New York rapper and songwriter MIKE has announced a new album that will be released on January 31^st via his own label 10k. The new album Showbiz! will be a follow-up to his sixth studio album Burning Desire released in 2023.

Alongside the announcement, MIKE has shared the new lead single and video (co-directed alongside Ryosuke Tanzawa) “You’re the Only One Watching”.

“You’re the Only One Watching” sees MIKE build up the drumless rap of his previous album, as the single mixes the subgenre with vaporwave samples and Chipmunk soul vocals for the hook. “You’re the Only One Watching” displays a slick street soulful sound while embracing minimal lo-fi production into a song about his innermost thoughts. Lyrically, this song balances the topical with the personal. With the state of affairs in the world taking a toll on a person’s spirit, one longs for the more personal aspects of life to help overcome the challenges life presents. For MIKE, like many others, the demands of touring and recording will make one long for our family. In “You’re the Only One Watching”, MIKE also explores the other side of that perspective. In the stanza, “When I pray to mama, know she miss MIKE, She my angel, know I got her on the flip-side, Huh, I gotta thank you while I’m talking to the big sky”, MIKE also acknowledges that while he may miss his Mother, he also knows that his mother also misses him as well, maybe more so than MIKE. The song ends with a prayer from MIKE’s mom, sending out her blessings and love to her son.

The video for “You’re the Only One Watching”, delves back to a childhood memory as MIKE bike rides set to a roving background of a suburban backdrop before transitioning to the sky as he reflects the moments of his life where he had to adjust moving from city to city. The video ends with a shout of an artistic portrait of his mother and the song’s title written alongside it.