UNSCRIPTED featuring Mic Strong
By Keith Edmonds
FWIS Contributing Writer
One of the things that I enjoy about being a writer for this newspaper is that it gives me the opportunity to bring to the forefront rising young people that have made it their passion and goal to help others in the way that they were helped. Young people who have a mind-set to give back to their community and impact our city in ways that maybe people wouldn’t have thought that they could contribute.
In today’s UNSCRIPTED I’d like to introduce Michael Armstrong Jr. to you and allow him to share a few thoughts as to what brought him to the music industry, why he is driven to succeed, and his message to those that may have been “overlooked” or “marginalized” because of the environment that they grew up in, or because of some of the choices that they made. Now, you may not know him (yet) by name but I’m sure that you’ve seen him work as he does the WANE TV Highlight Zone intro rap that airs at least ten times a day! It’s funny, because everytime I see him doing this rap, it’s so creative and entertaining as he incorporates each school in the SAC (Summit Athletic Conference) in his rap that I’m trying to learn it myself (struggling) lol!
Please enjoy reading today’s Unscripted as I bring to you our own, Michael Armstrong Jr. AKA : Mic Strong!
INKSPOT: Michael, welcome to Unscripted and thank you for your time today!
MICHAEL: Thank you for having me, it's much appreciated!
INKSPOT: So to get things started, tell us a little bit about Michael Armstrong Jr.
MICHAEL: “Well, I’m a graduate of North Side High School who is a “family man” that loves God, and wants to make an impact on people. I love music, and my main purpose with my music is to encourage people to be “authentic” and find their purpose. I own an L.L.C. called: P.O.P. Global with P.O.P. being an acronym for: Paid Off Passion Global with the whole impetus being to encourage people to do what they love for a living, and even if you’re not making money, your rewards come from seeing the impact that you’re making on others by helping them become successful so it’s much bigger than Michael Armstrong.”
INKSPOT: That’s awesome Mike! Share with us how you got started in the music industry?
MICHAEL: “It goes back to my childhood and my fathers influence on me. He was a huge Hip-Hop fan “music head” let’s say. He really enjoyed West-Coast music (namely Snoop Dogg) and sprinkled in some East Coast rap with Tribe-Called-Quest and others so that really influenced me to take a look and appreciate these talented individuals closer. I even used to wrap my head in a bandana like TuPac and wear it around the house as I attempted to rap! (lol) I started free-styling in school which turned into cassette tapes and eventually home studio time and now investing money into it to see where it can take me.”
INKSPOT: Where do you see your music interests taking you, let's say, 5 years from now?
MICHAEL: “5 years from now, my goal would be to be established as an artist full-time. I currently work full-time at another job and do music on the side, so I’d love to be able to quit that job and go into music as my primary source of income. I’d also like to have an established label and have other artists working under me as well as establish a Non-For - Profit business to give back to my community. If those things happen then I’d consider myself on my way to what I eventually want to do.”
INKSPOT: Tell us about the WANE TV spot that I first saw you and our community has come to know your face by?
MICHAEL: “I did a performance for the Middle Waves Music Festival in June and during the process of communicating with the staff from that event, they asked me to do a promotional spot for them. I was asked to come downtown to a local establishment and WANE-TV was there viewing it. Everything went well and a few month’s later WANE reached out to me and asked about me doing a segment for the Highlight Zone with a Hip-Hop/Introduction for their broadcast during their sports segment. I went in, filmed it, and the rest is history as things went extremely well! People now recognize me more and maybe those that weren't rap fans before, now have a better appreciation for this genre."
INKSPOT: Michael, to bring this to a close, how would you describe the kind of impact that you can have as a role model in our city. How can your story help someone else?
MICHAEL: “For me it’s RELATABLE. I feel that many times someone that’s “book smart” doesn’t have the experiences that some of us that weren’t that good in the classroom have had in our life’s journey. People that haven’t had the “black experience” can’t relate like we can because they haven’t lived it. I’ve been through so many things in my life that I feel like my influence has really been enhanced by those that have influenced me. I’ve experienced talking to youth that are in ACJC (Allen County Juvenile Center) working through Fort Wayne United so I feel that there is always SOMETHING that I could do to help others with what I’ve experienced.”
INKSPOT: To wrap this up, finish this sentence: People in Fort Wayne, Indiana, don’t be surprised if Michael Armstrong Jr. goes on to become…
MICHAEL: “ The biggest rapper/entertainer that’s ever come out of this city no doubt!”