Michael Pryor, an alumni Urban Prep Charter Academy-Englewood Campus, went from freelance deejaying to becoming a CPS contracted DJ and recently trended on Twitter.
After graduating in 2012, he has been enrolled in Broadcast Media classes at a local Chicago community college. He was inspired to be a DJ by one of his professors.
Within a time span of 48 hours, Pryor reached over 135,000 viewers on UStream. He accredits his fame to his large group of followers on social media, having over 3,500 followers on Twitter. There have been several hashtags on Twitter attempting to get Pryor to work for high schools such as King, Lindblom, and even WY.
In high school, he started out using iTunes and learning how to scratch, mix and manipulate music. His first official booked job was an event called Mom Prom. After a showcasing of his talent, Urban Prep offered to pay for his prom attireand tickets.
In December of 2014, Pryor became a certified DJ for CPS, allowing him to perform at all CPS schools. At the age of 20, it is clear that DJ Mike P is making a name for himself in the music industry.
“I have plans on taking some of the same steps that [Zedd and Calvin Harris] took in order to reach the masses, but with my own twist,” says Pryor.
He aspires to collaborate with other Chicago native, Chance the Rapper. Pryor noted that the public needs to know that Chicago artists can join forces to create acoustic art by manipulating words and sounds. Pryor uses versatile genres for his sound bytes, such as R&B, jazz, funk, and hip hop.