MIKE CHAV
As DJBooth wrote in 2019, Michael ‘Mike Chav’ Chavarria is a “veritable hip-hop legend.” The Detroit-based musician began his career by building J Dilla’s studio in the early 2000s. After working with hometown stars Eminem, D12, Mr. Porter—as well as The Game and Snoop Dogg—he met a then-unknown Jay Electronica.
Chav worked as Jay Electronic's primary collaborator on the seminal “Act 1: Eternal Sunshine." His musical fingerprints are found on many of the other records in Jay Electronica's catalog, including "Exhibit A" and "Shiny Suit Theory (featuring Jay-Z)."
Chav went on to Executive Produce Erykah Badu’s next two albums: “New Amerykah Part One” and “Part Two.” The latter was named A Top 50 Album of the 2010s by Pitchfork, which specifically complimented the “psychedelic” and time-traveling analog sound that Chav brought to the project.
In 2019, he formed Astrolabe Records with Kuwaiti duo Sons of Yusuf, known for their #1 international hit “One Time.” Everything came full circle when Jay Electronica appeared on Sons of Yusuf’s “Diving For Pearls” single from their 2020 album “Shaykh the World”—produced by none other than Chav himself.