Hailing from Cranston, RI, Mike Stud has been steadily rising in the industry. An unsuccessful comeback from Tommy John surgery lead the former Duke pitcher from a future in baseball to a career in music.

Stud released his debut mixtape, A Toast to Tommy, in 2011 after the success of his first viral single, “College Humor.”. TTT peaked at #2 and #3 of the iTunes US and Worldwide Hip-Hop charts, respectively.

Several collaborations and #SundayStudDay releases later, Stud released his debut album, Relief, on 5/13/13. It was highly successful right off the bat, reaching #1 on the Hip-Hop charts and #2 overall within a few hours of release. The sudden rise to fame landed Mike a feature in Billboard magazine.

Just over a year after the release of Relief, Stud released Closer, arguably his most successful and advanced project to date. The album’s titular track has been referred to by Mike as the most personal track he’s ever written.