Dear M.I,
What's popping? Hope all is good?
A quick one. Have you listened to this track by KEAD called 'Letter To M.I'? Please take some time to bump it.
I have listened to this track and it is why I am writing you. The boy dropped some hard hitting lines and facts that have been on my mind for a while.
M.I when you first came into the game- you were a game changer. You turned rap on its head with your classic debut.
The years have rolled by and fortune has been a cruel mistress. You have more than your fair share of low moments (most of them self-inflicted).
It's been three years since your last album and two years since your last project. Yes, I saw your tweet about your next album being ready. I would leap for joy but we have been down this road before with false hopes and many release dates.
What's happening M.I? Why has the music suffered? I won't lie. The fan in me rated ". The collaborative approach to its production got me. Sadly, that LP had a short shelf life partly due to the lyrics which were below your very high standards.
The spark is gone, the flows are not the same and the bars have gone soft bro. It seems there is no more soul in your music. Everything has gone cold.
All greats have underwhelming albums but it is the silence that worries me more. Why do you choose to remain silent when fans yearn for more?
It hurts. It hurts to see one with great potential stay dormant. It says in Ecclesiastes 10:7 "I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves." I know you are a man of the Bible so you would understand that verse.
Chocolate City once the haven for rappers is no more. Jesse Jagz. Milli, a scarily talented rapper jumped ship. BrymO bounced. A few others have done so too. What is going on?
Why should there be more questions than answers surrounding the rapper we once heralded as "the answer?"
The years that have gone by has made me understand things better. Life is a journey of ups and downs. It throws curve balls at us and no matter how much we shine, we must all pass the darkness at some point.
Greatness co-exists with struggle. Great men are complex and imperfect at the very best. There are moments that we must all fall and get lost. M.I, the fan in me that had goose pimples when I listened to your first album wants to believe that you can find your way back to greatness.
You once rapped that great artists make fake art. It is time you started making greatness again. The silence has been too long. Let the light within you guide you out of the darkness.
Yours sincerely,
one of your biggest fans turned critic and now hopeful spectator.