Mikey Vee and Keeping it Real With Yourself for Others
Mikey Vee
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Kreative Growth Recipient
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Rapper
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Mikey Vee 〰️ Kreative Growth Recipient 〰️ Rapper 〰️
Michael Villanueva or Mikey Vee is a rapper from Daly City who is best known for his vulnerable and intricate relationship to the music he produces. Beat by beat, bar by bar, Mikey Vee is super intentional about each song and the world he builds with it. With his music video “The Artist”, Mikey highlights the talents of Filipinos in the Bay Area while delivering messages about his relationships to perfectionism as both a flex and a struggle. On par with his music, Mikey Vee amplifies issues around mental health and tells stories of his incredible journey to where he is now.
“I’ve realized that my purpose on Earth is to inspire others with the gifts that I’ve been given in any way that I can. I wanted to create something relatable to a normal guy, normal girl, who’s just learning about life, trying to find their own identity and discover themselves and just going through the whole human experience.”
Mikey is just one of six recipients of the Kreative Growth Grant, a $3,000 to $6,000 grant Balay Kreative gives to Filipinx artists in the Bay Area, in order to launch new works of art and culture in the Filipino Cultural District in San Francisco.
In an interview with Iggy Mora and Jimmie Gabiola, Mikey talks about his newest project, what it means to be a Filipino in Hip Hop culture, and how he anticipates his journey with the Balay Kreative Grant might help him make his mark on the SOMA Pilipinas community. Plus, Mikey shows off his skills in an EXCLUSIVE freestyle session.
Profile by Tianna Mae Andresen
Introduce yourself and your project
My name is Mikey Vee. I am a Filipino American hip hop artist from Daly City. I am a Balay Kreative artist here and my track with them is for music. And my project is my debut album called REM, which stands for Realest Expression of Myself and it is a project that is based on the artworks of the 17th century painter Rembrandt, and connects with my own experiences as being a Filipino American living here in America in California
What drew you to the Balay Kreative Kreative Growth Program?
Well, I was actually notified about it by my homegirl Kat, Kathleen Damian. She's a singer. And she told me about this world of grants and the Balay Kreative grant. I just applied, had a meeting with Nicole and Desi and it just kind of clicked for me how amazing this opportunity was. It introduced me to a whole world of making money off of your art. It's pretty exciting.
How did it feel learning you were selected to be a recipient?
When I found out I was one of the recipients to become a Balay Kreative resident artist, I was ecstatic. It was incredible. I worked really hard on the proposal. I worked on it for weeks and I felt really good about it ever since I had the talks with Nicole and Desi. I feel like I manifested it but at the same time, I was also very fortunate and lucky. When I saw the email I was like jumping off the walls, it was incredible. I just felt amazing. I was on a high for sure.
What do you hope to gain from your experience?
I want to grow as a person and as a businessman. Because of this, I've been learning to actually start my own business. I created this collective called Golden Oras. We're like a creative collective that connects different artists and creatives together, in order to help them build their brand and collaborate. I've been learning a lot of the ins and outs of making a business with the help of the people at Balay. They've been giving me all these masterclasses I've been taking. I've been learning so much about building my brand and hosting events, handling financials, taking care of a team, and everything. It's been quite a learning experience. I just want to evolve.
What kind of statements are you looking to make with your art?
I'd like to consider this album as the soundtrack to the human experience. I just want people to be inspired to kind of just, like, go for what they want, listen to their heart, and follow that resistance, but aside from that I have this line in one of my songs and shorts says,
“I used to want to be the best till I learned that won’t make me better, because all of that comparison come paired with venom”
So I say that, because I used to think I just want to be the best and be like a super perfectionist, I still have a lot of those tendencies, but I'm learning that that's not what it's about. I'd rather learn, I'd rather build with my community and grow as a person on my own in my own terms, you know, but even so, I still want people to know that I'm here, you know what I mean? So a bunch of statements I kind of want to make with this.
What would you say to aspiring Filipino artists? Why is it important for Filipinos to create?
I think it's important for Filipinos to create on their own terms because I think that the trend is that Filipinos, they pride themselves on being talented. We can all sing, dance, and everything under the sun. But I think a lot of what I've heard recently is that a lot of that can kind of come back to the colonization of the Philippines, and how we want it to be a value to the Americans. If you think about it like that, that's not the way you should be going about it. And that's why I say you should do it on your own terms. It's important to be creative for yourself and not be creative because you think you have no other options or you feel like you're obligated to. The answer has to be a very personal thing rather than an external thing.
What does it mean to be a part of Filipino hip hop culture?
I think it's kind of a rite of passage, if anything, because Filipinos and hip hop kind of melded ever since they came to America. And even before that, in the Philippines, like ever since we were even colonized, I think hip hop, or just music in general, was a huge part of the culture. Like back then, it started with the blues. When Filipinos were colonized by America music was one of the things that kept us connected, and kept us going. When Filipinos moved to America, Filipinos became DJs and everything and the DJ culture was huge back in the day. And then they became r&b singers and everything connected to the hip hop scene, and to that music scene. And I think, like I said, it's just very, very in sync.
“I think being a part of that is both an honor and a privilege. I just do my best to put on for those that came before me. But also make my own way. So it’s like a balancing act between those two. ”
Photo by Neil Yuzon
I actually wrote that recently about how the connection between Filipinos and it kind of dates back to the warrior spirit. It's like a tribal connection because there's tribes in hip hop, like A Tribe Called Quest, for example. And there's tribes in the Philippines, everything from what we used to wear as people to what we eat and everything. It's all kind of connected.
What can we expect from you during your time as a Kreative Growth Resident Artist?
A lot of surprises. I don't want to reveal too much about what we got. Because I'm the type that likes to under promise over deliver. But you can expect to see a lot of your likes, interesting things and inspiring things hopefully.
You'll be doing so much this year as a resident artist from masterclass to developing your project. What would you tell yourself at the end of 2023?
I would tell myself definitely to take more time to slow down. And that good enough is better than perfect. And also just have more fun with it. You know, don't get caught up in the little things as much. I'm probably not gonna listen to them.
All right, Mikey. Last question. Freestyle.
“And this shit don’t stop
Big mood I’ve been cookin like the fish don’t fry,
Big moves I’ve been workin like a dog I don’t pause,
Make a hairpin turn tryna pick a door lock.
Break em in,
Red alert,
Bet it hurt em when I drop.
Cuz I’m lookin like I ain’t got no fuckin business tryna rap.
Guess what,
Bish I did it and I bet I did it right.
Knew I was litty since I killed it opening up for Dizzy Wright.
Yeah yeah
Throw it back like a Nelly song.
You is a dilemma I ain’t ready for that jelly ughh.
Fine dime, Ginuwine,
How’d you get up in them jeans yeah.
She be j***** on the stalk when we offa bean ughh.
This a common theme, yeah cliche these days
Ima try to do this differently, I know, I know.
I got it bad though.
Stress got me high strung like a banjo.
We will be documenting Mikey and all the other recipients journeys, follow @Balaykreative to keep updated and be the first to see what each recipient's final project is!
You can also keep updated with Mikey through the following platforms: