Rapping, acting, poetry, motivation; Ellison does it all. "If you focus on your passion and do it well, the results will be there."
Rapper, actor, poet and youth motivator, Detroit based artist Mike Ellison is among the most inspirational artists in the industry today. Not only does he go beyond the barriers of what is expected of artist today, but he conquers an array of industries, smashing their ideas and creating his own.
"I wasn't going to follow the industry to see what's up, I was going to be what's up," Ellison, who uses the name Mike-E, said about his history with the music industry.
This independent artist has done more work than the average multi-million dollar ace in any industry.
Ellison has appeared on Russell Simmon's Def Poetry Jam, and Pelle Pelle's 2006 print ad campaigns as well as doing voice-overs for Carfax cartoons and collaborating with the American Cancer Society conducting the Afroflow tour.
"Afroflow is the ideology that hip-hop flowed from Africa,” he explained.
Born in Ethiopia, himself, Ellison has had a unique connection with Africa. Unlike many other rappers and spoken word artist, he combines a mix of cultural Ethiopian rhythms with the traditional rhymes of hip hop encouraging a balance of positive and negative
expressions in music but focusing more on the positive.
After his aunt struggled with and overcame a long, agonizing battle against cancer, he was inspired to address the issue publicly.
Through Afroflow, found online at www.afroflow.com, Ellison promotes the American Cancer Society's struggle to help fight cancer.
Among the many other hats that he wears, he is a youth motivator working with orphan children in Ethiopia and the DetroitPublic School system.
"If you focus on your passion and do it well, the results will be there; you have to get the ‘dream-killers’ out of your life and have something bigger then you to inspire you, because your own ego can not carry you through," he said.
 "Photo: Courtesy of Michael Ellison")
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