Washed Up
released April 19, 2025
Press
release,
www.whomikejones.com
April 12, 2025
I'm sure you all have a lot of questions for me. The answers are coming, I hope. I must admit that I don't have many of them myself.
I am 34 years old, but I feel like twice that. Life has smiled kindly on me and managed to fit two lifetimes' worth of fortune, hardship, and lessons into this course I have run thus far.
Of course, I've learned a lot of things musically. I feel like I now know about as much about music as anyone, having become a virtuoso guitarist, drummer, vocalist, rapper, fiddler, pianist, and songwriter. There is no classroom or guru in the world who could have taught me these things. People seem to think that my desertion from what seemed to be my destiny as a rapper qualified as a rejection of rap. And speaking in terms of gangster rap and such, this is true. I'm not supposed to say this, but it's flawed to the core, and mentally and socially retards those who grow up listening to it. Whatever shards of creative spark may exist in a given song are glossed over completely by gangster posturing and short-attention-span enticements such as women and jewelry.
Now, can
I really single out rap? No. Rap-rock can be kind of terrible.
Emo resolves nothing. Independent music is an excuse for many to build
a fence of elitism. Abstract eccentricity pulls the fences in further.
A balance must be struck between creating music people will like, and
creating music that sounds good in your head. Tip the scale one way,
and you will feel empty. Tip it the other way, and you will feel lonely.
Which is worse? It doesn't matter, because both are agonizing. I
felt the former when I rapped, and the latter when I recorded
.
So where do we go from here?
I'm not really sure. I am excited. This album is doubtlessly the best I have ever recorded. I see myself making music for a long, long time. I hope only that you will forgive me for my ignorance and egotism, and that we can start again.
Sincerely,
Mike Jones
Track
listing
1. Strange
2. Years Come, Years Go
3. This Is My Fault
4. Some Symbol
5. Looking Back
6. With These Hands
7. Acquaintance
8. Washed Up
9. Can't Understand
10. Forgive Me