Happy New Year !! What a better way to start of the new year than with a new Sample Saturday piece. Welcome back to Sample Saturday, where we discuss samples from some of your favorite songs. Today we will be discussing the sample used in MIKE's " Man in the Mirror" off his 2025 album " _Showbiz!_"
MIKE's "Man in the Mirror" is about tackling the convoluted journey of self improvement and self reflection. Though the journey is filled with trials and tribulations, it does not stop MIKE from having fun and embracing the best version of himself.
Self-produced by MIKE under the pseudonym dj blackpower, MIKE samples track " Fly the Wind," by the UK jazz-funk fusion band Shakatak from their 1982 album " _Night Birds_" produced by Nigel Wright. The album helped establish their known jazz-funk sound and their album charted No. 4 on the UK music charts.
Taking the jazzy sound of the layered keys and synths, the strum of the funky bass guitar, the subtle sound of the percussion, and the lyrics "Floating free/ Drift away/ It's hard to find/ The words to say/ How I feel inside/ My fantasy/ To fly the wind" throughout the song, MIKE takes the sample into his own hands.
Giving the song a second wind, the sample adds to the message just as much as the lyrics MIKE himself spits. With all these elements combined, "Man in the Mirror" is a moment of self reflection on the reality of self improvement and learning to balance life while becoming a better you, "looking at the man in the blurred mirror."
