“You can’t choose where you grow up,” states 20-year-old rapper KB Mike. From the Marquette Park and Gage Park sections of Chicago’s historic Southside, Damichael Tate dodged the pitfalls of violence and poverty through art. “Music is what keeps me focused and out of harm’s way. That’s really how I navigated through all of Chicago’s stuff,” the fresh-faced artist with the confident flow and melodic voice admits. After a breakthrough 2020 that included high-six-figure engagements on Soundcloud, Instagram, and Facebook, Mike is already revved up for 2021, evident in his storytelling single and music video, “Revenge.” Tate recalls a typical inner-city Chicago childhood. One of six siblings, Mike was particularly close with two brothers. Even at a young age, he endured losing loved ones to the streets and drugs. Having found popularity in high school and the community, Mike tried his hand at rapping in 2018. What began as acapella freestyles to others’ songs during house arrest evolved into something far greater. Having kept his music private for two years, Mike decided to go public in 2020. “I gained the courage,” the artist describes, posting snippets to Facebook. If he was nervous at the reaction, Mike soon discovered that listeners bonded with the confident-voiced rapper. “My supporters, friends, and family really motivated me,” he declares. Since 2020, KB Mike has cultivated a formula. The independent rapper teases supporters with snippets on social media. The posts that garner the biggest and best responses, he follows up with full-length versions. “Deep In Love” blends soft strings and accents with an authentically contemporary understanding of young romance. The song has nearly 700,000 Soundcloud streams. That knack for relationship rap also shines on “Drunk Texting,” a song where listeners can hear Mike’s emerging singing alongside his in-the-pocket flow.