Sir Michael Rocks

Antoine Amari Reed (born December 24, 1987) is an American rapper better known by his stage name Sir Michael Rocks (or Mikey Rocks). He started his music career in 2005 as a member of the hip hop duo The Cool Kids, and later joined the groups All City Chess Club, the "super group" P.O.C. (Pulled Over by the Cops), and The Toothpick Clique. The Cool Kids released their debut album When Fish Ride Bicycles in 2011, which features production by The Neptunes and artists such as Ghostface Killah. The album peaked at No. 76 on the Billboard 200, and No. 9 on Top Rap Albums.

Starting in 2011, Rocks began releasing a number of free mixtapes. He also contributed as guest artist to tracks by Mac Miller, Dom Kennedy, Jeremih, Curren$y, Freddie Gibbs, Ski Beatz, and more. In April 2014 he contributed to the Chuck Inglish album Convertibles. His first commercial solo album, Banco, was released on July 29, 2014, and features guest appearances by artists such as Too $hort, Mac Miller, Twista, Iamsu, and Pouya.

Early life Antoine "Sir Michael Rocks" Reed was born in 1987 in the Chicago suburb of Matteson, Illinois, where he was raised. At a young age he listened to artists such as Nas, Jay-Z, Slick Rick, and Eric B. and Rakim, and he started rhyming at the age of ten. Despite an interest in sports, academics, and graphic art, he has stated that even at age ten he knew he would go into hip hop: "I never had a backup plan or plan B. I've always known that this was what I was supposed to be doing. As far as time goes, I've put all my time into it." and making music with friends, including his future collaborators Tris J and Shorty K. Beyond music, he had an early interest in zoology, stating he would be specializing in reptile and mammal studies if not rapping. He founded the hip hop duo The Cool Kids when he was still sixteen. He met co-founder Evan "Chuck Inglish" Ingersoll on Myspace in 2005, after Rocks found a beat that Ingersoll had produced. Stated Inglish, "One day we just met up--I came over to his house with some CDs, and that's all she wrote. We were both, like, searching for each other without searching for each other."

Inspired by golden age hip hop and artists like LL Cool J and Eric B. & Rakim, However, "Rocks himself rapped during a session and wound up as the temporary 'voice' of the Cool Kids", though the two soon began sharing vocal duties. Also in 2007 the group collaborated with Lil Wayne and DJ Benzi through the Internet on a track entitled "Gettin' It".

As of summer 2007 all of their material had been released solely on their MySpace page and C.A.K.E. came after performances at the CMJ Music Festival and Pitchfork Music Festival that July. They were listed in Rolling Stone Ten Artists to Watch in 2008. According to Rolling Stone, "since "Black Mags" debuted, the Cool Kids have gone from an underground sensation in their native Chicago to the hottest ticket at New York's CMJ festival." In 2007 they opened for M.I.A. on her KALA Tour, and the band performed at the 2008 Rock the Bells hip hop festival.

2008–09: Touring, singles

In January 2008 the duo put up their first for-profit single, selling the track online. Devoted to their love of BMX bikes, "Black Mags" led to a black and white music video, Their sophomore EP, The Bake Sale, was their first commercially available disc, released in June 2008. The duo was then endorsed by Mountain Dew for their single, "Delivery Man", to which commercials and the music video have aired on MTV2. In 2008 they headlined the "NBA 2K Bounce Tour" along with Q-Tip.

Also in 2008, the group had a number of their singles featured in video games and television episodes. They were featured in the video games NBA Live 08 and MLB 2K8 with the song "88", in Need for Speed Nitro, with The Bloody Beetroots in the song "Awesome," and in the episode "The First Cut Is the Deepest" from HBO TV series Entourage with the song "Mikey Rocks". The group's song "Bassment Party" was featured in the September 21, 2008, episode of the HBO comedy Entourage. They also recorded an original track, "2K Pennies", for the soundtrack of NBA 2K9. A new mixtape called Tacklebox came out on May 31, 2010. Tacklebox was assembled by the LA Leakers, and featured new singles and "leftovers" from When Fish Ride Bicycles, with freestyles from both members of The Cool Kids. The band also received an offer from the DJ A-Trak to sign to his Fool's Gold Records label,

2010–11: New groups The Cool Kids are members of the hip-hop collective All City Chess Club founded in 2010. Also in 2010, Mikey Rocks teamed up with Chuck Inglish, Gary, Indiana's Freddie Gibbs and Cleveland's Chip tha Ripper to form the "super group" P.O.C. (Pulled Over by the Cops). The crew had first worked together on the 2010 track "Oil Money" by Freddie Gibbs, and kept working afterwards. Their first single, "Authority", was produced by Blended Babies and featured singer Nate Santos. Around 2011 Rocks co-founded The Toothpick Clique On March 14, 2011, Sir Michael Rocks released his debut solo album, the Rocks Report mixtape, which featured twenty five original songs and skits. Guest appearances include Like and Mibbs of Pac Div, Sir Charles, and Trademark Da Skydiver, with production by Ski Beatz, Madlib, and others.

This mixtape was followed on October 2, 2011, by Premier Politics. The album features sixteen tracks with Rocks doing most of the writing on all. About the production process, Rocks stated "It didn't take too long because I'm a studio rat, so I'll be in the lab for 2 weeks straight, 10 hours a day, and just grind out non-stop." A number of different producers besides Rocks contributed, including the Alchemist. He also released a collection of sweatshirts and T-shirts with the release of the Premier Politics, promoting various independent designers.

On October 23, 2011, it was announced that Rocks joined forces with the independent label Jet Life Recordings, whom Rocks had first befriended over Myspace around 2008. Rocks appeared as a featured artist on a number of the albums released by the label. In 2011, this included "1st Place" (featuring Currensy, Trademark Da Skydiver, Young Roddy & Mikey Rocks), which appeared on the album Jet World Order. As stated in Hot New Hip Hop, "Sir Michael Rocks's future brightens with every new release, and Premier Politics 1.5 certainly isn't an exception. It's a fitting addition to a solid catalogue."

His mixtape Lap of Lux was released on August 2, 2012. For the Lap of Lux track "Reservations" he collaborated with actress and singer Teyana Taylor to shoot a music video, which later premiered on MTV in December 2012. He toured in the fall of 2012 with Mac Miller, Rocks released an 8-track follow-up mixtape, Lap of Lux 1.5, in December 2012, with producer Harry Fraud also contributing.

Stated Hip Hop Vibe in February 2013, "Though he is overlooked in the wake of Chief Keef, Rockie Fresh, and Lil Reese, it is highly likely that Sir Michael Rocks is Chicago's biggest newer artist. He performed at SXSW 2013 in Austin, having performed at the festival annually since 2007. As of February 2013 he was associated with but not signed to Jet Life Recordings, instead remaining independent. who also contributed to production.

2013–17: Banco, Guest Appearances His debut album Banco was released on July 29, 2014. The album features guest appearances from Twista, Casey Veggies, Iamsu!, Mac Miller, Trinidad James, Too Short and Chuck Inglish.

Rocks continues to be active as a guest artist, and he has contributed to tracks by artists such as Dom Kennedy, Ski Beatz, Sean O'Connell, Curren$y, Rapsody, Dizzy Wright, Freddie Gibbs, and The World's Freshest. In April 2014 he contributed to the Chuck Inglish album Convertibles, which was preceded by three singles – one of which was "Swervin'" featuring Rocks and Polyester the Saint.

Rocks appeared on Famsquadilliana's Sport Coat Willie project alongside Tuki Carter on "I Get It" and the remix of their record "I Get Me Me".

2018–19: Mystery School & Livestream

Entering a new musical era. The artist has linked up with Owen Bones to create a new group called MYSTERY SCHOOL to form an experimental electronic hip-hop duo. In February 2019, they released their self-titled debut EP, Mystery School. The campaign leading up to this release consisted of Owen Bones and Sir Michael Rocks on Twitch for "Sudden Death" segments, where they gave themselves half an hour to create a beat from scratch with at least one verse on it.

Style and genre Equipment As a music producer, Rocks In an interview with magazine Ruby Hornet, Mac Miller said The Cool Kids deserved more credit "for what they've done in style, music, and fashion".

Personal life , Sir Michael Rocks was dividing his time between Chicago and Los Angeles. Broken Window of Opportunity (2020)

Mixtapes The Rocks Report (2011) Premier Politics (2011) Lap of Lux (2012) While You Wait... (2013)

Extended plays Populair (2015) Populair Pt.2 (2016)

Collaborations The Cool Kids The Bake Sale (EP, 2008) Gone Fishing (Mixtape, 2009) Tacklebox (Mixtape, 2010) When Fish Ride Bicycles (Album, 2011) Special Edition Grandmaster Deluxe (Album, 2017) The Cool Kids Before Shit Got Weird (Album, 2022) Baby Oil Staircase/Chillout (Album, 2022) Chuck Inglish, Polyester the Saint Convertibles

Dizzy Wright, Like, Mod Sun

Jesse Medina, Ab-Soul, Anya Kvitka Meet Jesse Medina

Freddie Gibbs, The World's Freshest The Tonite Show

Mac Miller Faces

2015 Pouya South Side Slugs

Fat Nick, Suicideboys, Pouya, Robb Banks When the Lean Runs Out

iLL Chris, Mackned Honor Thy Father "Gold High: 2020 A Certain Energy, Bluff Gawd, Sir Michael Rocks Non-Album Single