HOT NEW HEAT FROM THE WINDY CITY: MIKE “meLLo” PETRO

Mike Petro, aka “meLLo“, has never been hand given anything since birth except for a distinct voice and the raw skill to rap with a razor sharp flow pattern. Hailing from the hometown of House, he began his path to music as a DJ who crossed over to hip hop from the inspiring classics of Dr. Dre, Wu-Tang Clan, and Eric B. & Rakim. His debut project, Who The F**k Is Mike Petro?, is a tape that touches upon nearly every sub-genre of hip hop as he displays his natural talent as an emcee/producer. Tapping into his core roots, all of his future music to come will be a fine blend of vintage hip hop and fresh EDM (dubstep/house/etc). Being one of a handful of rare talents that remains to stay humble and grounded to earth, Mike has earned solid co-signs from Chicago’s Miller Street Studios, DJ Averi Minor (Core DJ/Shade 45), and Gowhere Hip Hop. He is currently on the Who The F**k Is Mike Petro? Tour 2012 in Chicago as he stands out by producing beats on stage, rapping over both hip hop and dubstep hits, as well as incorporating live instruments to rock the house. Get in tune with the “new, out the box” rapper who’s doing everything that most rappers in the game aren’t daring to. Walking down his own path and prep’d to start a musical revolution in the urban scene!

Let’s get to know a lil sumin’ sumin’ about the man, “meLLo“.

THE HEAT: Mike “meLLo” Petro, what’s going on?
MELLO: Going good…going good right now…drinking a little coffee. (he giggles)
THE HEAT: What’s in the coffee meLLo?
MELLO: Hahahahahahahahahahahahah. (then giggles)
THE HEAT: So, tell us, “Who The F**k is Mike “meLLo” Petro?
MELLO: Glad you asked. (he giggles) We done figured it out. I’m the un-Rapper. And what is that? I’m just like really doing me. Not trying to get into any hype shit or style or fad that’s going on. I’m a little bit older than a lot of the cats out here so I feel like I kind of grew up with the best of hip hop and best of what they had to offer. I think that kind of developed me. At the same time I was still young of enough to get some of this new school stuff that was coming out. I just feel well rounded. I’m like that cat that dropped the dope-est party joint that you can hear; you get something real, something on that knowledge and common tip.
THE HEAT: So let our readers and your fans know where you coming to us from.
MELLO: Right now I’m in Chicago actually…it’s snowing!
THE HEAT: Now I know something is in that coffee…(we laugh)
MELLO: It’s snowing…flakes as big as my fists are falling.
THE HEAT: Wow! That’s crazy… So tell us, when did you fall in love with rap and hip hop?
MELLO: You know it’s really tough to be honest with you. I don’t really remember exactly what birthday it was, it had to be back there, but I remember my friend Jacob ending up giving me a Eric B & Rakim beat tape and I just started jamming that. Then a couple of years later my cousin ended up giving me a burnt CD of “The Chronic” when that first came out and I was like, “Oh my God”! So it’s really just a mix of like listening to the “kool” gangsta hip hop. That ain’t even me, I’ve lived my life and I’ve done my thang, but I ain’t a gangsta, but it was definitely that feel, that west coast music that just got to me. But at the same time I was always a huge fan of that east coast shit. Wu-Tang was like the biggest thing that really made me eat up rap. I was like damn, these cats got knowledge. Really just a mix of the 90’s that made me fall in love with hip hop.
THE HEAT: Sounds fantastic. So what’s been the greatest moment in your career?
MELLO: We’re still looking forward to a lot more, but a year ago we were on that LaBron James Nike Tour, that was a nice set. But right now we’re building them. Everyday we’re getting better moments by the day.
THE HEAT: Sounds like you guys really got it going on over there.
MELLO: We’re trying. We have a nice strong team behind us. We got the Miller St all day. It’s working out.
THE HEAT: What you got on the streets right now?
MELLO: Right now what’s floating around is the “Who the f**k is Mike meLLo Petro” mixtape. You can find it anywhere. Just type in my name on any of the social and music websites, it’s about nineteen tracks on there. We’re in the process of putting together our second drop, it’s going to be a full-length double CD. It’s going to be half hip hop and half of the new EDM dance electronic sound going on. It’s gonna be real good, some new stuff, some space age stuff.
THE HEAT: Are there going to be any features to look out for coming on the new double CD?
MELLO: To be honest, we’re not sure yet. We’ve been talking about it. We had a handful of features on our first mixtape. We had Skooda Chose from Chicago, we had Liffy Stokes who was messing with Twister back in the day, Dawreck, and Patman But I think with this new thing we’re going to go all out as a home team project. Me, my guy DJ Brandon Joseph and D’Vino, and just make it where it’s all us. Creative from head to toe, keep it hard, and put it out. Maybe once it drop and catch a feel and stuff and they want to come in, no doubt we can open up a spot, put somebody on, but I think we’re just going to go solo on this next project.
THE HEAT: Sounds like you guys have everything all mapped out. I know your flow is tight to def so we look for great success to come from you. What about your music is going to be different from what everyone else is putting out?
MELLO: I feel like the music itself is going to tell the story clearly of my diversity. There’s no fluff, no nothing but what I’m doing. If you have your Pandora on jamming, I want at least 18 different channels to have one of my joints going threw’em so I can just flood it all over the place.
THE HEAT: That’s what I’m talking about. Then you’ll know who the “f**k” Mike “meLLo” Petro is, right?
MELLO: Exactly…(we giggle hard)
THE HEAT: We thank you so much. Much props to you being and Indie Artist doing your thing out there making a name for yourself bringing us good music to listen to. We certainly hope you don’t be a stranger to Nik-O-Licious and The HEAT. We really do dig your flavor and we wish you great success!
MELLO: Much appreciated and I’m definitely not going to be a stranger to you. I want to say thanks to what I feel is the best team around to be down with. Thanks to everyone who has a hand in the success of “meLLo”. Thanks most def to my fans for showing me so much love and support. Real talk, it’s people like you Nik and The Heat that give us Independent Artist a voice to get our stuff out there and get it heard. I appreciate it. We won’t be strangers.