"Mike" (; ) is a song recorded by Albanian singer and songwriter

Elvana Gjata Elvana Gjata (; born 3 February 1987), is an Albanian singer, songwriter and entrepreneur. Born and raised in Tirana, she has been referred to as a "Diva of Albanian music". She rose to recognition in Albania and other Albanian-speaking territo ...

and Kosovo-Albanian rapper

Ledri Vula Ledri Vula (; born 10 July 1986) is a Kosovo-Albanian rapper, singer and songwriter. Life and career Ledri Vula was born on 10 July 1986 to Agron and Xheraldina Vula in the city of Pristina, then part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugo ...

featuring Albanian singer John Shahu. It was composed and

written Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...

by the aforementioned artists together with Arber Zeqo and produced by Arbre Blass. The official

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was uploaded onto

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

in July 2018.

Background and composition

Having a duration time of three minutes and twenty three seconds, "Mike" was musically described as an Albanian-language pop song incorporating

Balkan The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

elements. Lyrically, the song explores the theme of an adolescent

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

that is predetermined despite the long distances. It was composed and written by

, John Shahu together with Albanian producer Arber Zeqo. ''Note: Open description for credits.'' Albanian producer Arbre Blass was additionally hired for the song's production process. According to the latter, it took approximately 250 hours for the complementation of the song.

Critical reception

Music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

gave generally positive responses of "Mike" following its release. An editor of SoundsEuropean was positive towards the singers vocals and song's nature labeling it a "fresh song with a catchy melody". Radio Ferizaj was positive towards Elvana's, Ledri's and Shahu's vocal parts further calling the music video as "phenomenal".

Music video and promotion

An accompanying

for the song was officially premiered to the

channel of Elvana Gjata, two days before the

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...

and to

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

release on 2 July 2018. Filmed in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, it was

directed Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

by Besian Durmishi and produced by Adea Kelmendi. East Music Matters released it on

digital platforms Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...

and

streaming services An over-the-top media service is a streaming media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet. OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms, the companies that traditionally act as a controller or distributors of s ...

as a single on 4 July 2018.

Personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

and

. ''Note: Open "Credits" for credits.'' *

composing, songwriting, vocals *

composing, songwriting, vocals * John Shahucomposing, songwriting, vocals * Arber Zeqosongwriting * Arbre Blassproduction * Besian Durmishivideo directing * Adea Kelmendivideo production

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control 2018 singles 2018 songs Elvana Gjata songs Ledri Vula songs Albanian-language songs Songs written by Elvana Gjata Songs written by Ledri Vula Music videos directed by Besian Durmishi