Mike City

Michael Flowers, aka Mike City, achieved great success as a songwriter and producer behind <a href="spotify:artist:6I6t21SFbxZ7RbQgD5dN7U">Carl Thomas</a>' "I Wish," <a href="spotify:artist:0hnmRa5ahunapQbPjKUbMK">Sunshine Anderson</a>'s "Heard It All Before," and <a href="spotify:artist:05oH07COxkXKIMt6mIPRee">Brandy</a>'s "Full Moon." He started well before that and continues decades later with work that has included not just mature contemporary R&B, but gospel, rap, pop, and house as well. A few years after he graduated from North Carolina Central University, Flowers established himself by producing, presenting, and appearing on the rap compilation The N.C. All Star Project, Vol. 1 (1997), after which he released an R&B-oriented solo album, City Limits (1998). Following those recordings, he worked primarily behind the scenes. He made his commercial breakthrough with work for <a href="spotify:artist:6I6t21SFbxZ7RbQgD5dN7U">Thomas</a> and scored subsequent major hits with <a href="spotify:artist:0hnmRa5ahunapQbPjKUbMK">Anderson</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:05oH07COxkXKIMt6mIPRee">Brandy</a> around the time albums from <a href="spotify:artist:4jCbgl5Dmt3uOh8WRQfpPs">Bilal</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3aVoqlJOYx31lH1gibGDt3">Babyface</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:23zg3TcAtWQy7J6upgbUnj">Usher</a> arrived with his touch. Flowers worked steadily through the next couple decades without being confined to one genre; <a href="spotify:artist:76dDIM8amCY58U3uvr1Rw1">Karen Clark-Sheard</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0NbfKEOTQCcwd6o7wSDOHI">the Game</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5pKCCKE2ajJHZ9KAiaK11H">Rihanna</a> were among those who sought his skills. During the mid-2010s, Flowers concentrated on soul-rooted house music, and featured as a lead vocalist on several singles from labels such as <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Tribe%22">Tribe</a> and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Defected%22">Defected</a>. For the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22BBE%22">BBE</a> label, he also produced The Feel Good Agenda, Vol. 1 (2017), with vocals from several of his past associates, including <a href="spotify:artist:6I6t21SFbxZ7RbQgD5dN7U">Thomas</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5NDMothbpdpq2xHqSjrrWn">Faith Evans</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0uNEy4544VZq2KOl7BsLuo">Lalah Hathaway</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7u6LfVyYpEzMpHLL7jTyvU">Dwele</a>. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi