MIKE STEELE "THE VOICE" SEASON 29 - BATTLE OF THE CHAMPIONS

All right, right when you dot com light to welcome to this show from season 29 of the boys Mike steel what is up?

Man, I'm doing good bro doing good. You know I was when I was watching the blind auditions

I saw you come on of course and when I heard Mrs. Sippy my ears perked up because that's where I live

What what are you? I live just east of Jackson. I'm over here in the Pearl Brandon area

Okay, I'm familiar with it. Are you you said you are you are familiar?

Yeah, I am I got you. I get up to the Delta now and then I went off to the BB BB King Museum

I think this last time I was up in that area. It's a really great museum

Yes, I just had a performance at the BB King, isn't that like a week ago? Really? Yeah

Okay, probably in that in that big

Was it like a haul there's like a hole or the old

It's like part of it with the original building where BB King worked, right? Was it that was it in that part?

Yeah, it was I love that man. That's awesome. That's awesome. All right. Let's get into this. So

Let's tell the listeners out there a little bit about like

Like when you first started singing like when was it like in your you know in your life and then and

Did you took it even further than that obviously, but when did it all start for you?

Man, I've been singing there since I could talk to me on this

I'm on told me that I would see this as I was two two years old and I just grew up singing in the church

So that basically where my sound comes from the church and as I grew older

I thought it like an R&B like being in the studio, you know with my dad. He had this group

There's a dirty deal to fam

And they used to do R&B hip hop to use to have me in the studio with them all the time like recording with them and taking me to like

Heart like local car shows around, you know

And I was performing with them. So

I got my passion to sing R&B and wanting to become wanting to become an R&B artist myself, you know

And then I started singing and like a choir when I got my first year of college in 2015

I started singing choral beats and so my voice now I got the training and things of that nature and

Yeah, so it does a little bit of history don't like what where my sound comes from you know where I started singing that

Went when did you know that you were good at it though? I mean because I was singing

I was about three or three or four two, but I but I I'm not a good singer. So when did you really know that hey? I got something special here

I

Honestly, like I probably was like I would say like five or six like I did you know like every

Sunday the

The past will have you seeing amazing grace and it is the way my voice used to move like the members the congregation

It you know I used to see how my voice was able to move them and that's when I honestly knew when I had something special because

People always call me to come sing at different churches and

That nature. I love it. I love that man. All right, so

It's not easy to get to the TV side of the voice a lot of people don't understand

Well, they don't realize they don't understand that the really it's a marathon to make it to the TV side of it

How is it that you decided that you wanted to try and what was it journey like to get to where you are now?

I could say

Well, like you said, it has been hard like trying to get to the TV side of it, but I could say what changed what changed it all for me is when I

Decided to make a Tik Tok account actually and I just started posting videos on Tik Tok and I remember my best friend telling me that hey

You need to make a Tik Tok it would change the life so I can say like when I started going borrowing my name started ringing a little bit

I you know decided that you know that I would like to audition for so because I'll always watching like the boys and other shows like singing shows coming up and

The Tik Tok a chance man and it worked in my favor

Look man, it's sure has

I had goose chills when I heard you sing first man. It's like right away as it wow. Okay. All right

I haven't feeling I haven't feeling this guy's gonna be around a while in this show, man

That was great

Yeah, of course. Oh, of course, man. Of course

The house life been for you since like you just showed up on everybody's TV across America

I've had a lot of your friends and and family you know because I know you have to sign a non-disclosure

So you can't tell a lot of people

Well the reaction been like when it wasn't when it wasn't when the your audition debuted on the show

Man, it was created like my phone would not stop ringing

When I had to put it down because I was just so overwhelmed

But it was such an amazing feeling you know

Just coming from the small town area so like even like when I my school hosted me a watch party so that

Like the students that are seeing the same cause that I go to like I didn't expect that many people to show up for me and

Men since then like I've been back home. I will pop out in the neighborhood and they just been streaming like this

Logos celebrity. Yeah, yeah, that doesn't happen to often you know coming from the music of Delta

Especially like in the area that I'm from so wild like that doesn't happen at all

Right, right, so like it's been crazy

However

However the Mississippi Delta's produced some of the greatest iconic music artists of all time so it's in your blood

It's in your blood

Yeah, most definitely man. Yeah

You know a lot of people don't realize that too across the country, but I will stack up Mississippi

Against any state in America per capita as far as producing

As far as not only in music Mike, but also across all like sports music actors

This state Mississippi puts them out more than anybody. I think per capita

Yeah, absolutely all right, so let's go to the blind audition the night before the blind audition

What's going through your mind? I mean, what are you doing to keep your nerves and check?

Focusing how do you sleep? How did that night before the blind audition go?

The night before the blind audition. I

Just I guess I just

Meditated like on the word like I will pray

I will have this journal that I write it that I write in like

Like I was basically writing over and over like

I will get a trip of church learning like I just I just have faith man

And I just try to keep that positive mindset, you know the night before like my nerves were getting the best of me

But I just my confidence like outweighed my nerves

So I just knew that I you know, I could not return big home without getting a single church learning for me

So I love that there was my thought process man just standing my worries staying prayed up and just having faith

You look I had Abigail Oakley on my show a couple days back. She's on the on the voice also and she answered the same thing

She did the same exact thing you did she kind of like manifested it

She wrote in her journal that she's gonna get these turn on like it was like when you said that just now like wow it's the same thing Abigail said. That's awesome

Yeah, absolutely all right, so

What about the walk to the stage like you're up back and then your name gets announced and now you

Got to walk out there like do you remember what was going to your mind from the back room to the stage

I do like man, I just I was I was having these on breathing exercises. I was the one because I

Don't have anxiety issues, but before that moment like my breathing was like really really have I was like okay

I I can't get up there mess up. I got a well the coaches man

And the energy just was so high like just standing like on the outside of the stage here in the audience man

And it was just so intense. I'm not gonna lie

But yeah, like I just practice these on breathing exercises

Try to keep my nerves on the control man, and I when I hit this stage

I just knew that I had to leave it out leave it all out. It was go time. At some point. Yeah, you got to say it's go time

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. All right, so you saw you saw you sang for tonight my givion

What was the thinking behind that song is that one of your favorite songs? You sang that maybe and karaoke's or a

Favorite of yours. What was the thinking behind picking that song for your blinded vision?

Well, I am a big fan of givion

Um, and that is one of my favorite songs that he put out for tonight and I just feel like we had similar

Tones him being a baritone, you know, I have I don't run into too many like

Baratone R&B artists nowadays everybody's just saying so high. Yeah, so givion was one of the people that

Like reminded me of myself, so I just felt like if I would like just pick a givion song that you know

That's who work in my favor, so because like I said, we have some similar qualities man, and I

Can match his range because I know I can't see too high

So but I knew that there will be a you know a great song the same

Yeah, it is one of my favorite songs by givion. Yeah, it's a great. So I like that song, too. It's a good song

All right, so you start singing and then like immediately the chairs are spinning man

And I kind of how to feel that was gonna happen because as soon as I heard you I was like, yeah

I don't see how this how this turns out any any better. I think oh, I think everybody should move and

So when you're singing do you hear those cheers those chairs spinning or are you so focused on the song still?

Or do you know right away? Everybody's turning for you

Yeah, like I I heard it. I was I saw it of course, but then you can hear the chair turning like

I was thinking to myself like don't freak out don't for you, but I was so locked in man. I was so locked in so like as soon

I think Adam hit his button first, but like John was like immediately like a second behind

I was at the same time. Yeah, so as soon as that happened it's like my heart drop, but I kept telling myself don't

Forget don't forget, but I was like, yeah, this is it

Yeah, man

Now is there like an element of you that once you hear the chairs turn that you take a little inside

Inside your head deep breath like all right cool. I mean because all you need is one to get on the show

I mean you got all of the turn, but is there a moment there a few seconds like, okay, all right. I'm good. I'm on the show now

Yeah, I just I still wanted to

Like from our rehearsals. I I wanted to end the song with a bang even though like I was I had the thought process

Okay, I'm on the show now. I just knew that the song you know the song got better and better

So I wanted to end it with a bang because I was determined to get all three. So I

I wanted this I want it. I'm sorry. I was determined to get all three

So I just kill performance of the best in my building so that I can get killed in the turn as well

And she sure did

All right, so so everybody who spins around you finish the song you stand in there and you got these three icons and music

Like looking at you

That's got to be an amazing feeling first of all to have these people like validate your talent like that

Yes, it was

What it was what a job legend say

Because he was really showing you a lot of love and he's the one that brought out the baritone in your voice too

Um, Adam would be like let your suit. What's your that suit was hot though for real that suit was fire. Thank you

Thank you, man. So what's going through your mind like when you hear somebody like John Legend who's one of my favorite of all time

Um, like complimenting you and you can tell also when you were singing

Like how how appreciative everybody was all the judges. They really got into your into your performance

Man

Well, we're not watching they just end John Legend's reaction along. Right. It like it made me feel so

Good to like um get that type reaction from like such an artist up

It's you know like John Legend. He's like got an Amy and Grammy after end of time. Yeah, he got all four. Yeah, so um

I remember him um basically what convinced me with him telling me that um

I need to solidify the artist that I want to be to the world

Because of course, you know, I had Kelly telling me that she wanted to like I guess Romeo's an artist. She didn't want to keep me in the box

but and I

I wasn't so much wanted to like be kept in the box

But I did like there was not debut like on TV

So I knew that I grew up singing R&B. I want to stick to what I really knew that could possibly like give me like give me through the show

So that's what that was uh don't want me over with that. Yeah, like basically telling me I need to

Like so the the world the artist that I want to be so

Yeah, yep, you know what I love I love me some Kelly Clarkson. I love all of them. I love all the judges. I really do

That's the first time though that I've ever had a little bit of a disagreement with with Kelly Clarkson

As far as what I when I heard what she was you know why she was really pitching for you hard

But her reasoning in my opinion that I was like nah, I think he's I think he should go with John Legend

Um, I just when you so when you picked him, I was like all right cool that that's good

Uh, but that's the first that I've ever like I was like, I don't know Kelly. I don't know

I don't know because I'm with you you get one shot, you know, I'm not in the world. It's like that

Uh, but anyway, that was great. It's a lot of fun. She was really trying to convince big man. She made I'm not gonna last you made it

She made my decision a little harder

Yeah, look at it and think about the voice is like, you know

You got the one that you wanted probably but you really can't I mean you know, I seen for example

I've seen

You know for real Williams of course one of them was like iconic posters out there

I he won the show with Sawyer Fredericks back in season eight and Sawyer Fredericks was this is

Little skinny white dude with long hair a folk singer from upstate New York

And John and then him and Ferrell took him right to the house and they won the whole thing

So the really, you know, you can't go wrong with with really any of these coaches, but I really think you got the right one

Um for what you're gonna do here

Honestly

All right, man. I think that's about it. I did want to give you an opportunity

You know what I got one more thing before we let you wrap it up

Um, what's some advice you can share

With somebody out there who's who's thinking about maybe trying out for a season the future season on the voice

And they're just maybe maybe lacking confidence or what do you say is somebody like that who's thinking about trying out for a future season other voice

I would say um man don't be scared

Take risk like you just never know

What the outcome would be that's why you just always go in with a positive mindset about it

And I'll speak nothing but life over yourself even if you don't feel

confident you wake up every day

Let yourself in the face of the mirror and speak that over you speak it over your life like

You know like this where's the affirmation over yourself man and like I said keep the faith and

I appreciate it work out of your favor

That's great advice. Well look Mike. I really appreciate you coming on this show. I wish you the very very best

Going forward. I have it. It's like I said. I've been feeling you're gonna be around a while in this competition

Which is good

Give me some closing thoughts for all the listeners all the voice fans your fans

If you have a social media or a website you want to share the mic is yours

Yeah, um, may I just follow me on Instagram and take talk at Mike's field music

I got some great things coming and I like to say is states home like I'm ready to go up