AISHA MIKE

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"She gets in your skin, floats through your bloodstream and inspires your mind/soul to be free. A special spirit in a world where spirit is needed."
-Abiodun Oyewole of The Last Poets
Somewhere between Diana Ross and Little Dragon there is Claire Mike. She says, "Wow. My Mom's records like Bondie's "Rapture", Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes," Norman Conners' "You Are My Starship," The Supremes' "Ke.ep Me Hangin On," and Whitney Houston's entire first album are my earliest memories of music. I would make her play them for me over and over. Whitney made me want to be a singer. Seeing one Fela Kuti live performance just before he died made me hellbent on being a performer." Her current project is a mash up of R&B, world, pop and electronica influences like Stereolab, the Go Go's, Sade and Florence and the Machine. Greater than the sum of its parts, her album is what happens when a girl raised on all of this stuff leaves her Brooklyn home to live in Africa for two years, spend time in Europe, Jamaica, LA, Vegas and Miami, and then sets free the melodies trapped in her mind to dance over four on the floor and hip hop based rhythms.
Well experienced performing classical, gospel, funk and jazz Claire has laid vocals on everything from hip-hop and reggae to folk and techno projects, appearing on B.E.T.s 106th & Park, Today and Good Morning America. She has worked with John Legend, Luther Vandross, Ben Taylor, Carly Simon, Dead Prez, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Sly & Robbie, Brand Nubian, the Marley Family, and dance music kings Roger Sanchez and Armand van Helden. Globally, you know her voice from Dead Prez's "W-4" or Talib Kweli's "Talk to You (Lil Darlin)" on Quality, and his international 12" "Peace of Mind".
Claire's father is a prominent professor, trans-continental theatre director and playwright with Brooklyn roots. Her mother, of Jamaican and Chinese descent began singing, acting and modeling when she arrived in New York from Kingston as a teen. Claire also spent time as a model, but education and exposure to culture was a priority. Her family ensured that she started ballet at three years old, enjoyed weekly trips to the Lincoln Center Music Library after ballet classes, went to private schools, trained as a classical soprano soloist with a private coach, and was a White House Intern. She completed a BA in Film Studies while fronting the university's gospel choir all through school and also received an MA in African Art History.
Never more passionate about writing and singing, she is currently recording a new EP. A completely unique sound, the EP is produced by producer Lenni Sez (Sony, Universal, Atlantic and RCA) of Expertz Productions and will be released Spring 2012.