With his EP Michael Myers still getting plenty of spins around the net and here at Be Known, MeRCY takes a seat with us to discuss the project, who he is as an artist, the inspiration behind his recent body of works and much more. Along for the ride comes SlimRock who worked closely with MeRCY on the latest EP, serving as one of the executive producers on the project. It was great to hear from both artists and how they came together to combine both of their creativity in order to deliver the Michael Myers EP to listeners and fans around the world. Check out our interview with both of these talented individuals below.
Be Known interviews MeRCY & SlimRock
Tian: Can you tell our audience who MeRCY & SlimRock are?
MeRCY: I go by the name, MeRCY, MusicBymercy, an hip hop artist from South Florida. A phenomenal human being who just happens to be nice with words.
SlimRock: Who is slimrock? Bronx-bred-Florida producer/engineer. Just a kid who loves music and passion for real artists putting out dope shit. Retro kid, I love anything old, dusty, and dark.
Tian: How long have you both been creating the beautiful art we call music?
MeRCY: I’ve been creating music over a decade and some years. I feel like it was my calling. Ever since my older brother put me on, I’ve been stuck on the realness ever since.
SlimRock: Creative juices sparked at like 17yrs of age following the death of my close uncle. I’ve been around music my entire life, living in a Puerto Rican household among musicians, growing up in church and being a student of Hip Hop crafted me to be involved with music.
Tian: What is your relationship like with Slim? How long have you both known one another?
MeRCY: Crazy how it sounds, we just started building this year. This EP is our first collaboration. We recently connected but instantly became a fan of each other’s work. However, we had mutual friends and people we worked with musically. When we first linked, it felt like I’ve knew Slim for years. We share so many musical sentiments and outtakes. We relate deeper than rap.
SlimRock: I first found out about Mercy through fellow Broward artist LastNameFranco and collaboration. Mercy had a distinct sound to him which captured my attention. He was like a blend of MF Doom and GFK, something I haven’t heard from any other south Florida talent. I knew I had to make something happen. Chemistry is definitely there between our artist/producer combo. Once I found out Prodigy was Mercy’s favorite rapper, I knew we were cut from similar cloths. I was like oh ok this dude is different.
Tian: MeRCY, can you talk about the inspiration behind both the “Iron Mike” & “Michael Myers” EP’s? Why did you go the route of “Michael” titles for the projects?
MeRCY: I would like to give my guy Jorge that credit for the “Michael” concepts. I don’t know if he was playing around but he started naming all these famous people with the name Michael who share something significant and how I can relate to them conceptually. “Iron Mike” had a fighting spirit to it and I could easily relate to him. Just wanting that recognition to be the champ. Undisputed. “Michael Myers” was just the dark side of things. I feel each Michael feels a void and characteristic for me.
Tian: Specifically regarding the “Michael Myers” EP, what was the creative outlook for it? Did you all know you wanted to go with a specific type of vibe for the EP? Or did you both just hop into the studio, started creating & figured it out then?
SlimRock: Michael Myers was the inspiration lol. Especially since it’s both of our favorite Horror film, which made it all the more effortless to collab. Something about Myer’s calm and haunting demeanor and never breaking character is the inspiration. Mercy and myself are also Virgo’s so we fit that aura well.
MeRCY: I wanted to get into some dark and gritty Hip Hop. I love that type of music. Something that Mobb Deep fans would appreciate. I honestly didn’t think of doing a “Michael Myers EP” at first. It’s only so much I could rap about it or any type of horror themed rap. I think working with SlimRock made the creative process easy and fun, man. We like that gutter rap shit.
Tian: How much of an influence did SlimRock have on the set of sounds during the studio sessions?
SlimRock: One thing I do good, I believe is my ability to follow a certain mood or sound throughout a project. I knew I had to provide a dark melancholic platform, and that style is right up my alley.
MeRCY: I already had some of the beats I wanted to use for the EP and SlimRock made a few joints for it too. I’ve played him some of the production and he handled business from there. I think the first joint I got from him was “The Shape”. I nearly crashed the whip, banging that beat repeatedly. Haha, He knew what I needed for this project and he delivered!
Tian: SlimRock, what would you say was your favorite part about working with MeRCY on the EP?
SlimRock: Favorite part about working with Mercy on this EP? It was really dope to see Mercy create rhymes so effortlessly. I provided the canvas and he started painting. It’s one thing to make a dope beat but once an artist can match the energy, great things can happen and that’s exactly what Mercy brings to the table.
Tian: SlimRock, you produced three songs on the EP, which is your favorite out of them?
SlimRock: If I had to pick I would say ‘Myers Theme’ definitely does it for me. It’s the closer so you know we had to come correct and leave an impression. It definitely brings out the ‘screw face’ when you play it, and that was the intention. Although tomorrow I might feel the same way about The Shape or Smith Grove Sanitarium!
Tian: SlimRock, do you have any upcoming albums or EP’s you are working on?
SlimRock: I have some work to do with Mercy coming up in the new year. Aside from that I’m also getting in my production bag and will be putting out a beat tape sooner than later.
Tian: MeRCY, you dropped one visual off the EP already, do you have anymore videos you are working on?
MeRCY: Who knows. The project was made to be short and straight to the point. If the people want more visuals, we will deliver. “Evil Vs Good” maybe get the greenlight.
Tian: Will we ever see a collaborative album from MeRCY & SlimRock?
MeRCY: Haha, that’s on SlimRock. That would be an easy project to craft. I know for sure we are always gonna be working.
SlimRock: I’m pretty sure it will manifest in the near future. We got something special like Havoc and P, I get inspiration through Mercy’s catalog so I’m sure we will create something classic!
Tian: I appreciate you both taking time out of your day to talk with us here at Be Known, is there anything else you both would like to add?
SlimRock: Don’t sleep on this EP. Spooky season is all year around. Any real Myers fan knows this haha. Real talk this is an EP you can bump through the seasons. Peace.
MeRCY: Just expect greatness for your playlist. 2024 rap galore. Just keep your notifications on. New MusicByMeRCY on the way. This EP is a prelude to what’s to come! Scary after Hours.
Much love to MeRCY and SlimRock for sharing some insights on their craft and what it was like creating their latest EP. Be sure to stream Michael Myers and watch the official music video to “Scary Hours“.
Be Known.
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