M arch 5, 2014
Çnrtlanh (Observer
Page IS
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Portland emcee Mike Bars says he’s just getting starting after getting global exposure with the
release of his debut album ’16 Bars. ’
Double
Tires
“16 Bars”
ration for his next book, or at the very least find him
applauding the effort.
“I think it had a lot to do with the visuals,” he says.
“It’s the fact that there’s so much blood, people’s
continued
from page 9
heads chopped off and sh** like that. I can’t even
him transform ing hit Frank Ocean ballad “Thinkin watch sh** like that. [But] since I was making it, and
Bout You” into his own with the assist o f autotune, kinda saw what was happening behind the scenes [it
reflecting on a painful split with an ex-girlfriend.
was okay]. You know, we kinda did it to be funny, like
The ambidexterity of Bars’ soundscapes is not lost the talking head on the table [laughs].”
on him. They are, in fact, part of his larger goal of pulling
With fans that now include folks from the North,
in a range of listeners.
West, East, and the South, and across the Atlantic in
“As an artist, I really wanna continue to be myself. Europe, Mike Bars will almost surely be having more
And another thing I wanna do is infiltrate people’s fans reaching out to him, like what happened at the
minds to the point where you can make a positive Sizzle Pie that day.
change in this world. That’s something that would be
In the meantime, the Portland artist is busy flying
really dope to me.”
across the country, shooting visuals for different
He points to “There Will Be Blood,” the track that as songs, looking at the possibly touring soon, and
of February has cracked over 400,000 views as an generally growing his brand and exposure.
example. Both the video and song, which features Funk
To download 16 Bars for free go to mikebars.com.
Volume emcee, SwizZz, sees the two artists spitting Also be sure to “like” Mike Bars’ page on Facebook
lyrics that might even give Stephen King some inspi and follow the artist on Twitter @Mike Bars.
Opportunity Shines
continued Jk from page 3
uity goals.
As a former board chair of Home
Forward and 12-year member of the
his experience living in public hous
ing as achild and learning the impor
tance of setting goals as his parents
board’ he led 1116 char8e for an successfully saved to buy a home.
agency name change that was more
Fittingly, the new Opportunity
inclusive and welcoming than the Center at Stephens Creek Crossing
Housing Authority of Portland.
will honor his contributions to the
To inspire others, he liked to share communityc.
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