Macon Magazine

with Snap [Hughes] and Ray [Wilson]. And I met his parents, it just all made so much sense." Together, they're marketing Clark's music as Southern soul, a genre made famous by records like Stax, FAME, and Goldwax in the 60s, integrating the sounds of soul, country, the blues, and rock and roll with Macon's Otis Redding among the most famous of its creators. There's been a modern resurgence of Southern soul – this time, with a hip hop influence. Of its modern iterations, Mr. ColliPark says, "Southern Soul is not popular – yet." Yet Guap Records' efforts for Clark in the genre impressed him. "They had a vision. The vision and the hunger. I saw myself and my team in them. And that's very rare." Clark explained that hunger: "A lot of people in Macon don't know me. I'm ready to walk in the room and have that respect, 'Like, it's really Mike Clark.'" In Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, he's already gained that respect; his shows are packed. But, Hughes said, "I wish Macon could see that and help be the driving force. We can have millions of views just from people in Macon sharing [him]." "I'm a people person," Clark said about how he connects with his Macon community through pep rallies and, most recently, the Ballard-Hudson Elementary School career day. "We know more people in the NFL, NBA, more doctors, nurses, truck drivers than we know people who are actually successful in the music business. It's one of the hardest and most competitive [industries] to be in. But Mike puts in the grind and the effort," said Hughes. He's the self-proclaimed M aconite Mike Clark, Jr. has the "it" factor, something Michael "Mr. ColliPark" Crooms, owner and CEO of Atlanta-based ColliPark Music, said he hasn't seen in years. He's produced albums for Ying Yang Twins, Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz, Soulja Boy, and Young Jeezy, to name a few. His label's viral sensation, "Crank That (Soulja Boy)," went platinum after it nearly broke the internet in 2007. Yet, Mr. ColliPark insisted, "I've never signed an artist like Mike. And I hadn't signed an artist in forever before Mike." The record executive first heard Clark's music when Macon's DJ Smooth sent "Auntie Outside" his way. "When I heard it ["Auntie Outside"], I thought he was a grown man. That's when the lightbulb went off … an eighteen-year- old man sounding like that?" As Crooms reflected, his shock at Clark's rich tone and confident, athletic delivery was still plain to hear. Clark grew up singing at Real Life Church, St. John's Baptist, and Bold As a Lion churches; he graduated in 2022 from THE Northeast High School, where Macon's Guap Records President Ray Wilson first heard him sing, all while working at two different Applebee's in Macon. Mike is different than anything Mr. Collipark is seeing now. "Dealing with artists, it's hard to work with a 21-year- old that's only had success on social media, but they move like they've already sold a million records. To have a talent like [Mike's], to have somebody who listens ... I just appreciate his upbringing from his parents and his family surrounding him that I just don't see very often," he reflected. "When I met him … his poise, I could tell he had a good background. Then I saw the team… Stream "Got It Going On" on Spotify, Apple Music, and more. Then, hear it live at the Music Party on July 17 at Grant's Lounge. M I K E C L A R K , J R . B r i n g s M a c o n 's S o u t h e r n s o u l t o C o l l i P a r k M u s i c STORY BY MM STAFF | PHOTO BY MARQUIS BURNS, COURTESY OF GUAP RECORDS Clark wins Song of the Year for "Auntie Outside" at the 478 Awards in 2023. "future of Southern soul and R&B," and we're listening now. In "Got It Going On," his latest hit, he shouts, "run it back again." Play it and see if you can resist the rewind. It was topping the Urban Influencer Southern Soul chart at press time. Don't miss "Real Man," a ballad about men who work hard to maintain through life's challenges, on the new album, "Club Mike Clark," when it releases this Father's Day. 86 maconmagazine.com | June/July 2024

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