Meet Mango Mic

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mango Mic.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I believe my love for design and music is a gumbo of random happenings, but to sum it up I’d say there are two key periods that fueled my curiosity. The first would be my admiration for my mom’s bubble letters. She was my first idol. As a kid, I’d awe at her effortlessly jotting God level letters on scratch paper. She only drew our names, but I’d hoard all of her pieces. Whether loose leaf or KFC napkin, I’d tuck them neatly in my navy Jansport and trace every letter delicately. I took every chance I could to try to be as effortless as her and once I became a master tracer, I took “my” talents to the classroom and bubble letter battled any kid with confidence. Till this day I’d never battle her, but this era definitely sparked something in me.

The second period in my childhood stormed the art world like 03′ 50 cent. It shifted every conversation and ended every bubble letter battle in my elementary; it was Toonami. Toonami was a block on Cartoon network that played Japanese anime. What it meant to the kids of my generation is further than words. We were being handed a culture that seemed like it was from another dimension, but with a click of a remote, Toonami was. My focus quickly veered from my mom’s scratch paper to Toonami. Binging shows like Yu-Yu Hakusho, Dragonball, and Mobile Suit Gundam. I knew I wanted in, I just couldn’t think of how. Soon enough, I came to notice that Toonami had weekly fan art submissions. So my only focus was to get a spot and I’d feel complete. The only challenge this time around, was that I wouldn’t have napkins to hoard and trace off of. Thinking on it now, I wish I would’ve used my mom’s Polaroid or disposable camera to catch a still shot, but I had to rely on my memory to compete with these mind-blowing submissions. I drew for years trying to piece together the perfect Goku and after years of horrid sketches, I finally reached that level. I drew tons of collages, hung them on my walls and totally forgot about those submissions. Around those times, all that mattered was being your classrooms go to kid for custom Super Saiyan Gokus with matching Nikes. This time was the most pivotal because it taught me how to endure when things weren’t paved. Thinking about it now its very similar to how my drive was when I decided I wanted to produce music.

Please tell us about your art.
If my art were a dish, it’d be my mom’s chicken and rice on a Sunday- that’s her off day, so it’d get the most love. Its a simple dish to most, but the laayers take it to another place. I produce and design. Music was the first choice I took serious because I felt it’d be the most efficient and impactful art form to start with. Early on when I started making music, I began to see pictures and scenes with sounds I was making. So I decided to take film courses in college to try to understand the subtleties and make sense of my subconscious. My film classes were a breath of fresh air and made sense of why Good Burger is an instant classic; but after a couple intro courses I felt I couldn’t be fed the craft. So after that, my life rewired. I skipped class- except aesthetics, I studied film solo and made music until those pictures saw light.

My plan with art is to keep it simple. I’m gonna rebel like the french new wave and keep it southern like my roots.

What do you think about the conditions for artists today? Has life become easier or harder for artists in recent years? What can cities like ours do to encourage and help art and artists thrive?
Technology has made it a lot easier for artists to handle and market themselves. I just think the biggest problem with platforms and creators today is that the majority is either spamming, invalid and/or in a rush for a perk. Yet at the same time, everything’s yin and yang. We need each other. Interviews like this are a nice step to shedding light on the studious. Our cities just have to keep nourishing the youth and continuing to support genuine creators. These fundamentals alone will keep the culture growing in the right direction.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I’m always posting snippets and beat flips on Instagram, but this interview inspired me to share more. I’ll be starting and sharing my first ting on BandCamp and SoundCloud the same day this interview publishes, both at mangomic. *grimacing face emoji*

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bandcamp.com/mangomic
• Email: manguemic@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mangomic_/
• Other: photographer instagram: @zahraomaar

Image Credit:
Sara Omar

Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.