humid second floor of famed Washington D.C. music venue, The Black Cat.
The venue is known for welcoming “the best in live independent music.” Smith and his friends were there to see rapper MIKE and his friends on his stop in the District of the “Artist of the Century” tour.
The rapper, born Michael Jordan Bonema, is a hallmark of the underground rap scene, which includes his show openers and 10k label mates Niontay and Sideshow, and artists like MAVI and Earl Sweatshirt.
His music is characterized by laid-back, dense raps over soulful and bouncy chopped samples.
The crowd at the show showed up in fashions similar to MIKE, who took the stage dressed in a “Rodeo” Jacquard knit sweater (that he eventually took off to show a plain white tee) and baggy light wash jeans.
Elise Gentry, a senior marketing major, Spanish minor from Houston, Texas, wore a comfortable outfit and heeled boots to give her a better view.
“I’m really enjoying the style that I’m seeing tonight from the boys who are out, and it does look like what MIKE would wear. They have some baggy jeans, a cool graphic tee, very put together, giving very Black excellence, very for the culture,” Gentry said.
The show was opened by artist Semiratruth, who mixed vinyl live on stage and sang and rapped over the music. Rapper Niontay followed and got the crowd moving with his set filled with infectious, danceable, fast-paced beats.
The final opener was DMV native Sideshow. The crowd, engaged and chanting “Sideshow!” and “10K,” swelled and filled out the room even more.
🔗 Click the link in our bio to read more on how rapper MIKE performed at local venue The Black Cat, joined by openers Sideshow, Niontay, and Semiratruth. Howard students attended, reflecting on music, fashion, and cultural influence.
✍🏽: Afia Barrie
📸: Davis Dailey/The Hilltop