If you had a social life in the mid-2010’s, you probably heard Mike Stud’s 2015 frat anthem, “These Days”. If you think you haven’t, listen here for a reminder. Mike Stud blew up in the era of white dude rappers like G-Eazy and Hoodie Allen. Asher Roth dropped “I Love College” around the same time, and I felt like Mike Stud had similar energy, so for a while I saw the two as comparable. But over the past few years, Mike Stud, now known as mike., has set himself apart and seen a wilder character arc than Walter White in Breaking Bad.

Instead of becoming a heartless drug lord though, mike. went the opposite direction. He got softer. His latest album, the lows, is the perfect representation of the new him.  He’s still the same guy, talking about weed and alcohol in almost every song, but now in a much less douchey way. He started singing, and although his voice sounds just like Post Malone, he’s no knock off. mike. has truly found his own lane - something he acknowledges in his song “gang” with the line “there’s only one I like I’m Fetty Wap”. Too far? Maybe. But I respect him taking this swing.

mike. released the highs as his first album under the new stage name in 2021. The decision came after years of planning to step away from the ‘frat rapper’ persona. His new sound is much more mellow, with guitar-led instrumentals and catchy hooks that create something refreshing and far from the Mike Stud sound. I can’t really explain it but the new stuff simultaneously feels happy but sad. It feels like a warm hug.

I actually relate to his style change since I’m going through a bit of a transformation myself. Recently, I turned the auto-capitalization setting on my phone back on. for a year or two, i was the guy who texted like this. It took me a couple years and way too many comments from people I was texting, but I eventually realized it looks immature. I still think it looks cooler though.

mike.’s latest album, the lows, dropped in April and I think it’s his best album yet, with some of his best songs to date. People talk about “no skip albums”, and I’ll be the first to say this is not one. It’s too long. An hour-long album is pushing people’s limits these days, but a two-hour album? Irresponsible. Guy needs to meet with Dominic Fike and talk about self-editing albums. I can throw Dominic Fike’s whole discography on shuffle and be happy with whatever plays… mike. songs hit maybeee 45% of the time.

Just like I’d prefer if mike. kept some songs to himself, I wish he kept some of his bars to himself too. When you make this many songs, I guess you run out of things to say, because mike. drops some weird lines. For example, he starts out his track “catalogue cabin” with the insightful comment “she came twice tonight already, but I’m just gon’ keep going”. While I respect the hustle and thoughtfulness towards women, this line is not what the song needed. He just says it in the intro too, he doesn’t even sing it. Was this really something he had to get off his chest? He opened an earlier track, “deja u”, by letting listeners know he’s “got a pocket full of condoms”. Why so many? Are they breaking? I could keep going but I’m getting worked up. Just listen to his music and you’ll see what I mean.

Shit talking aside, I do think the lows is mike.’s best album yet. It touches on his past, present, and future, and it feels more confident than anything I’ve heard from him. Moments of the album sound borderline angelic. The hook of “coastin (night)” or the EDM-adjacent outros of “skylight” and “only god knows” are nothing like music he’s put out before.

It seems like mike. cut out the messiness in his life and traded it for things that bring him peace, something I’ve been doing in my own life lately. Messy people, messy habits, it’s all so draining. mike. had his fun with a chaotic lifestyle, just like I’ve had my fun with toxic people. But at a certain point, you grow up, and you just want peace.

Mike Stud was one of the first rappers that made me realize I could make music myself. It’s been cool seeing him evolve and watching parallels in my own life. Really I’m just happy that he seems happy. When many stars crash and burn after a while in the spotlight, it seems like mike. got more grounded. You don’t see that happen much “These Days."