“Feel like all of this life that I have, man, this shit could inspire a book,” MIKE raps with conviction on “F.E.A.R. ”, the eighth song on a new collaborative album, POMPEII // UTILITY, with rapper and friend Earl Sweatshirt. The record’s whopping 33 tracks, produced by NYC’s hyper-present post-pandemic supercollective SURF GANG, compile an intimate chronicle of experience, memory, and kinship into a record that, in breadth and detail, digests like a book. A project several years in the making, POMPEII // UTILITY unites two kindred spirit rappers from opposite coasts within SURF GANG’s world-building genius, to trace a musical bond and mutual admiration shaped through early collaborations and features, shared stages, mutual friends, and a devoted fanbase.