ACCORDING to Michael Barnett Jnr, affectionately called Mikey J and now known professionally as Mikey Beatz, it is his dad who is 100 per cent responsible for his love of music as he had him exposed to the business from a very young age.

“My father has been a serious record collector/selector for over 40 years and he is one of the first group of selectors still employed to Kool 97 FM. Music was such a big part of my growing up, that it was impossible for me not to be intimately involved in music,” he explained.

Mikey Beatz also got a first-hand taste of the music business working with his father, who was one half of the MKB duo who promoted and produced the legendary Heineken Startime concert series.

Looking back Mikey is thankful for what he has accomplished, but he will be the first to tell you that it wasn’t a smooth path. There were times when he had to wonder if his dream of making it into the music biz was ever going to be realised.

“You pretty much have all these dreams and aspirations with no idea of how they were gonna be accomplished. Just raw talent…..no definite direction,” he reflected.

With hard work and not giving up on his dreams Mikey started to make inroads into the business he loved so much. After leaving St George’s College he migrated to the United States with the intention of going to college. But his love of music overshadowed that goal and he soon found a part-time job as a studio engineer where he got the chance to work with artistes such as T-Pain, NORE and Trina.

He subsequently formed a rap group called Major League (current partner Lex One was a member) which started to create waves with their releases and stage performances and has won awards in South Florida. The group eventually split up, but Mikey continued to work with Lex One.

Mikey Beatz has already performed all over the United States and he has just completed a UK promotional tour which saw him performing at 22 venues as he promotes his latest single Riverside (Let’s Go), which incidentally is now number one in on most charts in the United Kingdom.

Presently, the young rapper is focussed on working on new materials for a label deal he recently wrapped up with European record company Ministry of Sound and will be heading back to the UK at the end of January on a full tour behind the tremendous success of Riverside (Let’s Go).

Not one to allow an opportunity pass him by, 21-year-old Mikey now has his feet firmly placed in the door where his musical career is concerned.

“Everything has started falling into place. The biz is just a survival-of-the-fittest game. The longer you hold on and keep working hard the more doors open, and before you know it you’ll find huge opportunities staring you in the face! It might not be what you expect, but how you play your cards from there on determines how the rest of your career will play out,” Mikey told the Observer.

There is one challenge Mikey has not yet faced and that is performing on his home turf, but it is one that doesn’t faze him in the least. “I think dem ready fi mi now. Jamaica is home base. That’s where my fan base is ….. that has been following my progress since day one. It’s only a matter of time,” he promised.